A man had six slaves whom he freed at the time of his death. The Prophet ﷺ cast lots between them, freeing two of them and keeping four in slavery.
أن رجلا كان له ستة أعبد، فأعتقهم عند موته، فأقرع النبي ﷺ بينهم، فأعتق منهم اثنين، وأرق أربعة.
Ibn Abu Shayba (23847, 37239) narrated it from Ubaydullah bin Musa, from Israil, from Abdullah bin Mukhtar, from Muhammad bin Ziyad, from Abu Hurairah, who related it. Its chain of transmission is sahih, and Abdullah bin Mukhtar is trustworthy, having been deemed trustworthy by Ibn Main, Nasai, and others. Abu Hatim said, "There is no harm in him."On this subject there is also what has been reported from Abu Saeed Khudri, that a man in the time of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ freed six slaves he owned, having no property besides them, and then the man died. This reached the Prophet ﷺ, so he drew lots among them, freed two of them, and kept four in bondage.Bazzar narrated it, Kashf Astar (1396), from Bishr bin Khalid Askari, who said, Yazid bin Harun told us, Hammad bin Salama told us, from Ali bin Zayd, from Saeed bin Musayab, from Abu Saeed, who related it. Bazzar said, "Others besides Yazid narrated it from Saeed bin Musayab as a mursal report, and Yazid connected it fully on one occasion in Baghdad." I say, it contains Ali bin Zayd, who is Ibn Jadan, and he is daif.Bayhaqi (10/286) narrated it through the route of Ibn Jurayj, who said, Qays bin Saad informed me that he heard Makhul say, I heard Saeed bin Musayab say, "A woman, or a man, freed six slaves belonging to her..." and he related something similar.Likewise, what has been reported from Abu Umama is not sound. Daraqutni narrated it (4/234).The majority of the scholars adopted the position of these hadiths and reports, namely Malik, Shafii, Ahmad, Ishaq, and a group of the people of hadith and tradition. Abu Hanifa and his companions held that in the case of someone who frees his slaves during his terminal illness, having no property besides them, a third of each of them is freed, and the heirs are entitled to the remaining two-thirds of their value, which the slaves must earn through labor. He said that as long as such a person is working off this debt, his status is that of a mukatab. Abu Yusuf and Muhammad said they are free, and two-thirds of their value becomes a debt owed by them, which they must work to pay off to the heirs.For more on this, see Tamhid (23/421), where the matter is discussed at length.