The last words which the Messenger of Allah ﷺ spoke were: Prayer, prayer; fear Allah about those whom your right hands possess.  

كَانَ آخِرُ كَلاَمِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ﷺ الصَّلاَةَ الصَّلاَةَ اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ فِيمَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُكُمْ  

I saw Abu Dharr at Rabadhah. He was wearing a thick cloak, and his slave also wore a similar one. He said : the people said: Abu Dharr! (it would be better) if you could take the cloak which your slave wore, and you combined that with, and it would be a pair of garments (hullah) and you would clothe him with another garment. He said: Abu Dharr said : I abused a man whose mother was a non-Arab and I reviled him for his mother. He complained against me to the apostle of allah (May peace be upon him). He said: Abu Dharr! You are a man who has a characteristic of pre-Islamic days. He said: they are your brethren; Allah has given you superiority over them; sell those who do not please you and do not punish Allah’s creatures.  

رَأَيْتُ أَبَا ذَرٍّ بِالرَّبَذَةِ وَعَلَيْهِ بُرْدٌ غَلِيظٌ وَعَلَى غُلاَمِهِ مِثْلُهُ قَالَ فَقَالَ الْقَوْمُ يَا أَبَا ذَرٍّ لَوْ كُنْتَ أَخَذْتَ الَّذِي عَلَى غُلاَمِكَ فَجَعَلْتَهُ مَعَ هَذَا فَكَانَتْ حُلَّةً وَكَسَوْتَ غُلاَمَكَ ثَوْبًا غَيْرَهُ قَالَ فَقَالَ أَبُو ذَرٍّ إِنِّي كُنْتُ سَابَبْتُ رَجُلاً وَكَانَتْ أُمُّهُ أَعْجَمِيَّةً فَعَيَّرْتُهُ بِأُمِّهِ فَشَكَانِي إِلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ﷺ فَقَالَ يَا أَبَا ذَرٍّ إِنَّكَ امْرُؤٌ فِيكَ جَاهِلِيَّةٌ قَالَ إِنَّهُمْ إِخْوَانُكُمْ فَضَّلَكُمُ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِمْ فَمَنْ لَمْ يُلاَئِمْكُمْ فَبِيعُوهُ وَلاَ تُعَذِّبُوا خَلْقَ اللَّهِ  

We called on Abu Dharr at al-Rabadhah. He wore a cloak and his slave also wore a similar one. We said; Abu Dharr! If you took the cloak of your slave and combined it with your cloak, so that it could be a part of garments (hullah) and clothed him in another garment, (it would be better). He said; I heard the Messenger of Allah (May peace be upon him) say; They are your brethren. Allah has put them under your authority; so he who has his brother under his authority must feed him from what he eats and clothe him with what he wears, and not impose on him work which is too much for him, but if he does so, he must help him. Abu Dawud said: Ibn Numair transmitted it from al-A'mash in a similar way.  

دَخَلْنَا عَلَى أَبِي ذَرٍّ بِالرَّبَذَةِ فَإِذَا عَلَيْهِ بُرْدٌ وَعَلَى غُلاَمِهِ مِثْلُهُ فَقُلْنَا يَا أَبَا ذَرٍّ لَوْ أَخَذْتَ بُرْدَ غُلاَمِكَ إِلَى بُرْدِكَ فَكَانَتْ حُلَّةً وَكَسَوْتَهُ ثَوْبًا غَيْرَهُ قَالَ سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ﷺ يَقُولُ إِخْوَانُكُمْ جَعَلَهُمُ اللَّهُ تَحْتَ أَيْدِيكُمْ فَمَنْ كَانَ أَخُوهُ تَحْتَ يَدَيْهِ فَلْيُطْعِمْهُ مِمَّا يَأْكُلُ وَلْيَكْسُهُ مِمَّا يَلْبَسُ وَلاَ يُكَلِّفْهُ مَا يَغْلِبُهُ فَإِنْ كَلَّفَهُ مَا يَغْلِبُهُ فَلْيُعِنْهُ  

when I was beating a servant of mine, I heard a voice behind me saying: know, Abu Mas’ud-Ibn al-Muthanna said: “twice”-that Allah has more power over you than you have over him. I turned round and saw that it was that it was the prophet (May peace be upon him). I said : Messenger of Allah! He is free for Allah’s sake. He said : If you had not done it, fire would have burned you or the fire would have touched you.  

فَسَمِعْتُ مِنْ خَلْفِي صَوْتًا اعْلَمْ أَبَا مَسْعُودٍ قَالَ ابْنُ الْمُثَنَّى مَرَّتَيْنِ لَلَّهُ أَقْدَرُ عَلَيْكَ مِنْكَ عَلَيْهِ فَالْتَفَتُّ فَإِذَا هُوَ النَّبِيُّ ﷺ فَقُلْتُ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ هُوَ حُرٌّ لِوَجْهِ اللَّهِ قَالَ أَمَا إِنَّكَ لَوْ لَمْ تَفْعَلْ لَلَفَعَتْكَ النَّارُ أَوْ لَمَسَّتْكَ النَّارُ  

The tradition mentioned above has also been transmitted by al-A’mash in a similar way to same way to the same effect through a different chain of narrators.  

كُنْتُ أَضْرِبُ غُلاَمًا لِي أَسْوَدَ بِالسَّوْطِ وَلَمْ يَذْكُرْ أَمْرَ الْعِتْقِ  

The Prophet ﷺ said: Feed those of your slaves who please you from what you eat and clothe them with what you clothe yourselves, but sell those who do not please you and do not punish Allah's creatures.  

قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ مَنْ لاَءَمَكُمْ مِنْ مَمْلُوكِيكُمْ فَأَطْعِمُوهُ مِمَّا تَأْكُلُونَ وَاكْسُوهُ مِمَّا تَكْتَسُونَ وَمَنْ لَمْ يُلاَئِمْكُمْ مِنْهُمْ فَبِيعُوهُ وَلاَ تُعَذِّبُوا خَلْقَ اللَّهِ  

The Prophet ﷺ said: Treating those under one's authority will produce prosperity, but an evil nature produces evil fortune.  

عَنْ رَافِعِ بْنِ مَكِيثٍ وَكَانَ مِمَّنْ شَهِدَ الْحُدَيْبِيَةَ مَعَ النَّبِيِّ ﷺ أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ ﷺ قَالَ حُسْنُ الْمَلَكَةِ نَمَاءٌ وَسُوءُ الْخُلُقِ شُؤْمٌ  

The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: Treating those under one's authority well produces prosperity, but an evil nature produces evil fortune.  

عَنْ عَمِّهِ الْحَارِثِ بْنِ رَافِعِ بْنِ مَكِيثٍ وَكَانَ رَافِعٌ مِنْ جُهَيْنَةَ قَدْ شَهِدَ الْحُدَيْبِيَةَ مَعَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ﷺ عَنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ﷺ قَالَ حُسْنُ الْمَلَكَةِ نَمَاءٌ وَسُوءُ الْخُلُقِ شُؤْمٌ  

A man came to the Prophet ﷺ and asked: Messenger of Allah! how often shall I forgive a servant? He gave no reply, so the man repeated what he had said, but he still kept silence. When he asked a third time, he replied: Forgive him seventy times daily.  

سَمِعْتُ عَبْدَ اللَّهِ بْنَ عَمْرٍو يَقُولُ جَاءَ رَجُلٌ إِلَى النَّبِيِّ ﷺ فَقَالَ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ كَمْ نَعْفُو عَنِ الْخَادِمِ فَصَمَتَ ثُمَّ أَعَادَ عَلَيْهِ الْكَلاَمَ فَصَمَتَ فَلَمَّا كَانَ فِي الثَّالِثَةِ قَالَ اعْفُوا عَنْهُ فِي كُلِّ يَوْمٍ سَبْعِينَ مَرَّةً  

Abu al-Qasim, the Prophet of Atonement ﷺ said to me: If anyone reviles his slave when he is innocent of what he said, he will be beaten on the Day of Resurrection. The transmitter Mu'ammal said: 'Isa narrated it to us from al-Fudial, that is, Ibn Ghazwan.  

حَدَّثَنِي أَبُو الْقَاسِمِ نَبِيُّ التَّوْبَةِ ﷺ قَالَ مَنْ قَذَفَ مَمْلُوكَهُ وَهُوَ بَرِيءٌ مِمَّا قَالَ جُلِدَ لَهُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ حَدًّا قَالَ مُؤَمَّلٌ حَدَّثَنَا عِيسَى عَنِ الْفُضَيْلِ يَعْنِي ابْنَ غَزْوَانَ  

We were staying in the house of Suwaid b. Muqarrin. There was among us an old man who was hot-tempered. He had a slave-girl with him. He gave a slap on her face. I never saw Suwaid more angry than on that day. He said: there is no alternative for you except to free her. I was the seventh child in order of Muqarrin and we had only a female servant. The youngest of us gave a slap on her face. The prophet (May peace be upon him) commanded us to set her free.  

عَجَزَ عَلَيْكَ إِلاَّ حُرُّ وَجْهِهَا لَقَدْ رَأَيْتُنَا سَابِعَ سَبْعَةٍ مِنْ وَلَدِ مُقَرِّنٍ وَمَا لَنَا إِلاَّ خَادِمٌ فَلَطَمَ أَصْغَرُنَا وَجْهَهَا فَأَمَرَنَا النَّبِيُّ ﷺ بِعِتْقِهَا  

I slapped a freed slave of ours. My father called him and me and said: Take retaliation on him. We, the people of Banu Muqarrin, were seven during the time of the Prophet ﷺ,and we had only a female servant. A man of us slapped her. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: Set her free. They said: We have no other servant than her. He said: She must serve them till they become well off. When they become well off, they should set her free.  

لَطَمْتُ مَوْلًى لَنَا فَدَعَاهُ أَبِي وَدَعَانِي فَقَالَ اقْتَصَّ مِنْهُ فَإِنَّا مَعْشَرَ بَنِي مُقَرِّنٍ كُنَّا سَبْعَةً عَلَى عَهْدِ النَّبِيِّ ﷺ وَلَيْسَ لَنَا إِلاَّ خَادِمٌ فَلَطَمَهَا رَجُلٌ مِنَّا فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ أَعْتِقُوهَا قَالُوا إِنَّهُ لَيْسَ لَنَا خَادِمٌ غَيْرَهَا قَالَ فَلْتَخْدُمْهُمْ حَتَّى يَسْتَغْنُوا فَإِذَا اسْتَغْنَوْا فَلْيُعْتِقُوهَا  

I came to Ibn ‘Umar when he set his slave free. He took a stick or something else from the earth and said; for me there is no reward even equivalent to this. I heard the Messenger of Allah (May peace be upon him) say: If anyone slaps or beats his slave the atonement due from him is to set him free.  

مَا لِي فِيهِ مِنَ الأَجْرِ مَا يَسْوَى هَذَا سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ﷺ يَقُولُ مَنْ لَطَمَ مَمْلُوكَهُ أَوْ ضَرَبَهُ فَكَفَّارَتُهُ أَنْ يُعْتِقَهُ