I was sitting with Umar ibn Al-Khattab when he heard a scream. He said, "Oh Yarfaa, look, what is this sound?" He got up, looked, and then came back and said, "It is a girl from the Quraysh being sold by her mother." Umar said, "Pray for me, or he said, "Upon me are the Mujahideen (emigrants) and the Ansar." He did not wait more than an hour until the house and the room were filled. Umar praised and thanked Allah, then he said, "Do you know what this was? It was one of the things that the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ forbade." They said, "No." He said, "Verily, it has become rampant among you." Then he recited, "Then do you think that if you turned away you could cause corruption on earth and break your ties of lineage?" [Muhammad 22]. Then he said, "And what kind of breaking off is worse than a mother being sold among you, while Allah has granted you a broader scope?" They said, "So do what you find necessary." He said, "He wrote in the horizons that a free woman should not be sold, for it is a breaking off and it is not permissible."
كُنْتُ جَالِسًا عِنْدَ عُمَرَ بْنِ الْخَطَّابِ إِذْ سَمِعَ صَائِحَةً فَقَالَ «يَا يَرْفَأُ انْظُرْ مَا هَذَا الصَّوْتُ؟» فَانْطَلَقَ فَنَظَرَ ثُمَّ جَاءَ فَقَالَ جَارِيَةٌ مِنْ قُرَيْشٍ تُبَاعُ أُمُّهَا قَالَ فَقَالَ عُمَرُ ادْعُ لِي أَوْ قَالَ عَلَيَّ بِالْمُهَاجِرِينَ وَالْأَنْصَارِ قَالَ فَلَمْ يَمْكُثْ إِلَّا سَاعَةً حَتَّى امْتَلَأَتِ الدَّارُ وَالْحُجْرَةُ قَالَ فَحَمِدَ اللَّهَ عُمَرُ وَأَثْنَى عَلَيْهِ ثُمَّ قَالَ «أَمَّا بَعْدُ فَهَلْ تَعْلَمُونَهُ كَانَ مِمَّا جَاءَ بِهِ مُحَمَّدٌ ﷺ الْقَطِيعَةُ» قَالُوا لَا قَالَ فَإِنَّهَا قَدْ أَصْبَحَتْ فِيكُمْ فَاشِيَةً ثُمَّ قَرَأَ {فَهَلْ عَسَيْتُمْ إِنْ تَوَلَّيْتُمْ أَنْ تُفْسِدُوا فِي الْأَرْضِ وَتُقَطِّعُوا أَرْحَامَكُمْ} [محمد 22] ثُمَّ قَالَ وَأَيُّ قَطِيعَةٍ أَقْطَعُ مِنْ أَنْ تُبَاعَ أُمُّ امْرِئٍ فِيكُمْ وَقَدْ أَوْسَعَ اللَّهُ لَكُمْ؟ قَالُوا فَاصْنَعْ مَا بَدَا لَكَ قَالَ «فَكَتَبَ فِي الْآفَاقِ أَنْ لَا تُبَاعَ أُمُّ حُرٍّ فَإِنَّهَا قَطِيعَةٌ وَإِنَّهُ لَا يَحِلُّ»