Discover the meaning of the term Al-qn (قن) in Islamic vocabulary.
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Updated on 11 April 2026 at 1:05 AM
📖 3 min readThe slave whose sale and purchase are not permitted.
With damma: the small mountain. With kasra: the slave whose two parents are owned; to it apply the plural and the singular alike; it is sometimes pluralized as 'aqnan' and 'aqna'. 'The slave pure in servitude': from it, the jurists say 'al-qinn': the slave perfect in servitude, in that he is neither 'mukatab' (emancipated by contract) nor 'mudabbar' (emancipated after death), for the contract of manumission and tadbir are a diminution in the slave; hence the 'mudabbar' may not be sold nor gifted. The diminution of the slave by the contract is seen in its definition: do you not see that the contract frees the owned by parts, at once, and by the person in the end; 'the slave' is thus a general term embracing the mukatab, the mudabbar, and the qinn; the qinn is more specific than it; between them is partial reciprocal inclusion, as between animal and man.
With damma: the small mountain. With kasra: the slave whose two parents are owned, the plural and the singular alike applying; it is sometimes pluralized as 'aqnan' and 'aqna'; it is said: he is the slave pure in servitude, that is, he and his parents are owned. Al-Jawhari said: the singular, dual, and plural apply alike, and the feminine; he said: they sometimes say 'abid aqnan'. In the jurists' terminology: the qinn is the slave perfect in servitude, in that he is neither mukatab nor mudabbar; this is in 'Dastur al-'ulama'. It is said: he is the slave whose sale and purchase are not permitted; or he is pure in servitude, neither mukatab nor mudabbar, and whose manumission is not suspended upon any condition. It is said: he is the slave in whom none of the causes of manumission nor their preliminaries have occurred, unlike the mukatab, the mudabbar, the umm al-walad, and the one whose manumission is suspended upon an attribute.
The slave, to whom a single word applies in the singular and the rest alike; it is sometimes pluralized as 'aqnan' and 'aqna'.
A slave owned together with his father. Al-Asma'i said: 'the qinn is one whose father was owned by his patrons; if it is not so, he is a slave made a slave ('abd mumallak)'. Al-Sayyid said: 'he is the slave whose sale and purchase are not permitted'.
﴿وَمِنْهُم مَّن يَقُولُ رَبَّنَآ ءَاتِنَا فِى ٱلدُّنْيَا حَسَنَةًۭ وَفِى ٱلْـَٔاخِرَةِ حَسَنَةًۭ وَقِنَا عَذَابَ ٱلنَّارِ﴾
« But among them is he who says, "Our Lord, give us in this world [that which is] good and in the Hereafter [that which is] good and protect us from the punishment of the Fire." »
Surah البقرة : 201
﴿ٱلَّذِينَ يَقُولُونَ رَبَّنَآ إِنَّنَآ ءَامَنَّا فَٱغْفِرْ لَنَا ذُنُوبَنَا وَقِنَا عَذَابَ ٱلنَّارِ﴾
« Those who say, "Our Lord, indeed we have believed, so forgive us our sins and protect us from the punishment of the Fire," »
Surah آل عمران : 16
﴿ٱلَّذِينَ يَذْكُرُونَ ٱللَّهَ قِيَـٰمًۭا وَقُعُودًۭا وَعَلَىٰ جُنُوبِهِمْ وَيَتَفَكَّرُونَ فِى خَلْقِ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ رَبَّنَا مَا خَلَقْتَ هَـٰذَا بَـٰطِلًۭا سُبْحَـٰنَكَ فَقِنَا عَذَابَ ٱلنَّارِ﴾
« Who remember Allah while standing or sitting or [lying] on their sides and give thought to the creation of the heavens and the earth, [saying], "Our Lord, You did not create this aimlessly; exalted are You [above such a thing]; then protect us from the punishment of the Fire. »
Surah آل عمران : 191