Hadith.3470 - Amr ibn Shimr narrated from Jabir, from Abu Ja'far Imam Muhammad ibn Ali Al-Baqir , who said: I asked him about a mukatab (a slave under a contract of emancipation) who had a condition stipulated that if he failed to make payments, he would return to slavery. What if he failed before paying anything? Imam said: "He does not return to slavery until three years have passed. Whatever portion he has already paid counts toward his emancipation. If he has made partial payments, they cannot return him to slavery."