What is the ruling when a sick person acquires ownership of a slave whom he is obligated to free without compensation?

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If the sick person acquires ownership of a slave he is obligated to free without compensation, the slave is freed and inherits. This is the position held by Malik and some Shafi'i scholars, and it is recounted as a Madhhab of Shafi'i by Al-Khabari. There is no disagreement among these scholars that if the ownership is acquired through inheritance, the slave is freed and inherits. The evidence for the main ruling is that the sick person did not expend any of his wealth in acquiring the slave; the cause of ownership was established in a manner that was not settled and ceased without his direct action to nullify it. This is analogous to receiving a gift that the donor revokes before possession, or purchasing an item with the option to rescind, or finding a defect in the price and rescinding the sale, or marriage before consummation followed by divorce. If the acquisition does not count against the one-third bequest limit, inheritance is not prevented, just as if ownership was acquired via inheritance or during health. Furthermore, the ruling that the slave is free is based on the Prophet's saying: Whoever owns a relative whom he is forbidden to marry, he is free. Ownership that is incompatible with the state of slavery, such as ownership of a spouse, is nullified.