What is the ruling if an owner declares, "The last slave I owned is free"?
General Chapter
Al-Mughni
Book of Manumission
Primary text
If the owner possesses slaves and declares, "The last slave I owned is free," the declaration does not effect the freedom of any slave immediately while the owner is alive, because it is possible for him to acquire another slave, making the declared one not the last. Upon the owner's death, the last slave he owned becomes free, confirming retroactively that he was free when the declaration was made, thus validating the previous ownership's impact on him. If the declaration referred to an owned female slave (amah), her offspring born after that point are free from birth because they are the progeny of a free woman.
Supporting text
If the owner had intercourse with the female slave after his declaration but before acquiring another slave, he owes her dower (mahr) because he treated her as a foreign free woman, and the intercourse is prohibited until he subsequently owns another slave, as that makes the former female slave not the 'last' one.