«وَكَذَلِكَ طَوْلُ الْحُرَّةِ يَمْنَعُ جَوَازَ نِكَاحِ الْأَمَةِ عِنْدَهُ»
“Likewise, according to him, the ability to marry a free woman prevents the permissibility of marrying a slave woman.”
Here “according to him” refers to al-Shafii. The scriptural discussion of marriage to a slave woman includes the lack of the means to marry a free woman. The Shafii analysis treats the qualification as a condition of permissibility.
The Hanafi reasoning examines this qualification alongside other texts that establish the general legal framework. Thus the question is not resolved merely by treating the absence of one descriptive circumstance as an absolute independent prohibition.
Distinguishing absence of a condition from the underlying legal cause and ruling explains the nature of the disagreement.