Abū Tālib—when asked about the exception clause, he replied: “The exception clause applies to oaths that admit expiation. Allah Most High says:

‘Allah will not hold you accountable for what is unintentional in your oaths.’

Every oath therefore admits expiation, except divorce and emancipation.”

As for Sulaymān al-Taymī being the one who mentioned, “Every slave he owns is free,” Sulaymān al-Taymī is a thoroughly reliable transmitter, of greater standing than those who did not mention this addition. The reason—and Allah knows best—may be that those who omitted emancipation were reluctant to mention it because of the disagreement surrounding it. This is illustrated by the fact that some transmitters omitted emancipation even when reporting this account from al-Taymī, although it is undisputed that al-Taymī himself mentioned it.

Al-Maymūnī said: “Ahmad and Ibn Abī ʿAdī said: ‘They did not mention emancipation in the report of Abū Rāfiʿ.’”

I say: Muhammad ibn Abī ʿAdī is the most eminent of those who narrated from al-Taymī. Thus, it is clear that some transmitters would omit this addition even though it is established as part of the report. For this reason, when Abū Thawr found it to be established, he adopted it.

As for the other report from Ibn ʿAbbās and Ibn ʿUmar, Ahmad said: “We have heard it only from ʿAbd al-Razzāq and on the authority of Maʿmar.” As for ʿUthmān ibn Hādir, it has been said that he heard from Ibn ʿAbbās. Abū Zurʿah said: “He is a trustworthy Yemeni of Himyarī descent.” Abū Dāwūd and Ibn Mājah included reports from him.

The first report is more firmly established, and its transmitters are scholars and jurists who understand what they narrate. This latter report contains obfuscation, and its exact wording has not been reliably preserved for us. A detailed discussion has been provided