your oath," (6) but he did not say: "And make an exception." If an exception were permitted in every state, no one who breaks an oath would be considered as such. There is another narration from Ahmad that an exception is permitted if the gap between them is not long. He said in the narration of al-Marrudhi: The hadith of Ibn Abbas, that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "By Allah, I will certainly raid the Quraysh," then he fell silent, then said: "If Allah wills" (7). This is simply an exception made shortly thereafter, and he did not mix his speech with anything else. Isma'il ibn Sa'id transmitted the same from him, and added: I do not follow the position of these people, meaning those who do not view (8) that as valid except when connected. The speech of al-Khiraqi may be interpreted in this way, because he said: "provided there is no speech between the oath and the exception," and he did not stipulate the connection of speech or the absence of a pause. This is the position of al-Awza'i. He said regarding a man who swore: "I will not do such-and-such," then he remained silent for a while without speaking or harboring the intention of an exception in his mind, then someone said to him: "Say: If Allah wills," and he said: "If Allah wills." Does he have to perform expiation for his oath? He said: I consider him to have made an exception. Qatada said: He may make an exception before he stands up or speaks. The evidence for this is that the Prophet (peace be upon him) made an exception after his silence, for he said: "By Allah, I will certainly raid the Quraysh," then he was silent, then said: "If Allah wills." Ahmad used this as evidence, and Abu Dawud recorded it, adding: al-Walid ibn Muslim said: Then he did not raid them. It is stipulated, according to this narration, that he does not prolong the gap between them, and does not speak between them with extraneous speech. Ibn Abi Musa related from some of our companions that he said: The exception is valid as long as he is in the assembly. This has been related from al-Hasan and Ata'. From Ata', it is said: [The duration of] the milking of a camel that has little milk (10). From Ibn Abbas, that he may make an exception after a while (11). This is the position of Mujahid. This position is invalid because of what we have mentioned, and estimating it by an assembly or otherwise is not correct, because the category of estimations is based on textual stipulation (tawqif), so one should not resort to them by arbitrary judgment.

Section: It is a condition that he makes the exception with his tongue; an exception made only in the heart does not benefit him, according to the opinion of the majority of scholars, among them al-Hasan, al-Nakha'i, Malik, al-Thawri, al-Awza'i, al-Layth,