if she is his slave-girl, he said: She is emancipated by him. He also said regarding a man who spoke to servants standing at a banquet: "Pass by, you are free." There was an umm al-walad (mother of his child) among them, of whom he was unaware; he said: In my view, this emancipates his umm al-walad. It is also possible that she is not emancipated in these two cases, because he intended something other than emancipation with the first expression, so she is not emancipated by it, just as if he said: "My slave is free," intending that he is chaste and of noble character; and by the second expression, he intended someone other than his umm al-walad, which is similar to if he called to one of his wives, and another answered him, so he said: "You are divorced," thinking it was the one he called; she would not be divorced, according to one narration, and likewise here. As for when he intends something other than emancipation, such as a man saying: "This slave of mine is free," intending his chastity and nobility of character; or he says to his slave: "You are nothing but free," meaning: "You do not obey me, nor do you see any right or obedience due to me over you," then he is not emancipated according to the manifest view of the Madhhab. Hanbal said: Abu Abd Allah was asked about a man who said to his servant: "You are free," while he was scolding him. He said: If he did not intend emancipation by it, and says: "It is as if you were free," not intending that he be free, or speech similar to this (12), I hope that he is not emancipated, and I fear the question; because he intended by his speech what it could bear, so it was interpreted accordingly, just as if he had intended emancipation by an ambiguous expression of emancipation. (13) This was also the position of al-Thawri and Ibn al-Mundhir. He said: And if he is required to take an oath, he shall swear. The evidence for the possibility of the expression being what he intended is that a free woman is praised with this, as it is said: "A free woman (hurrah)," meaning chaste. A slave woman is also praised with it, and one who is bashful and of noble character is called: "Free (hurr)." Subay'ah said, elegizing (14) Abd al-Muttalib:

And do not weary of weeping every night And day for a free man of noble character

As for the implicit (kinayah), it is like his saying: "I have no way over you," "I have no authority over you," "You are a sa'ibah (set free)," "Go wherever you wish," and "I have released you." Thus, if he intends emancipation by this, he is emancipated because it allows for it; and if he does not intend it, he is not emancipated because it allows for other meanings. No Book, Sunnah, or customary usage has arrived regarding it. The Qadi and Abu al-Khattab mentioned two narrations regarding his saying: "I have no way over you," and "I have no authority over you"; one of them is that it is explicit, and the second is that it is (15) implicit, which is the correct one, for the reason we mentioned. As for if...