How sound is the explanation of the hadith: "However, had you given it to your maternal uncles, your reward would have been greater," and does this mean that gifting slaves to relatives yields greater reward than emancipating them?

The hadith is authentic, narrated by Al-Bukhari and Muslim, and it indicates the superiority of maintaining kinship ties and giving gifts to relatives over freeing slaves. Al-Nawawi states that it highlights the virtue of upholding kinship ties and showing kindness to relatives, and that it is better than freeing slaves. It also shows the importance of caring for the mother's relatives out of respect for her, and the permissibility for a woman to donate from her wealth without her husband's permission. Some scholars believe that the superiority varies according to circumstances; if the relatives are in need, then maintaining ties with them is better, otherwise, freeing slaves is more preferable, as mentioned by Ibn Hajar in Al-Fath.