village are forty men, each of whom can recite what is obligatory, but they are inferior to the slave in recitation, knowledge, jurisprudence, and worship—he may nevertheless not lead them in the Friday Prayer.

This is what the author’s words entail, because he is not among those upon whom it is obligatory.

The position of Abu Hanifah and the Shafi‘i school is that a slave may validly serve as imam for the Friday Prayer.

This is if we hold that the Friday Prayer is not obligatory upon a slave. But if we hold that it is obligatory upon him, then the Friday Prayer is established through him—that is, he completes the required number—and he may validly lead it.

As for the traveller, he may not validly serve as imam for the Friday Prayer, nor deliver its sermon. An example is a traveller who arrives in a town whose inhabitants are all ordinary laypeople, and whose preacher is one of them. Then this learned and deeply knowledgeable, devout man arrives in the town and leads them in prayer. According to the author’s view, their prayer is invalid because he is a traveller. Likewise, if he delivers the sermon for them and leads them in prayer, it is invalid, because one of the conditions of the sermon is that it be delivered by someone whose leadership of the Friday Prayer is valid. Current practice, however, is contrary to this; it accords with the position of the other three imams, and this is the weightier view.

A caller to Islam may come to one of the villages, deliver the Friday sermon, lead them in prayer, and leave while they believe their prayer to be valid. Yet according to the madhhab, their prayer is invalid; they must repeat it as a Friday Prayer if its time remains, and otherwise pray Zuhr.

In summary, regarding a woman, as the author stated: she may not validly deliver the sermon, lead the prayer, or be counted among the forty.