This is the fourth condition for the validity of the sermon: exhorting people to fear Allah, the Exalted.

Exhortation means that the preacher enjoins the listeners to fear Allah, whether he says, “I exhort you to fear Allah,” or, “O people, fear Allah.” He must exhort them to fear Allah, for this is the essence of the sermon: through it people are admonished, reminded, their hearts softened, and counselled to do what benefits them.

If he conveys the meaning of fearing Allah without using the actual expression, such as by saying, “O people, carry out Allah’s commands and refrain from what Allah has prohibited,” this is valid. Likewise, if he says, “O people, obey Allah, uphold His commands, and refrain from His prohibitions,” it suffices.

“And the attendance of the requisite number …”

His statement: “And the attendance of the requisite number.”

This is the fifth condition for the validity of the sermon: the requisite number must be present for both sermons. Thus, forty of those upon whom attending it is obligatory must be present. If twenty attend the sermon, and then, when the prayer is called to commence, their number reaches forty before he begins the prayer, the two sermons are not valid, and he must repeat them.

Likewise, if forty attend for half of the sermon, it is not sufficient.

The correct view is that fixing the number at forty is not sound, as mentioned previously. However, if we hold that the presence of three is stipulated, then the three must be present.

His statement, “among the conditions for their validity”: the word “among” indicates partiality, and partiality indicates that some conditions have not been mentioned—that those cited are only some of them, not all of them. Thus, there are other conditions in addition to those mentioned.