remain valid. However, the correct view is what I mentioned earlier: so long as the speech is a single statement, and he remains in the same sitting and is still speaking, it is regarded as continuous speech, and the exception is valid.

His statement, “Its condition is that the intention be formed before the completion of that from which the exception is made”: this is the fourth condition of an exception—that one intend the exception before completing that from which the exception is made, rather than afterward. There are three cases here: that he intends it beforehand, afterward, or during the course of speaking.

Some scholars held that it is a condition for him to intend it before he begins speaking, but this is not the school’s position, and it is weak.

Intending the exception during the course of the statement is valid, and this is the school’s position.

According to the school’s position, intending the exception after the speech has been completed is not valid. Rather, it is a condition that he intend the exception before completing that from which the exception is made. Thus, if he says, “My four wives are divorced,” then immediately says, “Except for so-and-so,” but did not intend the exception until after the first sentence had been completed, then according to the school’s position, it is not valid.

The correct view is that it is valid for him to form the intention after he has completed the statement. The story of Solomon (1) is evidence for this, as is the story of al-ʿAbbās as well. For the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) made an exception, saying, “Except for idhkhir” (2), without having intended it beforehand. Had he intended it, he would have said it; rather, he only intended it after al-ʿAbbās reminded him, so he made the exception.