Then the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, stood and delivered a sermon, saying:

“O people, those before you were destroyed only because, when a noble person among them stole, they let him go; but when a lowly person among them stole, they carried out the prescribed punishment upon him. By Allah, were Fatimah, the daughter of Muhammad, to steal, I would cut off her hand.” (1)

O Allah, send prayers and peace upon him. He swore—and he was truthful and righteous even without an oath—that if Fatimah, the daughter of Muhammad, were to steal, he would cut off her hand, despite her being the foremost of the women of Paradise and the most nobly descended of women. He mentioned Fatimah, may Allah be pleased with her, rather than anyone else because the case concerned a woman.

The author then explained the formula for appointing a judge, saying:

“Then he says”—that is, the ruler, or someone deputed by the ruler, such as, for example, the Minister of Justice in our time.

His statement, “I appoint you to the judiciary,” or “I invest you with it,” and the like: that is, any similar wording indicating appointment. Thus, if he were to say, for example, “I have appointed you as a judge in such-and-such a place,” the appointment is valid. Likewise, if he were to say, “I have made you a judge in such-and-such a town.” This is because what counts is the meanings, not the particular words. Words have been made vessels for meanings; therefore, any expression that conveys the intended meaning is sufficient to conclude contracts. There is no particular wording whose use is an act of worship, such that people can conclude a contract only by employing it. This applies even to marriage, according to the sounder view: every expression that indicates the contract validly concludes it.

His statement, “and he writes to him when he is far away,” means that if he is far away, he writes to him