or merely its wording?!
I have examined the ḥadith in detail at the very beginning of Irwāʾ al-Ghalīl, no. 2, where I pointed out another defect—namely the inconsistency of that weak narrator in the wording itself, appearing in several forms that I clarified there. Refer to it, if you wish, for the full investigation.

He says: “In one version: ‘A sermon in which there is no testimony is like a maimed hand.’ It was narrated by Aḥmad, Abū Dāwūd, and al-Tirmidhī, who said: tashahhada in place of shahāda.”

I reply: The version of Abū Dāwūd (4841) is identical to al-Tirmidhī’s and is more reliable. Al-Tirmidhī declared it: “a ḥadith that is ḥasan, ṣaḥīḥ, and gharīb” (good, sound, and singular). Its chain is sound, and it is recorded in Musnad Aḥmad 2/302 and 343.

That said, I would have liked the author not to omit from his book the Sermon of Need—khuṭbat al-ḥājah—which the Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to teach his Companions, especially since it contains the very formula of testimony mentioned in this ḥadith and others, such as the report of Jābir ibn ʿAbd-Allāh (may Allah be pleased with him):
“The Prophet ﷺ, on the day of Jumuʿah, would praise Allah and extol Him, then would immediately say…” Reported by Muslim 3/11.

The wording of the sermon, as it appears in several aḥādīth which I have gathered in a separate treatise to which I shall allude, Allah willing, is:
“All praise is for Allah; we praise Him, seek His help, and ask His forgiveness. We seek refuge in Allah from the evils within ourselves and from our misdeeds. Whomever Allah guides, none can misguide; and whomever He leads astray, none can guide.
I bear witness that there is no god but Allah alone, without partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and messenger.”