This entails that the forty are in addition to him, just as if someone said, “Feed us, for we are forty.” Moreover, whenever a number is legally considered in a matter involving a leader, the leader is not included in that number. Its evidence is the witnesses to a marriage contract, who are distinct from the guardian, and likewise the witnesses before a judge concerning a claim, who are distinct from the judge. The same principle applies to congregational prayer.

The second view is that they must be forty including the imam. In a report narrated by al-Athram, he said: “When they are forty, they hold the Friday prayer.” He likewise said in the report of al-Maimuni: “When they are forty,” and in the report of Ibn al-Qasim: “Congregational prayer becomes obligatory when the inhabitants of a village are forty men.” Thus, he considered the total number to be forty.

The basis for this view is what ʿAṭāʾ narrated from Jābir, who said: “The established Sunnah is that among every three there is an imam, and among every forty or more there is a Friday prayer.” He thereby stated that the Sunnah considers the number forty. Since the imam is one of them, the number forty is present. Moreover, the number considered for congregational prayer includes the imam as one of them; the same applies to the number required for the Friday prayer.