The Khaleefah is the leader of the army and He is the one who appoints the Chief of Staff and an Ameer to every brigade, and a commander to every division. With regards to the other posts in the army the commanders of the brigades appoint them. Appointing a person to the staff has to be according to his military culture and the Chief of Staff appoints him.

This is because the Khilafah is the general leadership for all the Muslims in the world. It is responsible for establishing the Shar’a rules and for conveying the Message to the world. The way of conveying the Message to the world is Jihad. Therefore the Khaleefah should take charge of the Jihad because the Khilafah contract has been convened upon Him alone, so it is not allowed for any other person to carry it out other than him. Thus the Khaleefah takes responsibility for Jihad himself. It is not allowed for anyone other than Him to undertake it, although every Muslim carries out Jihad. Hence carrying out Jihad is one matter and holding of its responsibility is another. Jihad is a duty upon every Muslim, but holding of its responsibility is only for the Khaleefah. Regarding the fact that the Khaleefah may appoint another person on his behalf to carry out his duty, this is allowed under his own observation and supervision and it is not allowed for this person to be independent, rather under the Khaleefah’s observation and supervision. This type of delegation is not the same as the work of an assistant to the Khaleefah. Reporting to the Khaleefah in this context means that the one who carries out Jihad on his behalf should be under his supervision. Leadership of the army with this restriction i.e. under the Khaleefah’s observation and supervision, is allowed to be given to whomever He wishes. However, to take charge of the army without his observation and supervision, leaving the Khaleefah only as a figurehead, is not allowed. This is because the Khilafah contract has been convened upon him, so He has to take the responsibility for the matters of Jihad. Therefore, what is usually said in the non-Islamic systems that the Head of State is the supreme leader of the army, meaning He is a formal leader only, while another leader runs the army independently, this is considered invalid in the view of Islam. It is a matter which does not agree with the Shar’a. However, for other types of leadership issues like the administrative and technical matters, the Khaleefah is allowed to appoint someone on his behalf to carry them out independently as He appoints the Governors who do not necessarily have to be under his supervision or observation. The Messenger (pbuh) also used to undertake the leadership of the army himself, undertake the leadership of the battles and He also appointed leaders of the divisions of the army which went out for fighting without him, namely the expeditions. For every expedition He used to appoint a commander and in some cases He used to take the precaution of naming who should succeed the commander in case He was killed as happened in the expedition of Mu’ta. Al-Bukhari narrated on the authority of ‘Abdullah bin ‘Umar who said;

“The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) appointed Zaid bin Harith as an Ameer in the battle of Mu’ta. The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said; ‘If Zaid is killed, then it will be Ja’afar (as the Ameer) and if Ja’afar is killed then it will be ‘Abdullah bin Rawaha (as the Ameer).”’ So the Khaleefah is the one who appoints the leaders of the armies, its commanders, and ties for them the flags and appoints the leaders of the divisions. The army that was sent to Syria like the Army of Mu’ta and the army of Usama was one brigade because the evidence for this is that the Prophet (pbuh) had tied the flag to Usama. The expeditions that fought in the Arabian Peninsula and returned back to Madinah, such as the expedition of Sa’d bin Waqqas that He (pbuh) sent towards Makkah, were all in the form of divisions. This indicates that the Ameers of the brigades and the commanders of the divisions are appointed by the Khaleefah. This was indicated by the fact that the Prophet (pbuh) used to remain in close contact with the sergeants and commanders in his expeditions and He used to know the conditions of the army i.e. the soldiers through their sergeants and captains. The Prophet (pbuh) was not proved to have appointed other than leaders of the armies and the commanders of the expeditions. This indicates that their appointment in the Ghazawat was left to their leaders. As regards the Chief of Staff who is responsible for the technical matters, He is like the army leader in terms of being appointed by the Khaleefah and He can be made independent and carry out his duties without being directly supervised by the Khaleefah, although He has to be under his command.