The delegated assistant is the Wazir whom the Khaleefah appoints to bear with Him the responsibilities of ruling and authority. The Khaleefah delegates to Him the running of the state’s affairs according to his opinion and executing them according to his Ijtihad in compliance with the Shar’a rules.

The appointment of the Mu’awin is one of the Mubah matters that means the Khaleefah is allowed to appoint a delegated assistant to Him who helps Him in his responsibilities and tasks. Al-Haakim and at- Tirmithi reported from Abi Sa’id al-Khudri, He said that the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said:

“My two ministers (Wazirs) from the heavens are Jibreel and Mika’il and on the earth are Abu Bakr and ‘Umar.” The word Wazir in the Hadith means the helper and the assistant, which is the linguistic meaning. It has been used in the Qur’an with such a meaning; Allah (swt) says:

“Give me a minister (Wazir) from my family.” [TMQ Ta-Ha: 29]

The word Wazir in the Hadith is unrestricted (Mutlaq) which includes any help or assistance in any matter; therefore He can assist the Khaleefah in the functions and the tasks of the Khilafah. The Hadith of Abi Sa’id al- Khudri is not specific to the assistance in the matter of ruling, because Jibra’il and Mika’il, the two Wazirs of the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) from the heaven, have no relationship in helping Him in the responsibilities and functions of ruling. Therefore, the word Waziray (my two Wazirs) in the Hadith does not indicate other than the linguistic meaning, which is my two assistants. Taking anyone as an assistant or as a helper is of the Mubah matters, likewise appointing the Wazir is of the Mubah matters. The Messenger’s appointment of Abu Bakr and ‘Umar as Wazirs does not go out of the bounds of the linguistic meaning, since it does not appear that they carried along with the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) the tasks of ruling. However appointing them as two Wazirs to Him gives them the mandatory powers of assisting Him in every matter without restricting that in the matters and tasks of ruling and the government. Appointing them as Wazirs indicates that it is allowed for the Khaleefah to take as a Wazir a person who assists Him and helps Him in the matters and tasks of ruling. After Abu Bakr became the Khaleefah, He appointed ‘Umar ibn al- Khattab as an assistant to him. His assistance was so evident to the point that some of the Sahabah said to Abu Bakr; “we cannot tell whether the Khaleefah is yourself or ‘Umar.” Once ‘Umar held the post of the Khilafah, ‘Uthman and ‘Ali were ‘Umar’s assistants, but they did not appear to carry out any assistant role to ‘Umar in the matters of ruling. Their situation was similar to that of Abu Bakr and ‘Umar with the Messenger of Allah (pbuh). At the time of ‘Uthman, ‘Ali and Marwan ibn al-Hakam were his two assistants. However ‘Ali was unhappy about some affairs, so He remained distant. However, Marwan’s Wizara was quite evident in assisting ‘Uthman in the tasks of ruling.

If the Khaleefah appointed someone to be his assistant in the matters of ruling, He delegates to Him the administration of the affairs, in general terms, as a deputy to him. By such delegation, the delegated person becomes a Wazir and a delegated assistant to the Khaleefah and, He has responsibilities like those of the Khaleefah. However, He does not possess his powers by himself like the Khaleefah, rather through the assignment of the wizara’ to Him by the Khaleefah as a deputy to him. Therefore, if the Khaleefah declares I have appointed so and so person as my delegated Wazir, or as my delegated assistant, or if He said to someone: ‘Be my deputy in what is assigned to me’ or any other wording to that effect, then the designated person would thereafter enjoy all the mandatory powers of the Khaleefah as deputy to him. Al-Mawardi, in his book Al Ahkam Al-Sultaniyya called this post ‘Wizarat-ut-Tafweed, and He described it as follows; “As for the delegated Wizarah, it means that the Imam appoints a Wazir, for whom He delegates the running of the affairs according to his own opinion and executing them according to his own Ijtihad.”

This is the reality of the delegated assistant. He is an assistant to the Khaleefah in all the Khilafah functions. He has a mandate to perform any task related to the Khilafah, whether the Khaleefah delegated that particular task to Him or not, for He has been given a general delegation. However, He should report back to the Khaleefah for every task He performs, for He is an assistant and not a Khaleefah. Thus He cannot be independent of the Khaleefah but must report to Him about every action He undertakes no matter how big or small. This is because the running of the ruling affairs is commissioned to the Khaleefah.

This reality of the assistant or the Wazir in Shari’ah terms is totally different to the reality of the ministry in the democratic system. This is because the ministry in the democratic system is the government; which is a group of individuals who, in their capacity as a particular group, carry out the ruling. This is because ruling, in their view, belongs to the group not to the individual. In other words, the Imarah is collective and not singular. Thus, the actual ruler who enjoys all the mandatory powers to rule is the government i.e. a group of ministers as a minister and none of them enjoys the absolute mandate to rule, but the mandate to rule is shared amongst the whole cabinet. As for the single minister, He is assigned to one area of ruling in which He would posses mandatory powers, which the government as a whole assigns to him. As for the areas not been assigned to him, they remain in the hands of the government as a cabinet and not to Him in person. For instance, the minister of justice enjoys some mandatory powers within his ministry and there are other matters over which He has no mandate, rather they are decided and run by the government as a whole. This is the reality of the government in the democratic system. From it we notice a marked difference between it and the Wizara of the Islamic system and we can also see a wide difference in meaning between the word Wazir i.e. assistant in Islam and the word Wazir i.e., minister in the democratic system. Therefore, the Wazir and the Wizara (minister and ministry) in the Islamic system means the Khaleefah’s assistant in all his duties without exception, wherein He performs such duties and reports back to the Khaleefah. The wizara is a singular position run by one person, and if it were given to more than one person each one of them would enjoy the same mandatory powers that the Khaleefah possesses. The Wizara (ministry) in the democratic system, on the other hand, is in fact a group, and not an individual, where each minister has powers only over a specific area of ruling. He does not enjoy full powers rather limited ones. The above clearly illustrates the difference between the concepts of the Wazir and the Wizara in Islam and their concepts in the democratic system. Nevertheless, the meanings of the Wazir and the Wizara as portrayed by the democratic system are the meanings that are predominant and widespread; and once mentioned, they are the meanings that immediately spring to people’s minds. Therefore, to remove any confusion and to determine the exact Shari’ah meaning to the exclusion of all other meanings, it would be invalid to call the Khaleefah’s assistants Wazirs and use the term Wizara without restriction. Rather, He should be called assistant (Mu’awin) and that would be the true meaning. On the other hand, some form of restriction should be laid down when using the words Wazir and Wizara to dismiss the democratic meaning and indicate the Islamic meaning alone.We gather from all this that the Mu’awin is the person whose delegation includes the whole of the state’s functions in the whole of the state’s territories. Therefore, it is said; “the Khaleefah delegates to the assistant a general delegation as a deputy to himself.” Thus, the reality of the Mu’awin’s job is that it is a deputyship for the Khaleefah; this deputyship should be general, including all the affairs of the state, i.e. He is an assistant ruler.