The Institutions of State in the Khilafah by Hizb ut-Tahrir

The task of the delegated assistant is to submit to the Khalifah all the work he intends to perform. He then reports to the Khalifah what he has executed in terms of decisions and what he has discharged in terms of management and appointment, so that the assistant would not become like the Khalifah in his powers. Therefore, his job is to submit his review and then execute it, unless the Khalifah stops him from doing so. .

The evidence for this is the nature of the Mu’awin who is s a deputy of the Khalifah in the issue designated to him. A deputy acts on behalf of the person who appointed him as his deputy. Thus he does not become independent from the Khalifah, but rather reviews with him every action just as ‘Umar (ra) used to do when he was a wazir to Abu Bakr, whereby he would review with Abu Bakr what he intended to perform, then executed it accordingly. Reviewing with the Khalifah does not necessarily mean that he needs to ask his permission in every single detail, for this contradicts the nature of the Mu’awin. It rather means discussing the matter with him. These matters may be regarding the need of appointing a capable wali to one of the provinces, dealing with the complaints of the people regarding food shortage in the market, or any other affair of the state. He may also submit a matter to him, in the form of a presentation, which in the future may make it legitimate for the Mu’awin to carry out the matter with all its details, without the need for permission to act. However, if the Khalifah issues orders to stop the implementation of any matter, then it should not be executed. Hence, the presentation is simply the putting forward of a proposal and the consultation with the Khalifah about it; and it does not mean seeking permission to carry out the task. The Mu’awin can execute the task in question as long as the Khalifah does not stop him from doing so. .

The Khalifah should review the actions of the Mu’awin and his management of affairs, in order to approve what is right and redress what is wrong. This is so because the management of the Ummah’s affairs is commissioned to the Khalifah and discharged according to his own ijtihad. The evidence for this is the Hadith of responsibility over the subjects where the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said: .

“The Imam is a guardian and he is responsible over his subjects.” [Bukhari, Sahih. #893].

Therefore, the Khalifah is entitled to the task of government and he is responsible over his subjects, whereas the delegated Mu’awin is not responsible over the subjects, but he is merely responsible for his own actions. The responsibility over the subjects is confined to the Khalifah alone. Therefore, the Khalifah is obliged to review the actions of the Mu’awin and his performance in order to fulfil his duty towards his subjects. Aside from this, the delegated assistant can sometimes make errors, and the Khalifah has to redress such errors, so he has to review all the assistant’s actions. Therefore, it is for these two reasons: fulfilling responsibility towards his subjects and redressing potential errors made by the delegated assistant, that the Khalifah is obliged to review all of the Mu’awin’s actions. .

If the delegated assistant decided a matter and the Khalifah approved of it, the Mu’awin could then execute it without any alterations. If the Khalifah objected to what the Mu’awin executed, then in this case the matter would be examined. If the Mu’awin correctly carried out a verdict or if he spent some funds in the correct areas or in certain projects then the Mu’awin’s opinion comes into force, for in principle, it is the Khalifah’s opinion, and the Khalifah has no right to redress what the Mu’awin executed in terms of rules or funds he spent. However, if the Mu’awin had performed other types of actions, such as the appointment of a Wali or the preparation of an army, the Khalifah has the right to reverse the Mu’awin’s decision and enforce his own opinion, thus nullifying the Mu’awin’s actions. This is because the Khalifah has the right to redress his own actions so he has the right to redress the actions of his assistants. .

This is the description of the way in which the Mu’awin performs his duties and the way in which the Khalifah reviews the Mu’awin’s actions. It is derived from the actions the Khalifah is allowed to redress and the actions he is not allowed to redress, because the actions of the delegated Mu’awin are considered as actions of the Khalifah. As an explanation for this, it is allowed for the delegated assistant to rule by himself and to appoint rulers as it is allowed for the Khalifah. This is so, because the conditions of ruling have been conferred to him. He is also entitled to investigate the complaints or to deputize someone to do so, because the conditions of complaints have been verified for him. .

He is also entitled to take charge of Jihad by himself, or appoint someone to do so, for the conditions of war have been verified for him. He is entitled to execute matters he has decided or to deputize someone to execute them on his behalf, for the conditions of voicing an opinion and management are conferred to him. However, this does not mean that whatever the Mu’awin performed can’t be reversed by the Khalifah, as long as he had been briefed about it. It rather means that he possesses the same powers as the Khalifah, but he acts on his behalf and not independent of him. Therefore, the Khalifah is entitled to disagree with the Mu’awin and redress what has been executed or reverse any of his actions, bearing in mind that this applies only to the sort of actions which the Khalifah can redress of his own actions. .

If the Mu’awin executed a rule correctly or spent funds in the right areas then the Khalifah’s objections would be illegitimate and the Mu’awin’s decision would be executed. This is because in principle, it is the Khalifah’s own decision and in such cases he himself cannot reverse his decision or nullify what he himself had executed. Hence, he could not reverse his Mu’awin’s action. However, if the Mu’awin had appointed a Wali, an administrator, an army commander or any other appointee or if he had laid down an economic strategy, a military plan or an industrial program or any similar undertaking, then the Khalifah is allowed to nullify it. This is because, although they are considered as being the Khalifah’s opinions they fall under the category of decisions which the Khalifah is entitled to redress even when done by himself. Accordingly he could redress the Mu’awin’s decisions. In conclusion it is allowed for the Khalifah to nullify the actions of the Mu’awin. The basic rule concerning this would be as follows: the Khalifah can redress any action undertaken by the Mu’awin as long as the action is from those which he can redress when undertaken by himself; whereas any action the Khalifah cannot redress of himself, he is not permitted to redress the same action if performed by his Mu’awin. .

The delegated Mu’awin is not designated to any particular department of the administration system, like the education department, because those who take charge of the administration matters are civil servants and not rulers; whilst, the delegated assistant is a ruler, rather than a civil servant. His task is to take charge of the affairs and not to occupy the role of civil servants. .

This is the reason why he does not run the administrative matters. However, it does not mean that he is prevented from carrying out any administrative action. Rather he is given general responsibility and is not confined to the administrative functions.