The assistants are the wazirs whom the Khalifah appoints to assist him in discharging the tasks and responsibilities of the Khilafah. There are numerous tasks in the Khilafah, especially when the State is growing and expanding, and these would be a heavy burden for the Khalifah alone. Hence he needs people to help him in carrying this burden and discharging his responsibilities. .

It is invalid to call them wazirs without restriction, otherwise the meaning of wazir in Islam will be confused with its meaning in the current man made systems based on the secular, capitalist democratic basis, or other systems we observe today. .

The delegate assistant or mu’awin at-tafwid is the wazir appointed by the Khalifah to carry with him the responsibility of ruling and authority. So, the Khalifah delegates to him the discharge of the affairs according to his own opinion and to execute them according to his own ijtihad, in accordance with the divine rules. Thus the Khalifah delegates to him general examination of the affairs and general deputyship. .

Al-Hakim and at-Tirmidhi reported from Abi Sa’id al-Khudri that the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said: .

“My two ministers (wazirs) from the heavens are Jibra’il and Mika’il and my two ministers on the earth are Abu Bakr and ‘Umar.” [Al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, vol.1, p.10, #3046 and Tirmidhi, Sunan, #3680] .

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 when Allah (S.W.T) says: .

‘Give me a minister from my family.’ [TMQ 20:29].