The Wulah are appointed by the Khaleefah, whereas the ‘Aamileen are appointed by the Khaleefah and by the Wulah if they are delegated to do so. The conditions required for the Wulah and ‘Aamileen are the same as those of the Assistants. They should be Muslim, male, free, mature, sane and just, as well as competent in their task, and they should be chosen from among the pious and the influential Muslims.

It was the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) who used to appoint the Wulah and the Ameers of the countries. He (swt) used to appoint them over a whole Wilayah as in the case of Amr Ibnu Hazm when He appointed Him over the whole of Yemen. In some cases, He (pbuh) used to appoint a Waali over a part of the Wilayah as was the case with Mu’az bin Jabal and Abu Moussa. He (pbuh) sent each one of them to a different part of Yemen, each part independent of the other, and He said to them:

“Be gentle and do not be harsh, bring glad tidings and do not drive people away and do help each other.” [Narrated by Al-Bukhari] In other narration, He (pbuh) added; “and co-operate with each other.” As for the evidence regarding the fact that the Waali is permitted to appoint the ‘Aamileen within his Wilayah, this is taken from the fact that the Khaleefah reserves the right to delegate the appoinment of ‘Aamileen to the Waali.

Regarding the evidence about the conditions required for the Waali’s post being the same as those for the delegated Assistant, this is extracted from the fact that the Waali is like the Mu’awin (the Assistant) He is a deputy to the Khaleefah in ruling matters. Therefore, He is a ruler and He should fulfil the same requirement of the Khaleefah. He should be male, for the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said; “People who appoint a woman to have a Wilayah over their Amr (affairs) shall never succeed.” [Narrated by Al-Bukhari on the authority of Abi Bakra] Here the word Wilayah means ruling; and the word Amr, when used in the context of Wilayah, means ruling and authority. He should also be a free man, for the slave does not own himself, thus He cannot be a ruler over others. He should also be Muslim, for Allah (pbuh) says; “Allah will never allow authority to the disbelievers over the believers.” []