Ninth: his statement, “leading the Friday and Eid prayers.” That is, he is responsible for leading the Friday and Eid prayers, unless they have a designated imam; in that case, their imam has greater right than anyone else. But if they have no imam, then the judge is the one charged with leading the Friday and Eid prayers. If there are multiple Friday congregations, he appoints deputies.

Tenth: his statement, “overseeing the interests of his jurisdiction,” that is, the interests of the area under his authority.

His statement, “by removing harm from the roads, their open spaces, and the like,” means that he undertakes what the municipality undertakes: removing harm from the roads and their open spaces. He is the one responsible. Thus, if we find something harmful in the marketplace, we go to the judge and say to him, “There is a harmful obstruction in such-and-such market, so remove it.”

His statement, “the roads and their open spaces”: the roads are well known, while the open spaces are the wider areas along the roads where sweepings, rubbish, and the like are thrown. The judge is responsible for overseeing them.

These are ten matters that the judge derives from his office. However, note that these ten matters mentioned by the author are not matters specifically prescribed by the Shariah, such that we may neither go beyond them nor fall short of them. Rather, they are customary matters—that is, it has become customary for the judge to undertake these matters on behalf of the ruler. If circumstances change, and the implication or requirement of the judicial appointment is that the judge is not obliged to carry out all these duties, then the matter is determined by custom. At present, adjudicating between disputants still remains [the judge’s duty], whereas restoring people’s rights from one another is not the judge’s responsibility; his duty is only to decide