such as distributing ṣadaqah (voluntary charity), paying zakah, fulfilling vows, making expiations, and performing hajj or ʿumrah, for explicit textual evidence establishes their permissibility.
By contrast, any act that does not admit representation with respect to Allah’s rights cannot be delegated. These are the strictly bodily acts of worship—such as the prayer, fasting, and ritual purification from impurity—because they are inseparably linked to the person’s own body.
Agency is valid in establishing and carrying out the prescribed penalties (hudud), as evidenced by the Prophet’s words ﷺ: “O Unays, go to this man’s wife; if she confesses, then stone her.” Agreed upon.
An agent may not, in turn, appoint another to act for him in the matter entrusted to him except in the following cases:
- The principal expressly authorizes it, saying, for example, “Appoint whomever you wish,” or, “Do as you see fit.”
- The task is of a kind that someone of the agent’s standing—being among the distinguished—would ordinarily not perform himself.
- The agent is unable to carry out the task.
- The agent lacks the skill needed to perform the task.
In all these situations he may delegate only to a trustworthy person, for he has not been authorized to appoint anyone who is unreliable.
An agency contract is revocable by either party, for on the principal’s side it is merely a grant of permission,