Book of Agency

1. Conditions concerning the principal (muwakkil)
   The agency is valid only when the principal himself could lawfully perform the act he is delegating, whether by right of ownership or by guardianship. Consequently, an agency contract issued by a minor, an insane person, a woman, or a pilgrim in a state of consecration (muḥrim) with respect to marriage is invalid. The child’s guardian, however, may appoint an agent on the child’s behalf, and—by way of exception—a blind person may validly appoint (or be appointed) an agent for buying and selling.

2. Conditions concerning the agent (wakīl)
   The agent must likewise be qualified to transact on his own behalf; therefore, a minor or an insane person, and—regarding marriage—a woman or a muḥrim, may not serve as an agent. The sound view, nevertheless, accepts a child’s permission when it is limited to letting someone enter a house or to delivering a gift. The stronger opinion also validates appointing a slave to accept (qabūl) a marriage contract, though not to initiate the proposal (ījāb).

3. Conditions concerning the subject matter of agency
   (a) Ownership. The principal must already own what he is deputising about. Thus, if he authorises the sale of a slave he has yet to acquire, or the divorce of a woman he will only later marry, the agency is, according to the soundest view, void.
   (b) Susceptibility to representation. The act must admit of deputation; agency is therefore invalid for devotional acts such as performing ḥajj, distributing zakāh, or slaughtering the uḍḥiyah, and for giving testimony, īlāʾ (the oath of abstinence), liʿān (mutual imprecation), other oaths, and—on the stronger view—ẓihār.
   It is, however, valid for both sides of transactions—sale, gift, salam, pledge, marriage, divorce, and other contracts and terminations; for receiving and disbursing debts; for bringing claims and replying to them; and, according to the more prevalent view, for acquiring ownerless property such as reviving waste land, hunting, or gathering fire-wood—though not, on the sounder opinion, for issuing a confession. Agency is likewise valid for exacting penalties involving private rights, such as qiṣāṣ and the ḥadd for slander, although one opinion restricts this to cases where the principal is present.

4. Degree of specification
   The matter authorised must be identified in at least one respect, though not in every detail. Hence, if he says, “I appoint you for every large and small matter,” “in all my affairs,” or “I delegate everything to you,” the agency is invalid. By contrast, saying, “to sell my slaves,” or “to manumit my bond-servants,” is valid. Likewise, if he deputises him to purchase a slave, the category of slave must be specified, and if to buy a house, the district must be named.