“…if my agent asks you for a token—a sign that you are truly acting on what I have authorized—place your hand on his collar-bone.”

2 – The report proves the validity of agency (wakālah), a point on which the scholars are unanimously agreed.

3 – It permits appointing an agent to collect zakah and to distribute it to its rightful recipients.

4 – It shows that one may rely on a predetermined sign and accept the messenger’s word when the addressee knows him to be truthful.

5 – It further indicates that circumstantial evidence concerning another person’s property may be acted upon when its truth is highly probable.

6 – The narration recommends that the principal and his agent agree upon a private token known only to them, so the agent can rely on it when executing the principal’s directives. For that reason the Prophet ﷺ said to Jābir, “If he asks you for a sign, place your hand on his collar-bone.” The coded phrases used in international diplomacy and the passwords employed by scouts and patrols fall under the same principle.

7 – It confirms that the wayfarer may receive zakah, for he is one of the eight categories entitled to it.