2 – It also indicates that those upon whom zakah is due may hand it over to the authorised collector once they are certain of his legitimate appointment.
3 – The texts show the obligation to select people of proven integrity for these crucial financial posts; among the Prophet’s ﷺ deputies were ʿUmar ibn al-Khattab and ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib.
4 – They further establish the legitimacy of dispatching officials and collectors to receive zakah, for this is a major religious rite whose public manifestation is commendable.
5 – Hadith 760 proves the validity of appointing an agent to slaughter the sacrificial animals—whether hady or udhiyah—and to distribute their meat, skins, and cloth coverings to the needy, as mentioned in the rest of the report.
6 – These narrations are simply examples of actions that admit representation and therefore allow agency. In reality the individual cases are many and varied. The guiding principle that distinguishes matters in which agency is valid from those in which it is not is this: the act must be something that is not confined to the doer himself and can be executed through a proxy. If the act is intrinsically personal and does not permit delegation—such as oaths, liʿān, vows, fairly apportioning nights among wives, and the like—agency is invalid. A person may, however, appoint a proxy for any task he is able to perform himself.
7 – Hadith 761 provides evidence that one may authorise another to establish the prescribed punishments and to secure the confession of the accused.
8 – It also shows that the ruler may delegate the execution of legal penalties, whether or not he is personally able to carry them out.
9 – The reports demonstrate that neither the authorisation issued by the principal nor its acceptance by the agent is restricted to any particular wording; whatever speech or action conveys consent is sufficient. Had specific wording been mandatory, the hadith would have mentioned it.
10 – Finally, they prove that agency may extend to acts of worship, provided those acts are of a type that permit delegation.