the substitute is the make-up performance (qadaʾ), and qadaʾ means carrying out the act’s replacement or equivalent.

The principle, then, is that the primary obligation is to perform the original act; if fulfilling it becomes impossible, the ruling transfers to its substitute.

This applies to the rights owed to Allah—such as offering each prayer within its appointed time—and to the rights of human beings, as in restoring property taken by force.

Thus one must render the act in its complete form: for instance, praying on time and in congregation. Should the time lapse or the congregation disperse, one performs the make-up prayer after the congregation has been missed or the time has expired.

Likewise, usurped property must be returned in full. If restitution is impossible because the item has perished or cannot be delivered, an identical replacement is given when the item is fungible, or its market value when it is non-fungible.

Among the proofs for this maxim are the words of Allah, “Guard strictly your prayers, especially the middle prayer, and stand before Allah in devout obedience. But if you are in fear, then pray on foot or riding” (Quran 2:238–239); and His words, “Whoever among you cannot afford to marry free believing women, let him marry from the believing maidservants whom your right hands possess” (Quran 4:25).

Sixth Maxim: “Acts of governance concerning the populace are contingent upon their welfare.”

Lexically, raʿiyyah refers to the general body of people, while manūṭ (“contingent”) is the passive participle of nāṭa—‘to attach or suspend’—meaning “linked” or “dependent upon.”

Technically, any act undertaken by the ruler—or by anyone entrusted with Muslim public affairs—must be founded upon, and intended to achieve, the common welfare; otherwise it is neither valid nor enforceable in the Sacred Law.

This maxim therefore regulates the conduct of everyone charged with public matters—be it a ruler, commander, judge, or civil servant—indicating that for their decisions to be binding they must be based on the interest of the community. Governors and public employees are not working for themselves; they are representatives of the ummah in managing its affairs, and so they must take into consideration