of the two ministries.

[Appointment to the Emirate]

When the caliph appoints an emir over a province or city, the nature of the appointment must be considered. If his emirate is a general one—that is, if the caliph delegates to him authority over a city or province, jurisdiction over all its inhabitants, and oversight of all its customary affairs—then his oversight is comprehensive within the otherwise limited scope of his assignment.

His authority encompasses seven matters. First: managing the army, deploying its troops throughout the districts, and determining their stipends, unless the caliph has already determined them. Second: overseeing judicial matters and appointing judges and magistrates.

Ishaq ibn Ibrahim transmitted from Ahmad the following concerning a group who go on campaign with an emir: if he appoints someone over them, and that emir appoints another, Ahmad said, “If his superior instructed him to do so, there is no harm.” The apparent meaning is that if he did not instruct him, it would not be permissible. This applies to a special emirate, the explanation of which will follow.

Third: collecting the land tax, receiving alms, appointing officials, and distributing whatever is due from those revenues. Fourth: protecting the inviolable interests of the Muslims, defending the realm, and safeguarding the religion from alteration or substitution. Fifth: enforcing the prescribed punishments relating both to Allah’s rights and to the rights of human beings. Sixth: leading the Friday and congregational prayers, either performing them himself or appointing a deputy to do so. Seventh: organizing the departure of pilgrims from his own jurisdiction and from outside it, until they set out with his assistance.

If the province is a frontier bordering the enemy, he wages jihad against the enemy forces adjacent to it, distributes their spoils among the combatants, and sets aside one-fifth for those entitled to it. The conditions applicable to the ministry of delegation are also required for this emirate.

The appointment contract must then be examined. If the caliph himself made the appointment, the minister of delegation has the right to supervise and inspect the emir, but he may not dismiss him or transfer him from one province to another. If the minister alone made the appointment, the matter must be examined. If he appointed the emir on behalf of the caliph, he may neither dismiss nor transfer him from one jurisdiction to another except with the caliph’s permission. Even if the minister himself is dismissed, this emir is not thereby dismissed. But if the minister appointed him on his own authority, then the emir is his deputy, and the minister may independently dismiss him and appoint a replacement, in accordance with what his independent legal reasoning determines to be most beneficial.

If the minister made the appointment without qualification, failing to state whether it was made on his own behalf or on behalf of the caliph, the appointment is deemed to have been made on his own behalf. He may therefore dismiss the emir independently; and once the minister is dismissed, this emir is also dismissed, unless the caliph confirms him