over his emirate. This constitutes a renewal of his authority and a fresh appointment. However, the wording of the appointment contract need not include all the conditions required for an initial appointment. It is sufficient for the caliph to say, “I confirm you in your office.”
When initially appointing him to the emirate, the caliph must say: “I appoint you as emir over such-and-such a district and its inhabitants, with authority to oversee all matters pertaining to it”—stating this in detail, without ambiguity or any room for alternative interpretation.
When the caliph appoints an emir with these powers, this does not deprive the minister of the right to review and oversee them. Likewise, when the caliph appoints someone to the ministry, this does not remove this emir from his emirate. For when a general and a specific appointment coexist in the exercise of governmental authority, customary usage understands the general appointment to entail oversight and review of the specific office, while the specific appointment entails directly conducting and executing its affairs.
This minister may not appoint another minister without the caliph’s permission and express order, because the minister of execution acts by appointment, whereas the minister of delegation exercises autonomous authority.
If this emir wishes to increase the army’s stipends without a valid reason, he may not do so, because that would consume public funds without right. If he increases them because a circumstance has arisen that warrants it, the circumstance must be examined. If it is likely to cease—such as an increase necessitated by rising prices, an unforeseen incident, or expenses incurred during a war—the emir may pay the increase from the public treasury, and he need not seek the caliph’s authorization for it, since this falls among the matters of governance entrusted to his independent legal reasoning.
If, however, the reason for the increase is one that warrants making it permanent—such as an increase awarded for a war in which the troops distinguished themselves and achieved victory until it ended—then it requires the caliph’s authorization, and the emir may not ratify it independently.
He may grant stipends to the sons of soldiers who reach maturity and place them on the army’s pay rolls without an order from the caliph. He may not assign stipends to a newly constituted army except by order.
If the land-tax revenues exceed the stipends of his army, he must convey the surplus to the caliph so that it may be deposited in the general treasury designated for public interests. If the alms revenues exceed the needs of the eligible recipients in his jurisdiction, he is not required to convey the surplus to the caliph; rather, he must distribute it among the eligible recipients in the areas nearest to his jurisdiction. If the land-tax revenues fall short of his army’s stipends, he may ask the caliph to make up the shortfall from the public treasury. But if the alms revenues fall short of the needs of the eligible recipients in his jurisdiction, he may not demand that the caliph make up the shortfall, because army stipends are assessed according to sufficiency, whereas the entitlements of alms recipients are limited to the funds available.