truth, falsehood would have gained currency (1) among many who are unfamiliar with such practices.

Allah may indeed suspend the customary order for whichever of His servants He wills, through the miracles of the prophets and the extraordinary gifts granted to the righteous. This, however, does not depend upon the methods employed by fraudulent alchemists and sorcerers. Rather, Allah may turn eggplants and pebbles into gold and silver for whomever He wills, although most of these people would spend some of it even if Allah transmuted it for them.

Another duty incumbent upon the ruler is to scrutinize the market-regulation officials, what they introduce in Allah’s name (2) into the prices charged to Muslims, and their collusion with sellers of flour and other goods in return for the illicit gains they receive. The harm this causes is widespread. Unless the chief market inspector is a man who fears Allah and whose integrity can be trusted, the money offered to him will make men of his kind waver. Those who defraud people of their due and run rampant throughout the land spreading corruption regard winning such officials over as a major means of acquiring their tainted wealth. They therefore offer large sums for it, though these are but a small portion of their immense gains. Their predecessors long ago said to Shuayb, peace be upon him:

“Does your prayer command us to abandon what our forefathers worshipped, or to cease doing with our wealth as we please? You are indeed the forbearing, the discerning!” [Hūd: 87]

Although these matters concern public rights that must be upheld proactively—as is the case with the rights of Allah—and do not belong to any particular individual [أ/ق 73], complaints about them are often lodged by particular persons. They therefore fall within adjudication between people in financial matters and within judicial authority, and they are governed like analogous cases. Allah knows best.