their injustice is not of me, nor am I of him, and he will not come to me at the Cistern. Whoever does not accept their lies as true and does not assist them in their injustice is of me, and I am of him; he will come to the Cistern.”

In the two Sahīh collections, the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, is reported to have said:

“Adhere to truthfulness, for truthfulness leads to righteousness, and righteousness leads to Paradise. A man continues to speak the truth and diligently pursue truthfulness until he is recorded with Allah as thoroughly truthful. Beware of lying, for lying leads to wickedness, and wickedness leads to the Fire. A man continues to lie and diligently pursue falsehood until he is recorded with Allah as a persistent liar.”

Hence Allah, Glorified and Exalted, says:

“Shall I inform you upon whom the devils descend? They descend upon every sinful liar.”

He also says:

“We will surely seize him by the forelock—a lying, sinful forelock.”

Thus, everyone in authority must seek the assistance of truthful and just people. If that is not possible, he should seek the assistance of the best available, in order of merit, even if they have some dishonesty and injustice. For Allah supports this religion through a wicked man and through people who have no share of good. What is obligatory is only to do what is within one’s ability.

The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, or ‘Umar ibn al-Khattāb, said:

“Whoever appoints a man over a group when he can find among them someone more pleasing to Allah has betrayed Allah, betrayed His Messenger, and betrayed the believers.”

What is required, then, is to choose the one most pleasing to Allah from among those available; generally, there is no