an obligation cannot be fulfilled is itself obligatory. Such an official may be unnecessary when the workload is light and the ruler personally audits the accounts. The same applies to the ruler’s appointment of a judge: he must appoint one when need and public benefit require it, if rights cannot otherwise reach those entitled to them, or obligations cannot be fulfilled and prohibited acts avoided. The ruler may dispense with a judge if he can adjudicate personally.

{For this reason, the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, personally adjudicated disputes and examined accounts.}

In places distant from him, he appointed someone to undertake these duties. When the population under Muslim rule increased during the time of Abū Bakr, ʿUmar, and the other caliphs, they appointed judges and established administrative offices in their garrison cities and elsewhere. Thus, ʿUmar appointed Zayd ibn Thābit as his deputy in Medina to oversee judicial affairs and the administrative office.

In Kufa, he appointed ʿAmmār ibn Yāsir to lead the prayers and command the army—combining the roles of the ruler’s deputy and the preacher—for the established sunnah was that the military commander would lead the people in prayer. He appointed ʿAbd Allah ibn Masʿūd to oversee judicial affairs and the public treasury, and ʿUthmān ibn Hunayf to oversee the land-tax office.

When the central auditor performs his assigned duties, he is entitled to the stipend allocated to him and any remuneration he was lawfully permitted to stipulate. If he performs this work but is not paid his remuneration, he may seek payment for the particular work, for whatever becomes due through a transaction must be paid.