affairs be conducted according to their capacity.

Allah, exalted be He, says: “So fear Allah as best you can” (At-Taghābun 64:16). In other words, protect yourselves from His wrath and punishment by carrying out everything He has commanded—whatever brings you, as a community or as individuals, benefit and righteousness. Every benefit that Allah has enjoined, whose very attainment or perfection depends on one of the previously or subsequently mentioned means, must therefore be pursued to the extent of one’s ability; Allah does not charge people with what they cannot bear. Likewise, every harm or corruption that cannot be avoided except by adopting some of those means also falls under the duty of fearing Allah, for causes are inseparable from their effects and the means share the rulings of their ends.

Similarly, concerning every matter He has forbidden, He has given them the strength and resources to keep away from it, and He has provided lawful alternatives that suffice them. Among the most comprehensive verses on governance is His statement: “Indeed, Allah commands you to render trusts to those entitled to them, and when you judge between people, judge with justice. Excellent indeed is what Allah admonishes you with; surely Allah is All-Hearing, All-Seeing” (An-Nisāʾ 4:58), and the verse that follows it.

Trusts encompass many things, foremost among them positions of authority—major, minor, and intermediate, both religious and worldly. Allah has commanded that these trusts be delivered to their rightful owners by appointing to them those who are competent, for every office has its own qualified candidates. This procedure regarding appointments is one of the most effective means of rectifying every situation, for the soundness of affairs depends on the soundness of those who oversee, lead, administer, and work in them. It is therefore obligatory to entrust every position to the best available person, then the next best, for “the best you can hire is the strong and trustworthy” (Al-Qaṣaṣ 28:26).

The uprightness of those who hold major and minor offices is an unmistakable sign of the community’s uprightness, and the opposite holds true as well.

Allah then directed them to judge between people with justice—the justice for whose sake the heavens and the earth stand. Justice is the backbone and very spirit of all matters; when it is absent, everything becomes corrupt and the balance of every sphere is disturbed.

Judging with justice necessarily requires knowing what justice entails in each particular matter. If the ummah grasps the true nature of justice and understands its limits, it will place everything in its proper place, and those entrusted with offices