The governor has the mandatory powers of ruling and responsibility over the tasks of the departments in his governorship as a delegate of the Khalifah, so he has all the powers in his province that the assistant has in the State. He has leadership over the people of his province and control over everything that is connected with it apart from the finances, judiciary and Army. However, the police come under his leadership from the angle of implementation not administration.

Its evidence is that the governor is the delegate of the Khalifah in the position that he was appointed to and so he has the mandatory powers of the Khalifah in that position, and he is similar to the assistant with respect to the general control if his governorship was a general one; in other words, he has been given the general control in that position. He has specific control in the issues that he was appointed to alone if his governorship was specific, and he has no mandatory powers for control in other than that.

The Messenger (pbuh) used to appoint the governors to unrestricted governorships in ruling, such as when he sent Mu’adh to Yemen and made him in charge of the prayer and Sadaqah. And some were appointed a specific governorship in a particular aspect, such as when he appointed Farwah Bin Masyak over the tribes Murad and Mathij and Zabid, and sent Khalid Bin Said Bin Al-’Aas with him over the charity. Accordingly, Mu’adh had a general governorship over the prayer and charity, whereas the governorship of Farwah Bin Masyak was specific to the prayer, and that of Khalid Bin Said to the charity.

In the same manner, the Messenger (pbuh) would send some governors and not teach them how to proceed - he sent ’Ali b. Abi Talib (ra) to Yemen and did not teach him anything due to his (pbuh) knowledge of him and his capability. He would send others and teach them how to proceed – he (pbuh) sent Mu’adh to Yemen and he said to him.

. كَيْفَ تَ قْضِي إِنْ عَرَضَ لَكَ قَضَاءٌ قَالَ أَقْضِي بِكِتَابِ اللَّهِ قَالَ فَإِنْ لَمْ يَكُنْ « فِي كِتَابِ اللَّهِ قَالَ فَسُنَّةِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَل ى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ فَإِنْ لَمْ يَكُنْ فِي سَنَةِ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ أَجْتَهِدُ رَأْيِي وَلَا آلُو قَالَ فَضَرَبَ صَدْرِي فَ قَالَ » الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ الَّذِي وَفَّقَ رَسُولَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ لِمَا ي رُْضِي رَسُولَه .

“What will you rule by?” He said: “By the Book of Allah.” He said: “What if you do not find the rule?” He said: “By the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (pbuh).” He said: “What if you do not find the rule?” He said: “I will exert my own opinion.” Upon this the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said: “Praise be to Allah Who guided the envoy of the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) to what satisfies His Messenger” (reported by Ahmad, Al-Tirmidhi, Al-Darimi and Abu Dawud, with the wording from Ahmad). Ibn Qudama mentioned similar to it in Al-Mughni and Al-Amidi in Al-Ihkam, so the narration is mashhur, and recognised scholars have taken it, and so from this angle it is considered Hasan.

Accordingly, it is permitted to appoint governors to general governorships or specific ones, as it is permitted to explain to them how to carry out their work in detail or in general.

Though it is permitted for the Khalifah to appoint governors to a general governorship, and to a specific governorship, it is confirmed from the general governorship of Mu’awiyah that he become independent of the Khalifah at the time of ’Uthman (ra), and the authority of ’Uthman over him was not apparent. After the death of ’Uthman (ra), the Fitnah occurred because Mu’awiyah had powers of ruling in all issues in the land of Al-Sham. And it is confirmed since the days of the weakness of the Abbasid Khulafaa’ that independence of governorates occurred, to the point that the Khalifah had no authority over them except for prayers being made and money being stamped in his name. From this, the bestowing of general governorships caused harm to the Islamic State, and for that reason the governorship of the governor is specific to that which does not lead to independence from the Khalifah. Since it is the Army, finances, and judiciary which enable the independence, because the Army is the power, and the finance is the support for life, and the judiciary makes apparent the protection of the rights and the establishment of the punishments, so accordingly the governorship for the governors is a specific governorship in other than the judiciary, Army and finance, since if they are in the hands of the governor, they can cause the danger of independence, and what that entails for the security of the State. Based upon this the second part of this article was drafted.

As for the final part, the governor is a ruler and it is imperative that he has the power of execution and for this reason the police are under his leadership and his leadership over it is comprehensive in the same manner it is comprehensive over all issues apart from the three just mentioned. However, the police are considered a part of the Army, so its administration is under them, but it is under the control of the governor.