The Khalifah appoints a supreme judge to the judiciary from the male, adult, free, Muslim, sane, just people who know jurisprudence, and if he was given the power to appoint and remove the Madhalim judge, and had the power of judgement in the Madhalim, then he would have to be a Mujtahid. He would have the power to appoint judges, discipline them, and remove them as part of the administrative systems. As for the remainder of the civil servants of the courts, they are connected to the Department Manager who is responsible for the courts’ affairs.

The origin is that the Khalifah can appoint governors to a specific governorship upon one of the issues in all the parts of the State, just as he can appoint a governor to a specific governorship upon one of the issues in a specific location, similar to how he can appoint a governor to a general governorship in a specific location. So, just as the Khalifah can empower a leader for Jihad, and one for Hajj, and one over the land taxes, he can also empower a leader for the judiciary. He can give that leader the right to appoint judges, remove them and discipline them, in the same way that he can give the leader of Jihad the right to appoint Majors and Corporals over the soldiers, and discipline them and remove them. Due to this it is permitted for the Khalifah to appoint a Supreme Judge, or in other words, a leader over the judiciary. This Supreme Judge, or leader of the judiciary, would be a ruler and not a civil servant, since he is a governor who has undertaken a governorship - in other words, ruling - just like any leader or governor over any of the issues. However, he is not considered to be an assistant for the Khalifah in the judiciary because he was given a specific appointment, in other words, in all the issues of judiciary, and so his appointment is in the judiciary and does not go beyond that. As for the assistant, he is given a general appointment in all the issues, so the Khalifah can seek his help in all issues, unlike the Supreme Judge who can assist in the judiciary alone.

It is not confirmed that the Messenger (pbuh) appointed a Supreme Judge, in the same way that it is not confirmed that any of the righteous guided Khulafaa’ appointed a Supreme Judge. There is nothing that indicates that the judiciary in the territories used to have deputies who would carry out the judiciary in the towns and villages, neither in the time of the righteous guided Khulafaa’, and not even by the time of the Ummayads. The first appointment of a supreme judge by the Khalifah was at the time of Harun Al-Rashid, and the first judge to be given this description was the judge Abu Yusuf, the famous Mujtahid, who was a companion of Abu Hanifah. Accordingly, it is permitted for the Khalifah to appoint a judge who is given the power to appoint and remove judges; so it is from the permitted actions.

Based upon this it is permitted for the Khalifah to appoint a “Supreme Judge”. However, his pre-conditions are the same of those of the judge and the ruler, since he is a judge and a ruler since he has been given the power to appoint judges and to adjudicate in court cases. In other words, it is a condition for the Supreme Judge to be male, adult, free, Muslim, sane, just, and from the people who know the jurisprudence, since the condition of capability in this case means that he should know jurisprudence since his work is responsibility over the judiciary in addition to his powers of judging. The Messenger (pbuh) has blamed whoever judges with ignorance and informed us that they would be from the people of the hellfire; he said.

. » وَرَجُلٌ قَضَى لِلنَّاسِ عَلَى جَهْلٍ فَ هُوَ فِي النَّارِ « .

“And a man who passess judgement on the people in ignorance will be in hellfire” (reported by the authors of the Sunan and Al-Hakim who authenticated it from Buraydah). From this evidence it is has been made a condition that the judge should be from the people who know the jurisprudence. The Supreme Judge should be a Mujtahid if he was given the power to appoint and remove the Madhalim judge, and the powers to judge in the Madhalim, since such a judgement requires Ijtihad as is explained in article 78.

As for what is mentioned in the article about the appointment of civil servants for the courts, these people are employees and the evidence for the permission of their appointment is the evidence for the hiring of an employee.