The Khalifah possesses the following mandatory powers: A – It is he who adopts the divine rules (Ahkam Shar’i ya) necessary for managing the affairs of the Ummah, which are deduced through viable ijtihad from the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger. Thus they become a binding law that must be obeyed and not rejected. .

B - He is responsible for the domestic and foreign policies of the State; he is the supreme commander in chief of all the armed forces and he has full powers to declare war, conclude peace treaties, truces and all other treaties. .

C - He has the powers to accept (foreign) ambassadors and to refuse them, as well as the powers to appoint Muslim ambassadors and to remove them. .

D - It is the Khalifah who appoints and removes the assistants and Walis; they are all responsible before him and before the Council of the Ummah. .

E - It is he who appoints and removes the supreme judge (Qadi al-Qudah), as well as the other judges excluding the judge of mahkamat al-Mazalim, where he appoints him, but he is restricted regarding his dismissal as it is explained in the chapter of the judiciary. He also appoints the managers of the administration departments, army commanders, chiefs of staff, and the commanders in chief. They are all answerable to him and not to the Council of the Ummah. .

F - It is he who adopts the divine rules, in light of which the State’s budget is drafted, and it is he who decides the details of the budget and the funds allocated to each department, whether concerning revenues or expenses. .

As for the detailed evidences of the six sections mentioned above, the evidence about section "A" is the general consensus of the Sahabah. Qanun (law) is a technical term which means the order that the ruler (Sultan) issues so that people abide by it. Scholars of Qanun (law) define it as "the host of principles that the Sultan (ruler) compels people to follow in their relations". In other words if the Sultan issues certain rules, then these rules become laws and people have to abide by them; and if the Sultan does not issue them, .

then they do not become law and people are not obliged to abide by them. The Muslims follow the rules of Shara’, so they abide by Allah’s (P.B.U.H) commands and prohibitions. What they abide by are the commands and prohibitions of Allah, not those of the Sultan, so what they follow are divine rules and not the orders of the Sultan. However the Sahabah have differed regarding the Shariah rules. Some of them understood matters from the divine texts different to one another’s’ understanding. Each one of them abided by what he understood and that represented the rule of Allah (S.W.T) on his behalf. However, there are some divine rules related to managing the affairs of the Ummah that all the Muslims should abide by according to one single opinion, and not each proceeding according to his own ijtihad. This indeed took place in the past. Abu Bakr, for instance, considered it fit to distribute the funds equally among all Muslims for it was their equal right. However ‘Umar deemed it wrong to give to those who had fought against the Messenger of Allah (P.B.U.H) and those who fought alongside him, or to give to the needy equal to that which was given to the wealthy. However when Abu Bakr was the Khalifah, he enforced his opinion upon the people, the judges and Walis executed his opinion and ‘Umar also submitted to Abu Bakr’s opinion and executed it. And when ‘Umar became Khalifah he enforced his own opinion which differed from that of Abu Bakr, i.e. he ordered the funds to be distributed preferentially and not equally, whereby the funds were distributed according to the length of time they had been Muslims and according to their needs. The Muslims abided by this rule, and the judges and Walis executed it. Therefore, a general consensus of the Sahabah was established stating that the Imam has the right to adopt specific rules and enforce their implementation, and Muslims have to abide by such rules even if they contradict with their own ijtihad, and they must also abandon their own opinions and ijtihads. These adopted rules are in fact laws (or canons); thus the enaction of laws belongs to the Khalifah alone and no one else has such a right. .

As for section "B", its evidence is derived from the actions of the Messenger of Allah (P.B.U.H). He (P.B.U.H) used to appoint the Walis and judges and hold them accountable to him. He (P.B.U.H.) used to control trading and prohibit fraud and cheating. He (P.B.U.H) used to distribute the funds among the people, and help the unemployed find work. He (P.B.U.H) used to run all the State’s internal affairs.

He (P.B.U.H) also used to write to the kings and meet with the envoys and receive the delegates. He (P.B.U.H) carried out all the foreign affairs of the State. He (P.B.U.H) effectively used to take command of the armed forces during the raids and He (PBUH) used to lead the battles, and He (PBUH) used to send out all the expeditions and appoint their leaders. In one instance He (PBUH) appointed Usama b. Zayd at the head of an expedition to Al-Sham; the Sahabah were not pleased with this due to Usama’s young age, but the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) forced them to accept his leadership, which proves that he was effectively the commander of the armed forces and not just its supreme commander in chief. .

It was He (PBUH) who declared war on Quraish, and on Banu Qurayzah, Banu Nadir, Banu Qaynuqa’, Khaybar and the Romans. All the wars that took place were declared by Him (PBUH). This proves that only the Khalifah has the right to declare war. It was also the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) who signed the treaties with Banu Madlij and their allies of Banu Dhumra. He (PBUH) signed a treaty with Yuhanna (Jonathan) b. Ru’ba, the leader of Ayla, and He (PBUH) also signed the treaty of Al-Hudaybiyah. The Muslims on that occasion were outraged but He (PBUH) ignored their opinion and dismissed their pleas, went ahead and signed the treaty. This proves that only the Khalifah has the mandatory powers to sign treaties, whether these are peace treaties or any other. .

As for section "C", its evidence is that it was the Messenger of Allah ( PBUH) himself who received the two envoys of Musaylama, and it was He (PBUH) who received Abu Rafi’i, an envoy from Quraish. It was also He (PBUH) who sent envoys to Heraclius, Chosroes, Al Muqawqis, Al- Harith Al-Ghassani, King of Al-Heera, Al Harith Al-Himyary, King of Yemen, the Negus of Abyssinia (Al-Habashi), and Uthman Ibn Affan to Quraish during the Hudaybiyah affair. This proves that the Khalifah is the one who receives and declines the ambassadors (envoys) and it is he who appoints the ambassadors. .

As for section "D", its evidence is that it was the Messenger of Allah ( PBUH) himself who used to appoint the Walis; for he appointed Muadh as Wali over Yemen. And he (PBUH) used to remove them; he removed Al-A’la’ b. Al-Hadrami from his post as Wali of Bahrain after its people complained about him. This indicates that the Walis are responsible before the people of the wilayah (region-district), before the Khalifah, as well as the Council of the Ummah, as it represents all the wilayahs. This is regarding the Walis. .

As for the assistants, the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) had two assistants, Abu Bakr and ‘Umar. He did not remove them nor appoint others to replace them during his lifetime. However the assistant derives his authority from the Khalifah, and since he acts in the capacity of his deputy, the Khalifah then has the right to remove him. This is analogous with the representative (agent), where a person has the right to dismiss his representative (agent). .

As for section "E", its evidence is derived from the fact that Allah’s Rasool (PBUH) appointed ’Ali as judge over Yemen. Ahmad narrated that Amru b. al-‘Aas said: "Two men disputing with each other came to the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) (seeking justice), so He (PBUH) said to me: "Judge between them, O Amru." I said: "You are better and more worthy of that." He (PBUH) said: "Even though!" So I said: "What shall I have if I judged?" He (PBUH) said: "If you judged and you were right, you would get ten rewards and if you get it wrong you would get one reward."” [Also from ‘Uqbah b. ‘Amir. See al- Haythami, Majma’ al-Zawa’id, vol.4, p.198] .