Nchi zinazotawaliwa na Dola zimegawanywa katika vitengo, ambapo kila kitengo kinaitwa Wilayah (mkoa). Kila mkoa umegawanywa katika vitengo vingine, na kila kitengo kinaitwa ’Imalah (wilaya). Anayesimamia mkoa anaitwa Wali (gavana) au Amir, na anayesimamia ’Imalah anaitwa ’Aamil (mtendaji) au Hakim (mtawala).

The lands which are ruled by the State are divided into units, where each unit is called a Wilayah (province). Each province is divided into units and each unit is called an ’Imalah (district). The one who governs the province is called the Wali (governor) or Amir and the one who governs the ’Imalah is called the ’Aamil (worker) or Hakim (ruler).

Magavana ni watawala, kwa kuwa ugavana ni utawala; hili limetajwa katika kamusi ya Al-Muhit: "Na kutawala kitu na juu yake kuna ugavana (Wilayah) na ulinzi (Wilayah), au ni mzizi, na wilayah ni mpango, uongozi na mamlaka," na unahitaji kuwezeshwa na Khalifah au yule aliyemkabidhi kumwezesha, hivyo gavana hateuliwi isipokuwa na Khalifah. Chanzo cha ugavana au uongozi, yaani kwa magavana na viongozi, ni tendo la Mtume ﷺ. Imethibitika kwamba aliwateua magavana juu ya nchi, na akawapa haki ya kutawala katika mikoa. Alimteua Mu'adh bin Jabal juu ya Al-Jund, Ziyad bin Labid juu ya Hadramout, na Abu Musa Al-Ash'ari juu ya Zabid na 'Aden. Gavana ni mwakilishi wa Khalifah, na hufanya chochote anachowakilisha Khalifah katika kulingana na alichokabidhiwa. Ugavana hauna kikomo maalum kwa mujibu wa Shari'ah, kwa hiyo kila mtu anayefanya kazi kwa niaba ya Khalifah katika kitendo chochote cha utawala anachukuliwa kuwa gavana katika kitendo hicho kulingana na maneno ambayo Khalifah aliyabainisha wakati wa uteuzi wake. Hata hivyo, ugavana wa nchi au uongozi unahusu eneo lililobainishwa, kwa kuwa Mtume ﷺ alikuwa akibainisha eneo ambalo mtu angekuwa gavana wake, au kumwezesha kiongozi wa eneo hilo. Ugavana huu ni wa aina mbili: wa jumla au wa kimaalum. Ule wa jumla unajumuisha masuala yote ya utawala katika ugavana, na kuwezeshwa kwa namna hii kunamaanisha kwamba Khalifah anamkabidhi uongozi wa mji au mkoa wa ugavana juu ya watu wake wote, na usimamizi wa masuala katika vitendo vyake vyote, hivyo ana udhibiti wa jumla. Kuhusu uongozi wa kimaalum, huu ni pale ambapo uongozi wa kiongozi unapowekewa kikomo katika usimamizi wa Jeshi, kuwatawala raia, kulinda mipaka, na kutetea maeneo matakatifu katika mkoa au mji huo. Hawezi kuingilia mahakama wala ukusanyaji wa kodi.

The governors are rulers since the governorship is ruling; it is mentioned in the Al-Muhit dictionary: “And to govern something and upon it governorship (Wilayah) and guardianship (Wilayah), or it is the root and wilayah is the plan and leadership and authority”, and requires empowerment by the Khalifah or one whom he delegated to empower and so the governor is not appointed except by the Khalifah. The origin of governorship or leadership, in other words, in the governors and leaders, is the action of the Messenger (pbuh) . It is confirmed that he appointed governors over lands, and gave them the right to rule over the regions. He appointed Mu’adh Bin Jabal over Al-Jund, Ziyad Bin Labid over Hadramout and Abu Musa Al-Ash’ari over Zabid and ’Aden. The governor is the representative of the Khalifah and he undertakes whatever actions he represents the Khalifah in according to what he has been delegated. The governorship does not have a specific limit according to the Shari’ah so everyone who acts on behalf of the Khalifah in any action of ruling is considered to be a governor in that action according to the words which the Khalifah specified during his appointment. However, the governorship of the lands or the leadership is over a defined area, since the Messenger (pbuh) used to define the area which he would be a governor over or empower the leadership for the leader. This governorship is of two types - general or specific; general encompasses all of the issues of ruling in the governorship and being empowered in this manner means that the Khalifah delegates to him the leadership of the city or region of the governorship over all of its people, and the handling of the issues in all of his actions, and so he has a general control. As for the specific leadership, this is when the leader’s leadership is limited to the management of the Army, governing of the subjects, protection of the borders and defence of the sanctities in that region or city. He cannot interfere with the judiciary and the collection of taxes.

Mtume ﷺ aliwateua magavana wa jumla, kama vile uteuzi wa Amr bin Hazm juu ya Yemen. Pia aliwateua magavana wa kazi maalum, kama vile uteuzi wa ’Ali bin Abi Talib (ra) juu ya mahakimu wa Yemen. Makhalifa waliokuja baada yake waliendelea kwa njia hiyo hiyo, hivyo walikuwa wakiwateua magavana wa jumla, kama vile Umar bin Al-Khattab (ra) alivyomteua Mu’awiyah bin Abi Sufyan kuwa gavana wa jumla. Pia walikuwa wakiwateua magavana wa kazi maalum, kama vile wakati ’Ali bin Abi Talib (ra) alipomteua ’Abdullah bin ’Abbas juu ya Basra katika mambo yote isipokuwa fedha, na akamteua Ziyaad juu ya masuala ya fedha.

The Messenger (pbuh) appointed general governorships, such as the appointment of Amr b. Hazm over Yemen. He also appointed specific governorships, such as the appointment of ’Ali Bin Abi Talib (ra) over the judges in Yemen. The Khulafaa’ after him continued in the same manner, and so they used to appoint general governorships such as Umar Bin Al-Khattab (ra) appointing Mu’awiyah Bin Abi Sufyan to a general governorship. They would also appoint specific governorships, such when ’Ali Bin Abi Talib (ra) appointed ’Abdullah Bin ’Abbas over Basra in everything other than the finances and appointed Ziyaad over the finances.

Uongozi katika zama za mwanzo ulikuwa wa aina mbili: uongozi wa sala na uongozi wa kodi ya ardhi. Kwa hivyo, katika vitabu vya historia hutumiwa maneno mawili wanapozungumzia uongozi wa watawala: la kwanza likiwa ni uongozi juu ya sala, na la pili likiwa ni uongozi juu ya sala na kodi ya ardhi. Kwa maneno mengine, kiongozi angeweza kuwa kiongozi wa sala na kodi ya ardhi, au kiongozi wa sala peke yake. Maana ya neno sala katika uongozi huo haikuwa kwamba yeye alikuwa Imamu wa watu katika sala yao peke yake; bali maana yake ilikuwa ni uongozi juu yao katika mambo yao yote isipokuwa fedha. Kwa hiyo neno sala lilimaanisha utawala, isipokuwa ukusanyaji wa kodi.

The governorship in the first eras was of two types: governorship of the prayer and the governorship of the land taxes. Accordingly, in the history books they use two expressions when talking about the governorship of the leaders: the first being the leadership over the prayer and the second being the leadership over the prayer and the land taxes. In other words, the leader could either be a leader of the prayer and the land taxes or the leader of the prayer alone. The meaning of the word prayer in the governorship or leadership is not that he was the Imam of the people in their prayer alone; rather its meaning was the governorship over them in all of their affairs except the finances. So the word prayer meant the ruling with the exception of the collection of the taxes.

Ikiwa gavana alikuwa na mamlaka juu ya swala na pia juu ya kodi ya ardhi, basi utawala wake ulikuwa wa jumla, na ikiwa ulikuwa mdogo kwa swala tu au kwa kodi ya ardhi tu, basi utawala wake ulikuwa maalum. Katika kila hali, jambo hili linarejea kwenye mipangilio ya Khalifah katika utawala maalum, hivyo anaweza kuufanya uwe maalum kwa kodi ya ardhi, au kwa mahakama, au kuufanya uwe maalum kwa kila jambo isipokuwa fedha, mahakama na jeshi; yeye hufanya lolote analoona ni jema kwa uendeshaji wa Dola au uendeshaji wa mkoa. Hii ni kwa sababu Shari'ah haikuweka kazi maalum kwa gavana, bali ilipunguza kazi ya gavana au kiongozi kuwa ni utawala na mamlaka, na kwamba yeye anatenda kwa niaba ya Khalifah na ni kiongozi juu ya mahali maalum, na hili ni kulingana na alivyofanya Mjumbe ﷺ.

If the governor was both over prayer and land taxes, his governorship was general, and if it was limited to the prayer or to the land taxes, then his governorship was specific. In every case, this returns back to the arrangements of the Khalifah in the specific governorship, so he can make it specific to the land taxes, or the judiciary, or to make it specific to everything other than the finances, judiciary and Army; he does whatever he thinks is good for the administration of the State or the administration of the province. This is since the Shari’ah did not limit specific work for the governor, but rather limited the work of the governor or leader to ruling and authority, and that he is acting on behalf of the Khalifah and is a leader over a specific place, and this is according to what the Messenger (pbuh) did.

Badala yake, Shari'ah imempa Khalifah haki ya kuteua magavana wa jumla na wa maeneo mahususi, kulingana na anachokiona kutokana na matendo, na hilo ni dhahiri kutokana na tendo la Mtume ﷺ. Kwa kuzingatia kwamba Mtume ﷺ alizuia uongozi wa kiongozi au ugavana wa gavana kwenye mji au mkoa mmoja, ibara ya hamsini na mbili iliandaliwa, ambayo iligawanya Dola kuwa majimbo na wilaya.

Rather the Shari’ah gave the Khalifah the right to appoint general and specific governorships, according to what he sees from the actions, and that is apparent from the action of the Messenger (pbuh) . Built upon the limiting of the leadership of the leader or the governorship of the governor to a city or region by the Messenger (pbuh) , article fifty-two was drafted which divided the State into provinces and districts.