Kuna aina mbili za Wilayah: ya jumla na ya maalum. Wilayah ya jumla inajumuisha mambo yote ya utawala ndani ya Wilayah. Kumteua mtu kwa Wilayah hiyo kungemaanisha kwamba Khaliifah anamkabidhi Waali uongozi wa nchi au mkoa, kama Wilayah juu ya watu wake wote kwa ajili ya kusimamia kazi zote za kawaida. Hivyo, angekuwa na jukumu la jumla la usimamizi. Kwa upande wa Imarah maalum, hii inamaanisha kwamba Ameer atakuwa na mamlaka madogo ya kuendesha majeshi, kuwasimamia raia, kulinda maeneo, au kuwatetea wanawake na watoto katika nchi au mkoa huo. Hana mamlaka juu ya mahakama wala ukusanyaji wa Kharaj na Sadaqah.
Mtume wa Allah ﷺ aliwateua Wulah wenye majukumu ya jumla (Wilayah ‘Aammah), kama alipomteua ‘Amru bin Hazm kuwa msimamizi wa Yemen. Pia aliwateua Wulah wenye kazi maalum (Wilayah Khassa), kama alipomteua Ali bin Abi Talib kusimamia mahakama huko Yemen. Makhalifa walimfuata Mtume wa Allah ﷺ. ‘Umar bin al-Khattab alimteua Mu’awiya bin Abi Sufyan kuwa Waali wa jumla juu ya Ash-Sham, wakati Ali bin Abi Talib alimteua ‘Abdullah bin Abbas kuwa msimamizi wa Basra kwa mamlaka yenye mipaka (Wilayah Khassa) ya kuendesha mambo yote isipokuwa fedha, ambayo ilikabidhiwa kwa Ziyad.
Katika zama za mwanzo kulikuwa na aina mbili za Wilayah: Wilayah ya Salah na Wilayah ya Kharaj. Kwa hiyo tunakuta vitabu vya historia vinatumia maneno mawili wanapotaja Wilayah ya Maamiri: la kwanza ni Imarah juu ya Salah, na jingine ni Imarah juu ya Salah na Kharaj. Kwa maneno mengine, Ameer angeweza kuteuliwa juu ya Salah na Kharaj pamoja, au juu ya Salah pekee, au juu ya Kharaj pekee. Neno Salah, katika muktadha wa Wilayah au Imarah, halimaanishi kuwaongoza watu katika sala pekee, bali linamaanisha kusimamia mambo yao yote isipokuwa fedha. Hii ni kwa sababu neno Salah hutumika kumaanisha utawala isipokuwa ukusanyaji wa fedha. Kwa hiyo, ikiwa Waali angeunganisha Swala na Kharaj, Wilaya yake ingekuwa ya jumla (Wilayah ‘Aammah). Ikiwa Wilaya yake ingekuwa imewekewa mipaka kwa Swala au kwa Kharaj, Wilaya yake ingekuwa maalum (Wilayah Khaassah). Kwa vyovyote vile, hili litaachwa kwa mipango ya Khaleefah mwenyewe, kwa kuwa yeye ana haki ya kuweka mipaka ya Wilaya kwa Kharaj pekee, au kwa mahakama, au anaweza kuifungia Wilaya kwa mambo mengine zaidi ya Kharaj, mahakama na jeshi. Anaweza kufanya lile analoona kuwa bora kwa uendeshaji wa mkoa au Wilaya. Hii ni kwa sababu Shari‘ah haijaweka kwa Waali majukumu fulani maalum, wala haimlazimu kutekeleza majukumu yote ya utawala. Imeweka, hata hivyo, kwamba majukumu ya Waali au Amiri ni utawala na mamlaka, na kwamba yeye ni naibu wa Khaleefah, na anapaswa kuwa Amiri juu ya eneo maalum. Yote haya yanatokana na matendo ya Mtume wa Allah ﷺ. Hata hivyo, Shari‘ah inamruhusu Khaleefah kumteua Waali kama Wilaya ya jumla (‘Aammah) au maalum (Khaassah) kulingana na busara yake mwenyewe, na yote haya yanaonekana katika matendo ya Mtume wa Allah ﷺ.
There are two types of Wilayah: general and specific. The general one includes all the ruling matters within the Wilayah. Appointing someone to that Wilayah would mean that the Khaleefah delegates to the Waali the Imarah of a country or a province, as a Wilayah over all its people for supervising all the normal functions. Thus He would have a general responsibility of supervision. As for the specific Imarah, this means that the Ameer would be restricted to running the armed forces, governing the citizens, protecting the territories, or defending the women and children in that country or province. He does not have a say in the judiciary or the collecting of Kharaj and Sadaqah. The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) appointed Wulah with general responsibilities (Wilayah ‘Aammah), such as when He appoimted ‘Amru ibn Hazm over Yemen. He also appointed Wulah with specific functions (Wilayah Khassa), such as when He appointed Ali bin Abi Talib over the judiciary in Yemen. The Khulafaa’ followed in the Messenger of Allah’s (pbuh) footsteps. ‘Umar Ibnul-Khattab appointed Mu’aiwya bin Abi Sufyan as general Waali over Ash-Sham, while Ali bin Abi Talib appointed ‘Abdullah bin Abbas over Basra with restrictive powers (Wilayah Khassa) to run all the affairs except for the funds, which was assigned to Ziad There used to be two types of Wilayah in the early times; the Wilayah of Salah and the Wilayah of Kharaj. Therefore we find that history books use two terms in their reference to the Wilayah of Ameers: The first is the Imarah over the Salah and the other the Imarah over the Salah and the Kharaj. In other words the Ameer could either be appointed over both the Salah and the Kharaj, or over the Salah only or over the Kharaj only. The word Salah, in the context of the Wilayah or the Imarah, does not mean only leading the people in their prayer, but it means governing all their affairs except the funds. This is because the word Salah is used to mean ruling except for the levy of funds. Therefore, if the Waali had combined both the Salah and the Kharaj, his Wilayah would then be general (Wilayah ‘Aammah). If his Wilayah had been restricted to the Salah or the Kharaj, his Wilayah would then be specific (Wilayah Khaassah). Either way, this would be left to the Khaleefah’s own arrangements, as He reserves the right to restrict the Wilayah to the Kharaj, or to the judiciary, or He could confine the Wilayah to other than the Kharaj, the judiciary and the army. He could do what He deems best for the running of the province or the Wilayah. This is because Shar’a has not determined for the Waali certain duties, and it is not obliged that He should perform all the duties of ruling. It has, however, determined that the Waali’s or the Ameer’s duties be ruling and authority, and that He is the deputy of the Khaleefah, and He should be an Ameer over a specific area. All this is derived from the actions of the Messenger of Allah (pbuh). However Shar’a entitles the Khaleefah to appoint a Waali as either a general Wilayah (‘Aammah) or a specific one (Khaassah) according to his own discretion, and all this is reflected in the actions of the Messenger of Allah (pbuh).