Wakala (agency mandate)

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Wakala: the mandate to do what one can do oneself, its pillars, conditions, and what ends it.

Updated on 07 October 2026 at 6:42 PM

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The evidence among the classical schools

Al-Hawi al-Kabir by al-Mawardi · Shafi'i school

And he delegated Amr ibn Umayya ad-Damri to marry Umm Habiba, daughter of Abu Sufyan.

And it is reported that Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him) delegated to his brother Aqil and said: quarrels have their transports, they may miss their aim, and Satan is present at them; if I am present, I fear I may become angry, and if I become angry, I fear I may not speak the truth; so I have delegated my brother Aqil: what is judged against me falls upon me, and what is judged for me is mine.

Al-Shafi'i said: I do not think his delegation took place except under Umar ibn al-Khattab, and perhaps under Abu Bakr as-Siddiq.

Bidayat al-Mujtahid by Ibn Rushd · comparative

They disagreed over the general validity of delegation in litigation: does it contain admission or not? Malik said: it does not contain it. And Abu Hanifa said: it contains it.

Fourth pillar: delegation (wakala) is a contract that binds by proposal and acceptance, like other contracts; and it is not among the binding contracts but among the permissible ones, according to what we shall say in the rulings of this contract. It is, according to Malik, of two sorts: general and specific. The general is that which occurs with him by a general delegation in which nothing is named to the exclusion of anything, for were he to name, he would not benefit from generalization and delegation. And al-Shafi'i said: delegation by generalization is not permitted, for it is gharar (uncertainty); permitted of it is only what is named, defined and explicitly designated, and this is the more analogous, its origin being prohibition, except what consensus fell upon.

The second chapter of rulings. The second chapter of rulings. As for the rulings:

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