The Religiously-Authorized Representative (Al-Wakil al-Shar’i)

Given the global dispersion of the followers of the Ahl al-Bayt (p) across different regions, it has become difficult to have the honor of meeting the Marja al-Taqlid at any time, especially since the mukallaf may be religiously obligated to discharge their khums liabilities in the swiftest manner. To render the disposal of their funds permissible, it became necessary for the legal representatives (wukala’ shar‘iyyun) of the jurists to be present in various parts of the world where the believers reside. From this perspective, it is incumbent upon the mukallaf to familiarize themselves with the duty of the legal representative and what pertains to consulting and interacting with him.

Who is the religiously-authorized representative?

Usually, he is among those affiliated with the Islamic seminaries (hawzah), such as being a scholar of religion, seminary professor, lecturer, or a mosque imam, and someone similar. When we say “usually,” you might perhaps find a representative who does not belong to these categories and is not a turbaned cleric at all. However, as a result of his familiarity with the issues of religious rights, his devoutness, and his piety, as well as due to a specific role or character he assumes, he may be provided with an authorization from the religious authority to assist the believers in performing their religious duty.

Likewise, it is incumbent upon the mukallaf to know or be reassured of the validity of the religious authorization’s issuance from the jurist authority in favor of the representative, and not to be content with a mere claim, assumption, or the like.

The duties of an authorized representative

1. Clarifying the religious rulings of the jurist authority and conveying them to inquirers and those seeking to learn religious rulings. His word constitutes a binding proof to the mukallaf. If he errs, the mukallaf’s liability is cleared. In contrast, if someone asks other than the representative of the religious authority and an erroneous guidance becomes apparent, then the mukallaf’s action in that instance does not clear their liability.
2. Collecting religious dues and delivering them to the jurist authority, or spending them on what he has explicitly permitted. As soon as the mukallaf pays the khums and it leaves their hand and enters the hand of the representative, they have cleared their liability (fulfilled their duty). Likewise, if the mukallaf seeks permission from the representative to spend a percentage of the religious due, based on the percentage authorized for spending by the religious authority, then the mukallaf will have cleared their liability in performing their duty. Otherwise, it is within the representative’s right not to grant permission, in order to observe specific spending regulations, conditions, and the most critical priorities first, in accordance with the directives of the jurist authority.
3. Executing transferrals (al-mudawarah): It may become difficult for the mukallaf to discharge the outstanding khums that they are liable for in a single lump sum for sound and acceptable reasons. Thus, the representative receives a portion of it, then lends it back to the mukallaf, and repeats this process until the mukallaf fulfils the khums they are liable for, converting it into a mere personal loan owed to the representative. Therefore, transferral means circulating the khums between the mukallaf and the legal representative. The benefit resulting from this transferral is that the mukallaf is freed from being liable of the outstanding khums. Consequently, they become able to dispose of their wealth after they were co-owners with the proper owners of khums (the Imam [p] and the needy sayyids). Thus, no further ambiguity or doubt remains regarding the food they consume, the clothing in which they pray, or the ihram in which they perform Hajj, and generally, the disposal of all their wealth. Likewise, the mukallaf is exempted from paying khums on any growth or increase in market value that may occur to certain distinct assets in some scenarios.
4. Executing settlements (al-musalahah): The mukallaf may know that khums is due upon them, but they do not know its exact amount, or they may doubt whether khums has attached to a property that they spent before their annual due date or after it, for example. This happens with individuals who have not paid khums on their wealth for years, for instance. In such cases, one resorts to the legal representative to reach a settlement with him to exempt them from the percentages of potentially due khums that they are in doubt about. Thus, the representative evaluates the extent to which an exemption is possible in such cases and handles it on that basis, and thereby the mukallaf’s liability is cleared.

Important notes

1. It is not the duty or right of the legal representative to waive or discount a percentage of the khums on behalf of the mukallaf once the exact amount that is obligatory upon the mukallaf to pay becomes clear and known.
2. The religious due is a sacred trust in the hands of the legal representative and it is not his property. The percentage designated by the jurist authority in his authorization to the legal representative, such as one-third or one-half, for example, is strictly a percentage to be spent on its contextually prescribed religious purposes, and does not mean he gains personal ownership of it whatsoever.
3. It is part of the representative’s duty to clarify religious matters, including the rulings of khums. However, it is not his obligation to perform the mathematical calculations for the mukallaf. Rather, it is the duty of the mukallaf themselves to learn the rulings and perform the calculations.
4. The legal representative may assume other roles from among those entrusted to the religious authority, such as the matter of a judicial divorce (talaq al-hakim) or guardianship (al-qaymumah) over minors, such as orphans, for example. These roles are granted to the representative depending on the specific situation, the fulfillment of conditions, need, necessity, and similar restrictions, yet it is rare for the jurist to grant an absolute authorization to a representative.

• Question: It has been observed that some representatives of the jurists, or certain authorized Islamic centers and schools, conduct themselves with their authorizations in a manner that does not seem fitting or expected. Rather, it may harm the reputation and status of the religious leadership (al-marja’iyyah) due to its endorsement of those authorizations. What is the religious duty (al-taklif) in such cases?
  Answer: Firstly, the jurists emphasize the necessity of verifying the existence of the authorization in writing, and a mere claim must not be considered sufficient. For it has been observed that some claim representation without authorization; thus, it is incumbent upon the believers to exercise caution. Furthermore, an authorization is not a deed of forgiveness or infallibility; rather, it is granted after verification and endorsement, and an error in conduct or a subsequent deviation could occur. However, the scale and criterion remain in the hands of the believers themselves, who live alongside, test, and look with insight at those in charge of public religious affairs, evaluating them in their devoutness and ensuring that their conduct conforms to the shari’a. If something is established there that necessitates taking a religious stance, then it is mandatory to practice the duty of commanding right and forbidding wrong if possible. Otherwise, it is not permissible to deliver religious dues to them at that point. In all cases, it must be recalled that the liability of the person paying the funds is not considered cleared unless they receive an official religious receipt issued by the religious authority.⁸⁶

• Question: Your authorization regarding religious dues received stipulates that the authorized individual (the representative) has the right to spend one-third, for example, of what he receives from Sahm al-Imam (p) or other religious dues on their prescribed religious purposes. The meaning of this, as far as we understand, is that this amount is not allocated for the authorized individual himself in his capacity as the holder of the authorization. Rather, he must observe the religious regulations for it when spending it. Based on this, what are the limits of what the authorized individual is permitted to spend on himself from what he collects of the religious rights?

Answer: If the collected dues are of Sahm al-Sadah, Radd al-Madhalim (restitution of wrongs), property of unknown ownership (majhul al-malik), expiations (kaffarat), and similar dues that need to be distributed to the poor, and the authorized individual is poor in the religious sense of poverty and fulfills all other conditions of eligibility for that right, then he is permitted to take from it up to the limit of his appropriate annual living expenses matching his social standing, and no more. If the collected dues are Sahm al-Imam (p), and the authorized individual is among those who spend their time performing a public religious service, such as teaching those who do not know, guiding those who are astray, advising the believers, counseling them, and the like, then he is permitted to take from it up to the limit of what he needs for his annual living expenses, while being economical and not exceeding the standard of living of middle-income individuals among his fellow believers in the region. By this, the status of all other religious dues becomes apparent.

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86. Please note the image of the official legal document in the appendix, which mandates obtaining the official receipt, as the payer’s liability is not discharged without it. ↩