The Wazirate

The wazirate is the mother of governmental functions and royal ranks.

Wizarah is derived either from mu’azarah “help,” or from wizr “load,” as if the wazir were helping the person whom he supports to carry his burdens and charges. Thus, its meaning comes down to “help.” 446

The ruler’s conditions and activities are restricted to four fields:

1. Protecting the community, such as the supervision of soldiers, armaments, war operations, etc.

The person in charge is the wazir, as the term was customarily used in the old dynasties in the East.

2. Communicating with persons far away from the ruler and issuing his commands remotely.

The secretary (katib) does this.

3. Tax collection, expenditures and finance.

The chief of tax and financial matters is in charge of this.

4. Keeping petitioners away from the ruler for his protection

The ruler’s activities do not extend beyond these four fields. Each royal and governmental function belongs to one of them. The most important is the second one that assists him in directing his control. This requires constant contact with the ruler and participation in all his governmental activities.

Each field has a lower rank, such as:

• The military leadership of a border region
• The administration of some special tax, or
• The supervision of some particular matter, such as surveillance (hisbah) of foodstuffs, or supervision of the mint. 449

This was the way during the pre-Islamic period. When Islam appeared, power was vested in the caliph. This removed those forms of royal authority and all its functions, except for some advisory and consultative functions that were natural.

The Prophet used to ask the men around him for advice and to consult them on both general and special matters. In addition, he discussed other very special affairs with Abu Bakr and so the latter was called Mu-hammad’s “wazir.”

The same (as that between Muhammad and Abu Bakr) existed between

This same relationship existed between:

• Umar and Abu Bakr, and between ‘Ali and ‘Umar, and ‘Uthmin and ‘Umar.

No specific ranks existed among the early Muslims in the fields of tax collection, expenditures, and bookkeeping.

• The Muslims were illiterate Arabs who did not know how to write and keep books.
• For bookkeeping they employed Jews, Christians, or certain non-Arab clients versed in it.

Bookkeeping was little known among them.

• Their nobles did not know it well, because illiteracy was their distinctive characteristic.

Likewise, no specific rank existed among the early Muslims in the field of official correspondence and the transmission in writing of orders to be executed.

• They were illiterate, and everyone could be trusted to keep a statement secret and to forward it safely to its destination.

Also, there were no political matters that would have required the use of (confidential secretaries), because the caliphate was a religious matter and had nothing to do with power politics.

Furthermore, secretarial skill had not yet become a craft, its best (products or representatives) recommended to the caliph. Every individual was capable of explaining what he wanted in the most eloquent manner. The only thing lacking was the (technical ability to) write.

For this, the caliph always appointed someone who knew how to write well, to do such writing as there was occasion for.

Keeping petitioners away from the gates (of the caliph’s court) was something that the religious law forbade (the caliphs) to do, and they did not do it.

However, when the caliphate changed to royal authority and when royal forms and titles made their appearance, the first thing the dynasty did was to bar the masses from access (to the ruler). The rulers feared that their lives were in danger from attacks by rebels and others, such as had happened to ‘Umar, to ‘Ali, to Mu’awiyah, to ‘Amr b. al-‘As, and to others. Furthermore, were the people given free access (to the ruler), they would crowd upon him and divert him from state affairs.

Therefore, the ruler appointed some person to take care of this for him and called him “doorkeeper” ((utjib). Abd-al-Malik said to a doorkeeper whom he was appointing= “I have given you the office of doorkeeper. You can turn away anyone except:

• the muezzin, because he is the missionary of God
• the person in charge of the mails, for he always brings something important
• the person in charge of food, lest it spoil