Sayyiduna Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him) says: I said, "O Messenger of Allah! Will you not appoint me as a governor (etc.)?" The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) placed his blessed hand on my shoulder and said, "O Abu Dharr! You are weak, and this is a trust (meaning, the ruler must fulfill both the rights of the people and the rights of Allah Almighty), and on the Day of Resurrection, this position will bring nothing but disgrace and regret, except for the one who fulfills its rights and carries out his duties with truthfulness."

Sayyiduna Abu Burdah narrates that Sayyiduna Abu Musa (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and with me were two men from the tribe of Ash‘ari—one on my right and one on my left. Both of them requested the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to appoint them as officials, and you (peace and blessings be upon him) were using a miswak. You (peace and blessings be upon him) said: O Abu Musa (or Abdullah bin Qais)! What do you say? I said: O Messenger of Allah! By Him Who sent you as a true Prophet, they did not tell me what was in their hearts, and I did not know that they would request this position (office of service). Sayyiduna Abu Musa (may Allah be pleased with him) said: It is as if I am seeing your (peace and blessings be upon him) miswak resting on your lower lip. You (peace and blessings be upon him) said: We never appoint to office the one who asks for it, but O Abu Musa or Abdullah bin Qais! You go. So he sent him towards Yemen. Then after him, Sayyiduna Mu‘adh bin Jabal (may Allah be pleased with him) was sent (so that he would also participate). When Sayyiduna Mu‘adh reached there, Sayyiduna Abu Musa (may Allah be pleased with him) said: Dismount, and he spread a cushion for him. Coincidentally, there was a man there who was tied up in captivity. Sayyiduna Mu‘adh (may Allah be pleased with him) said: What is this? Sayyiduna Abu Musa (may Allah be pleased with him) said: This is a Jew who became Muslim, then unfortunately became a Jew again. He adopted his evil religion. Sayyiduna Mu‘adh said: I will not sit until he is killed according to the decision of Allah and His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). He said this three times, then Sayyiduna Abu Musa (may Allah be pleased with him) gave the order and he was killed. After that, both of them mentioned the night prayer, so Sayyiduna Mu‘adh (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I sleep at night and I also worship, and I hope that I will get the same reward for sleeping as I get for worship.

Narrated by Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) from the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): He (peace be upon him) said: The Imam is a shield behind whom the Muslims fight (against the disbelievers), and because of whom people are protected from harm (from oppressors and robbers). Then, if he commands the fear of Allah and acts justly, he will be rewarded; and if he commands otherwise, then the burden will be upon him.

`Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Those who act justly will be on pulpits of light at Allah the Exalted’s right side, and both of His hands are right (meaning, the weakness found in the left hand compared to the right does not apply to Allah, for He is free from all defects). And these just people are those who are just in their judgments, and just with their families and relatives, and just in whatever responsibility is given to them.

Sayyiduna Abdur Rahman bin Shumasah says: I came to Umm al-Mu’minin Aisha Siddiqa (may Allah be pleased with her) to ask something, so she said:“Which people are you from?”I said:“From the people of Egypt.”She said:“What is the condition of your ruler in your conflict?”(Meaning Muhammad bin Abi Bakr, whom Sayyiduna Ali Murtaza (may Allah be pleased with him) had appointed as the ruler of Egypt after removing Qais bin Sa’d.) I said:“We have not seen anything bad from him. If anyone among us lost a camel, he would give him a camel; if a slave died, he would give a slave; and if someone needed expenses, he would provide expenses.”Umm al-Mu’minin Aisha Siddiqa (may Allah be pleased with her) said:“What happened to my brother Muhammad bin Abi Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) (that he was killed, his body was thrown among the dead, and then it was burned) does not prevent me from telling you what the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said in this chamber: ‘O Allah! Whoever becomes a ruler over any affair of my Ummah and is harsh with them, then be harsh with him; and whoever becomes a ruler over any affair of my Ummah and is gentle with them, then be gentle with him.’”

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Tamim al-Dari, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Noble Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: Religion is sincerity and goodwill. We asked, "Towards whom?" He, peace and blessings be upon him, said: Towards Allah, His Book, His Messenger, the leaders of the Muslims, and all the Muslims. (That is, every Muslim should obey Allah, His Messenger, and his leader, and every Muslim should fulfill the rights of other Muslims.)

'Sayyiduna Jarir (may Allah be pleased with him) says that' I pledged allegiance to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) on establishing prayer, giving zakat, and wishing well for every Muslim.

Sayyiduna Hasan says that Ubaydullah bin Ziyad came to visit Sayyiduna Ma'qil bin Yasar (may Allah be pleased with him) during the illness in which he passed away. So Sayyiduna Ma'qil (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I narrate to you a hadith which I heard from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and if I knew that I would remain alive, I would not narrate it to you. I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: There is no servant whom Allah gives authority over people, then he dies while he is deceiving his subjects, except that Allah will make Paradise forbidden for him.

It is narrated from Hasan that Sayyiduna ‘A’idh bin ‘Amr (may Allah be pleased with him), who was a companion of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), went to ‘Ubaydullah bin Ziyad and said to him,“O my son! I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: ‘The worst shepherd is an unjust ruler (who destroys his subjects),’ so do not be like that.”‘Ubaydullah said,“Sit down, for you are the husk among the companions of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him).”Sayyiduna ‘A’idh (may Allah be pleased with him) said,“Is there husk among the companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)? The husk is among those who come after and among other people.”

Sayedna Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) stood up one day (to advise us) and spoke about dishonesty regarding war booty, and declared it to be a major sin. Then he said: I should not find any of you on the Day of Resurrection coming with a camel on his neck, making noise, and he says, "O Messenger of Allah! Help me!" and I will say, "I have no authority; I had conveyed to you Allah’s command." (Imam Nawawi, may Allah have mercy on him, said: That is, I cannot forgive or intercede without Allah’s command, and perhaps at first the Prophet (peace be upon him) would say this out of anger, then intercede, provided he was a monotheist.) And I should not find any of you coming on the Day of Resurrection with a horse on his neck, neighing, and he says, "O Messenger of Allah! Help me!" and I will say, "I have no authority; I had already told you (i.e., in the world I conveyed Allah’s command that the punishment for dishonesty is very severe, so why did you commit dishonesty?)." And I should not find any of you on the Day of Resurrection coming with a goat on his neck, bleating, and he says, "O Messenger of Allah! Help me!" and I will say, "I have no authority; I had conveyed to you Allah’s command." And I should not find any of you coming on the Day of Resurrection with a soul on his neck, crying (whom he killed in the world), then he says, "O Messenger of Allah! Help me!" and I will say, "I have no authority; I had conveyed to you Allah’s command." I should not find any of you coming with clothes on his neck, which he is wearing (which he stole in the world), or pieces of paper flying (on which rights are written against him), or other things moving (which he stole in the world), then he says, "O Messenger of Allah! Help me!" and I will say, "I have no authority; I had already informed you." And I should not find any of you on the Day of Resurrection coming with gold, silver, money, etc., on his neck and saying, "O Messenger of Allah! Help me!" and I will say, "I have no authority; I had already informed you."