regarding these, there is no disagreement. Agency is permissible in the marriage contract for the offer and acceptance, because the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) appointed 'Amr ibn Umayyah and Abu Rafi' to accept a marriage on his behalf. Moreover, there is a pressing need for it, as one may need to marry from a distant place to which he cannot travel; for the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) married Umm Habibah while she was at that time in the land of Abyssinia. Agency is permissible in divorce, khul' (divorce initiated by the wife), raj'ah (revocation of divorce), and manumission, because there is a need for it, just as there is for agency in selling and marriage. Agency is permissible in acquiring permissible things, such as reclaiming barren land (ihya' al-mawat), drawing water, hunting, and harvesting grass, because these involve acquiring wealth through a process that is not exclusively personal to the individual, so agency in it is permissible, just as in buying and accepting gifts. Agency is permissible in establishing retaliation (qisas) and the hadd punishment for slander (qadhf), as well as in their execution, whether the principal is present or absent, because these are among the rights of human beings, and there is a need for agency in both, as the person entitled to the right may not know how to execute it, or he may not wish to handle it himself.

Section: Agency is permissible in demanding rights, establishing them, and litigating them, whether the principal is present or absent, healthy or ill. This is the opinion of Malik, Ibn Abi Layla, Abu Yusuf, Muhammad, and al-Shafi'i. Abu Hanifah stated that the adversary has the right to refuse to litigate with the agent if the principal is present, because his presence in the court and his involvement in the dispute is a right his adversary holds against him, so he is not entitled to transfer it to someone else without the consent of his adversary, like a debt owed by him. Our view is that it is a right for which representation is permissible, so its owner is entitled to appoint a representative without the consent of the adversary, as in the case of his absence or illness, and as in the payment of a debt he owes. Furthermore, there is the consensus of the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them; for 'Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, appointed 'Aqil as his agent before Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, and said: "Whatever is judged for him is for me, and whatever is judged against him is against me."