The rule of the village headmen

Question

Question: What is the ruling of the Shari'a on the following matters? Authority is of several kinds. First, the rule of the sultan; second, that of the sultan's deputy, who governs the subjects while subordinate to the sultan; third, a guardian (wali) governs his ward; fourth, a person whom both parties have appointed; the fifth case is that a few ignorant people and some nominal religious scholars together rule over the village people.

Answer

According to the Shari'a, this rule is coercion and oppression. Every person has the right to marry off his children, and no outsider's permission is needed for this. Likewise, if there is no mosque in some place and a mosque is needed there, and a person or several people make their land a waqf and build a mosque, no one has the right to forbid it.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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