The Permissibility of Appointing an Unqualified Person Out of Necessity, Along with Efforts to Rectify the Situation

Question : And although it is permissible to appoint an unqualified person out of necessity if he is the best of those available, it is obligatory to strive to rectify the situation until the people are provided with what they must have in matters of authority, leadership, and the like. This is just as it is obligatory for a person who is unable to pay his debt to strive to settle it, even if, in his current state, he is only required to pay what he is able to. And just as it is obligatory to prepare for jihad by building up strength and tethering horses when the obligation falls due due to inability, for what is not completed except by it is itself obligatory. This is unlike the ability to perform Hajj and the like, for it is not obligatory to acquire it, because the obligation there is not completed except by it.

Answer : Yes, this is a good distinction. He says: If we appoint an unqualified person out of necessity because we find no qualified person for the judiciary, no qualified person for leadership, and no qualified person for the ministry except one who is not qualified in times of abundance, should we leave this service and say there is no need for an emir, no need for a judge, no need for a minister, no need for a manager, and the like?
The answer is no. People do not function in chaos without authority. So we appoint this person out of necessity and strive to rectify the situation. We do not appoint him and say, "Stay as you are," nor do we fail to strive to rectify the situation. If he is deficient in knowledge, we go to teach him. If he is deficient in religion, we go to admonish him until the situation is rectified. Then he gave an example, saying: It is like a man who is unable to pay his debt; he is not demanded to pay more than what he is able to, what he can afford. But even so, if we take from him what he is able to, we do not say, "Be quiet now, it is done." We say, "Strive to pay off your debt. Trade and earn to pay off the debt until you have paid it off." Likewise, regarding jihad: we are commanded to perform jihad, but are we commanded to perform jihad even if we do not have the weapons our enemy has? No, because that falls under the category of throwing oneself into destruction. But it is obligatory that we prepare so that we can fulfill the obligation of jihad, because what is not completed except by it is itself obligatory. Now, a poor man who does not have money to perform Hajj, is he required to earn so that he can perform Hajj? No. And the difference is that the latter obligation is not completed except by the ability, whereas jihad is obligatory, but it is dropped in the case of recklessness until the ability is present.