What is the criterion for authority? And in what does it consist?

Question:
What is the criterion for authority? For example, a police chief or a company manager, or must one be, for example, an emir?

Answer:
Authority over a country, a village, or a tribe—these are the emirates. As for these, they are jobs. When the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was asked by Uthman ibn Abi al-As, "Make me the leader of my people," he said: , and he did not object to his asking for leadership. So asking to be in a position such as this—being an employee in a department, or in the police of a certain country, or in the force of a certain emir—is permissible; because people need these things, and the one responsible is the emir.