Miscellaneous Issues on Power of Attorney 15item Does the attorney contract become void and null with the death of one of its parties, i.e., the attorney or the principal? Someone acted as an attorney in hiring other people to perform certain acts of worship, such as prayer and fasting, on behalf of the deceased. He betrayed the trust, i.e. he did not hire anybody and took the money for himself. Having shown remorse, he wants to pay back his dues. What should he do? Should he hire some people to do the job or return the money to the respective owners at the current rate? Or is he required to return only the amounts he originally received from the people who asked him to do the job? And what is the view if this person himself was hired to do the job, but died before getting it over and done with? A person bought some property through the attorney of the owner. After the settlement of the installments, the attorney claimed that he had cancelled the sale and returned the property to its owner. Is the agent justified in his action? And has the buyer the right to demand from him to give him possession of the property? A person appointed his wife as his attorney to sell some land and some buildings he owned and to buy with the sale proceeds a residential flat for their young son. However, making use of [abusing] the power of attorney, she was given by her husband, she registered the property in her own name. Is she right in what she has done? After the death of her husband, would the flat belong to the boy or would it be shared among the inheritors? A person appointed another as his attorney to carry out a particular job and paid him beforehand as stipulated in the contract. Is it shar‘ī for the attorney to have the money if he does not do the job? Is it permissible for the authorized attorney of a given mujtahid to hand over the religious tithes he collects to another mujtahid? The wording of attorneyship varies according to intents and purposes. Some are couched in general terms and others in specific ones. However, one phrase in particular is a source of misunderstanding between the agent and the principal. It is the one which gives the attorney the power to address all the issues pertaining to the issue of attorneyship. Is it permissible for the attorney to have an absolute right in that regard if his scope of actions is not restricted in any way? I was asked to represent the family of a person who was killed in a traffic accident abroad. Is it permissible for me to take travel expenses from the deceased’s estate or should I get it from money that country is going to give the heirs?v Some solicitors represent companies in the courts in defending cases filed against the companies by certain quarters or vice versa. If the solicitor has no doubts as to the guilt of the company, is it permissible for them to defend it? If the solicitor fights the case on behalf of the company, while he maintains that the company has no right in these cases, is he going to be responsible for his own actions in cases where the court rules in the company’s favor? And would the fee the solicitor received for his work in defending the unfair claim be considered ill gotten and, therefore, ḥarām to be had? I asked my brother to buy a telephone line for me. I gave him the first installment which he paid to the department concerned. I paid further installments personally. My brother, in whose name the telephone line was registered, died. Have my brother’s heirs the right to claim the ownership of the telephone line? Someone acted as an attorney in hiring other people to perform certain acts of worship, such as prayer and fasting, on behalf of the deceased. He betrayed the trust, i.e. he did not hire anybody and took the money for himself. Having shown remorse, he wants to pay back his dues. What should he do? Should he hire some people to do the job or return the money to the respective owners at the current rate? Or is he required to return only the amounts he originally received from the people who asked him to do the job? And what is the view if this person himself was hired to do the job, but died before getting it over and done with? Does the attorney contract become void and null with the death of one of its parties, i.e., the attorney or the principal? Some solicitors represent companies in the courts in defending cases filed against the companies by certain quarters or vice versa. If the solicitor has no doubts as to the guilt of the company, is it permissible for them to defend it? If the solicitor fights the case on behalf of the company, while he maintains that the company has no right in these cases, is he going to be responsible for his own actions in cases where the court rules in the company’s favor? And would the fee the solicitor received for his work in defending the unfair claim be considered ill gotten and, therefore, ḥarām to be had? Is it permissible for the authorized attorney of a given mujtahid to hand over the religious tithes he collects to another mujtahid? A person bought some property through the attorney of the owner. After the settlement of the installments, the attorney claimed that he had cancelled the sale and returned the property to its owner. Is the agent justified in his action? And has the buyer the right to demand from him to give him possession of the property? 12