The Validity of Legal Representation in Litigation

Imām Aḥmad ibn Yaḥyā ibn al-Murtaḍā (d. 840 AH / 1437 CE), under the chapter of agency (wakālah) in his major Zaydī comparative fiqh work al-Baḥr al-Zakhkhār al-Jāmiʿ li-Madhāhib ʿUlamāʾ al-Amṣār, states:

“Agency in litigation is valid even if the principal (the litigant) is present, because the evidence (in the Sharīʿa) makes no distinction between presence and absence.”

He records this as the view of Imām Yaḥyā al-Hādī (d. 298 AH / 911 CE), and supports it with the precedent of Imām ʿAlī, peace be upon him, who appointed an agent to litigate on his behalf — and no one objected.