Claim
to Caliphate
From the Quran it becomes clear
beyond doubt that rule or caliphate on earth is from Allâh and He Alone can
take it back.
It is said:
"O Allâh!
Possessor of the kingdom, You give the kingdom to whom You will, and You take
the kingdom from whom You will." (3:26)
Now it is to be seen as to who
really deserves the caliphate or rule, and what are the distinctive signs of
those who are given caliphate. According to the Quran, it is knowledge on which
the rule over mankind is based.
"And He
taught Adam all the names (of everything)." (2:31)
While the angels considered the
traits of corruption and disruption against a righteous caliphate, and the mention
and glorification of Allâh the Almighty to be the consideration for making one
deserve the caliphate. We have seen clearly that human beings established their
rule over other creatures due to their power of knowledge only. Had man not
been adorned and strengthened with deep and wide knowledge, even a gust of
wind, a wave of water, a leaf of some tree or a particle of dust could have
rendered him helpless. It is by virtue of his knowledge that even a lion, an
elephant, river, mountain, wind, fire, and lightening are at his service and
are ready to obey him and comfort him like his servants. The Quran informs us
when there were objections to the kingship of Tâlut (Saul), Allâh the Almighty
answered the detractors through His Prophet:
"Verily Allâh has chosen him
above you and has increased him abundantly in knowledge and stature. And Allâh
grants His kingdom to whom He wills." (2:247)
Having conferred rule and caliphate
on Dâwud (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم), Allâh the Almighty
commanded
"So judge you between men in
truth and follow not your desire." (38:26)
In another Verse, He said:
"And
indeed We destroyed generations before you when they did wrong, while their
Messengers came to them with clear proofs, but they were not such as to
believe! That do We requite the people who are sinners. Then We made you
successors after them, generations after generations in the land that We might
see how you would work." (10:13,14)
Hundreds of Verses from the Quran
may be produced to establish that caliph stands for 'ruler' and caliphate for
'rule'. And in order to rule establishing knowledge, justice, reform, power and
welfare of mankind are some of the prerequisite conditions, which have always
been required from a king or ruler without which he cannot keep his rule
intact. All these good qualities can only be obtained through the teachings of
the Prophets and the Messengers of Allâh. However, it is also necessary that a
Prophet has to be a ruler in order to set the example. Had mere prayers and
glorification of Allâh the Almighty been enough, only Prophets or angels would
have ruled the world. In short, the caliphate is another name for the rule
which Allâh the Almighty confers on those He wants. However, when a ruling
nation indulges in corruption and wrongdoing, Allâh the Almighty takes it away
from them.
Islamic
Caliphate
All the progress made by mankind so
far along with all his academic and moral virtues are the outcome of the
teachings of the Prophets. Prophets have sometimes came as teachers, for
instance, like Isa (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم)
(Jesus Christ), and at times as monarchs like Dâwud (David) (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم). The religious codes brought by
monarch-Prophets are more perfect and magnificent than those of the
teacher-Prophets. The teacher-Prophets set examples for every member of their
Ummah (community) while the monarch-Prophets not only set examples but have the
power to enforce codes and make the people follow them. When the
teacher-Prophet departs from the world after finishing his task, none can succeed
him in matters of Prophethood, for the Prophet receives Revelation from Allâh
the Almighty to convey to his people.
Now as a matter of general
principle, the successor of a Prophet must be a Prophet. But since a Prophet
departs from the world only after completing the task assigned to him, he needs
no successor after him. This is why no teacher-Prophet has ever had a
successor. However, as far as a monarch-Prophet is concerned, nobody can
succeed him as a Prophet but his rule may be succeed by anybody as a successor.
Since the successor would have been brought up under the shadow of the
Prophet's teachings, he is supposed to be the most suitable person to do the
job. Since Muhammad (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم)
was the perfect and the last Prophet and had been sent with the complete
guidelines, he was, therefore, a ruling-Prophet and his rule is the best and
most perfect example for rulers and leaders to the Day of Judgment.
He was essentially supposed to have
a successor or caliph after him, and there actually have been many who have
succeeded him in temporal affairs. In addition, there were those among them who
were brought up in the mould of the Prophet (صلى الله
عليه وآله وسلم) and had the stamp of Prophetic character and adopted the
pattern of his Prophetic rule. Their rule came to be called the Rightly-Guided
Caliphate. But the farther they happened to be from the days of Prophetic rule,
their caliphate showed a difference from that of the primary example.
Objection
to the Procedure of electing a Caliph
After the time of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم), some people among
the Muslims raised doubts of a ridiculous nature regarding the procedure
adopted for electing a caliph. But, in truth, all such charges are false and
fabricated for the choice of a ruler or caliph rests wholly and solely with
Allâh the Almighty. He Alone gives it to someone and takes it away from others.
He never left this job to any human.
The Quran delineates the task of a
caliph and its dos and don'ts. It gives detailed guidance about the prayer,
fasting, Hajj, Zakât, the rights of Allâh and His servants but doesn't mention
the succession of the Prophet. This is because He gives it to the one He
chooses for the job and makes arrangements for this. Allâh the Almighty Alone
knows who deserves the job. The one who succeeded the first caliph was the one
whom Allâh chose for the job. If any other person is brought forward as the
most deserving for the post, in fact, it is to say that Allâh the Almighty
failed to bring a man of His choice for the post. It means He (Allâh forbid)
was defeated in His Plan.
Thus to raise a dispute in this
matter is tantamount to objecting to the choice of the Almighty. Thus, the
detractors of Abu Bakr's caliphate are like those who object to the decision of
a judge in a court of law, the judge cannot alter his judgment because of their
deprecation. Now if anybody disapproves of the caliphate of a person, in fact,
he stands against the Judgment of Allâh the Exalted and Most High.
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