are representative of the subjects. It is also a condition that the Bai’ah be given upon the
ruling by the Book of Allah (swt) and the Sunnah of His Messenger (saw) so that the Khalifah
fosters the affairs of the subjects, safeguarding their Deen, honour, wealth and life through
justice and the best conduct. The Messenger (saw) also commanded obedience to these just
Khulafaa’ and to fight whoever disputes with them in respect to the (authority of their)
Khilafah. Muslim narrated that the Prophet (saw) said:
َةَﺮََثمَو ِﻩِﺪَﻳ َﺔَﻘْﻔَﺻ ُهﺎَﻄْﻋَﺄَﻓ ﺎًﻣﺎَﻣِإ َﻊَﻳﺎَﺑ ْﻦَﻣَو»
«ِﺮَﺧﻵا َﻖُﻨُﻋ اﻮُﺑِْﴐﺎَﻓ ُﻪُﻋِزﺎَﻨُﻳ ُﺮَﺧآ َءﺎَﺟ ْنِﺈَﻓ ،َعﺎَﻄَﺘْﺳا ِنِإ ُﻪْﻌِﻄُﻴْﻠَﻓ ،ِﻪِﺒْﻠَﻗ
“Whosoever gave a Bay’ah to an Imam, giving him the clasp of his hand, and the fruit of
his heart shall obey him as long as he can, and if another comes to dispute with him, you
must strike the neck of that man.”
The command to obey the Imaam is also a command to establish him and the command to
fight the one who disputes his authority is a Qareenah (connotation) indicating decisiveness
in respect to the continual existence of one single Khalifah.
• As for the Ijmaa’ As-Sahaabah (Consensus of the Companions), then all of them agreed upon
the necessity of establishing a Khalifah (successor) to the Messenger of Allah (saw) following
his death. They agreed upon establishing Abu Bakr as the Khalifah, then ‘Umar and then
‘Uthman following them. The Ijmaa’ As-Sahaabah in respect to establishing a Khalifah was
strongly confirmed by their delay of the burial of the Messenger of Allah (saw) following
his passing and by occupying themselves in the work to appoint a Khalifah (successor) to
him. This is in spite of the obligation to bury the dead person immediately following his
death and the prohibition upon those who are obliged to prepare the body and the burial to
preoccupy themselves with something else until they have completed the burial. A portion
of the Sahaabah upon whom it was obligatory to occupy themselves with the preparation
of the Messenger (saw) occupied themselves in the appointment of the Khalifah instead
of the burial of the Messenger (saw) whilst a group of them were silent in respect to this
preoccupation and participated in the delay of the burial for two nights whilst it was within
their capability to denounce that and to go ahead with the burial. This therefore represents an
Ijmaa’ (consensus) in respect to engaging in the appointment of the Khalifah over the burial
of the dead and that could not be possible unless the appointment of the Khalifah was a
greater obligation that the burying of the dead. In addition to that all of the Sahaabah agreed
throughout their lives upon the obligation of appointing the Khalifah and therefore the
Ijmaa’ of the Sahaabah represents an explicitly clear and powerful evidence for the obligation
of appointing the Khalifah.
• In addition to that, the establishment of the Deen and the implementation of the Shar’a
rulings in all of the affairs of the life of this Dunya and the Hereafter is an obligation upon
Muslims through evidence that is Qat’iy Ath-Thuboot (conclusively proven) and Qat’iy Ad-
Dalaalah (definite in meaning) and this cannot be completed by other than a ruler who
possesses an authority. The Shariah principle states: ‘That which the Waajib (obligation) is
not fulfilled by except by it, is (in itself) Waajib’ and as such the appointment of a Khalifah is
also Fard (an obligation) from this direction.
• Therefore these evidences are explicit in respect to the establishment of the rule and authority
being an obligation upon the Muslims and explicit in respect to the establishing of a Khalifah
who assumes the rule and authority for the purpose of implementing the Ahkaam ash-Shar’a
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