وَرَبُّكَ يَعْلَمُ مَا تُكِنُّ صُدُورُهُمْ وَمَا يُعْلِنُونَ
“And your Lord knows what their breasts conceal and what they manifest.”1
and:
اللهُ أَعْلَمُ حَيْثُ يَجْعَلُ رِسَالَتَهُ
“Allah best knows where He places His message.”2
Thus, a nation, which has no knowledge of unseen, cannot specify which
one is imbued with these qualities and even the good people would commit a
mistake most of the time.
Even a prophet, like Musa (a.s.), as result of the selection from thousands of
people, could select only seventy person and when they reached the Miqaat,3 they
said: “Show God to us,” what could be expected from ordinary people and what
can be the consequences of their selection?
How can they choose one, when all are apparently equal to each other? And
we are not assured that a corrupt person should be selected or a deviated or
mischief maker should not be chosen or they should not gather behind one, who
does not want the well being of public, and he is only in pursuit of his personal
benefit.4
Or that they may select an ignorant person, who commits serious mistakes,
and commits crimes and falls into sins due to ignorance or that he knows, but is
not averse to speak falsehood or to issue a deceptive order.
Though his intention is to reform, but instead creates mischief and they
don’t understand that they are falling into destruction as happened in case of their
allegiance to Muawiyah, Yazid and the Umayyad Caliphate.
Thus, Almighty Allah does like that His servants should face such things;
then it is obligatory that in this matter, He should not leave discretion to people,
who are created ignorant and unjust.5 And:
الا يَعْلَمُ مَنْ خَلَقَ وَهُوَ اللَّطِيفُ الْخَبِيرُ
“Does He not know, Who created? And He is the Knower of the subtleties, the Aware.”6
وَرَبُّكَ يَخْلُقُ مَا يَشَاءُ وَيَخْتَارُ مَا كَانَ لَهُمُ الْخِيَرَةُ
“And your Lord creates and chooses whom He pleases; to choose is not theirs.”7
وَمَا كَانَ لِمُؤْمِنٍۢ وَلَا مُؤْمِنَةٍ إِذَا قَضَى ٱللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُۥٓ أَمْرًا أَن يَكُونَ لَهُمُ ٱلْخِيَرَةُ مِنْ أَمْرِهِمْ ۗ وَمَن يَعْصِ ٱللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُۥ فَقَدْ ضَلَّ ضَلَـٰلًۭا مُّبِينًۭا (٣٦)
“And it behoves not a believing man and a believing woman that
they should have any choice in their matter when Allah and His
Apostle have decided a matter; and whoever disobeys Allah and
His Apostle, he surely strays off a manifest straying.”8
The Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.a.), since the beginning, informed about this
matter, when he initiated his call to the tribes and he called Bani Aamir bin Saasa
towards God and one of them said:
“If we follow you, and then Almighty Allah bestows victory to you over the
opponents, would mastership be transferred to us?”
His Eminence replied: “This is upon the wish of Allah and He places it
where He likes.”
How is it possible for people to do this (selection of Caliph), inspite of
multiplicity of their aims, vested interests, claims, inclinations and wants, which
they have towards selection?
And in spite of differences, multiplicity of views, and beliefs in people of
the society and prominent personalities and in spite of excess of groups and
communities and different tribes and in spite of social controversies and different
clans and tribes?
And selection, since the first day, was source of enmity, in which peace and
security was changed into restlessness and grief. Pure blood was spilled and the
structure of the right Islam was demolished and such persons vied for Caliphate,
who did not have any share or eligibility for it, including cloth sellers and
brokers.
Who were always engrossed in market places, who were prevented from
other preoccupations (like learning the Book and Sunnah), due to selling cloth, or
a grave digger, who could not distinguish its length and breadth or the freed
slave, the usurper and unjust or one, who was always intoxicated or shameless
one, who committed every act of debauchery or mischief makers, whose wanted
to enslave servants of God and give property of God to one another, and
corrupted the Book of Allah, and inverted the religion of God.