Or that they gather at the door of anyone, who does not intend the well being of the Ummah, on the contrary he is in pursuit of personal profit. Or that they select an ignorant person, so that the laws are lost that he commits great mistakes, and that he commits crimes and sins due to his ignorance. Or that he knows, but he does not have the least hesitation in lying or issuing deceptive commands; and in this way they will deviate from all the paths of reformation and fall into corruption.
Since they would be unaware, they would fall into destruction, as is the example of their allegiance to Muawiyah, Yazid and the Umayyad Caliphs.
Since Almighty Allah does not like these circumstances to befall the people, it is obligatory that He should not leave this matter to discretion of people so that they create injustice and ignorance.1
أَلَا يَعْلَمُ مَنْ خَلَقَ وَهُوَ اللَّطِيفُ الْخَبِيرُ
“Does He not know, Who created? And He is the Knower of the subtleties, the Aware.”2
وَرَبُّكَ يَخْلُقُ مَا يَشَاءُ وَيَخْتَارُ مَا كَانَ لَهُمُ الْخِيَرَةُ
“Does He “And your Lord creates and chooses whom He pleases; to choose is not theirs.”1not know, Who created? And He is the Knower of the subtleties, the Aware.”3
وَمَا كَانَ لِمُؤْمِنٍ وَلَا مُؤْمِنَةٍ إِذَا قَضَى اللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ أَمْرًا أَنْ يَكُونَ لَهُمُ الْخِيَرَةُ مِنْ أَمْرِهِمْ وَمَنْ يَعْصِ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ فَقَدْ ضَلَّ ضَلَلًا مُّبِيْنَانُ
“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.”4
And since the first day, the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.) informed about this matter, when he mentioned his call to the clans and invited the Bani Aamir bin Saasa tribe to Almighty Allah and one of them asked:
“If we follow you and Almighty Allah makes you victorious over opponents, would rulership be there for us after you?”
The Prophet replied: “This matter is with the Almighty Allah and He places it wherever He wants.”5
How is it possible that people in this matter (in selecting a Caliph) should have discretion, inspite of excessiveness, vested interests, claims and inclinations, and desires regarding selection and in spite of differences, varying beliefs in analysis of capacities of people of the society and prominent personalities and in spite of numerous groups and sects and communities and different tribes, and in spite of social differences and tribes and clans which are present in the human society?
And the selection from the first day gave birth to enmity, conflict, injuries, anger and fury, plea and requests and severe enmity, and by this selection, how many sanctities are trespassed, rights are invalidated and righteous and learned persons are trampled upon and harmony and unity is destroyed; and safety and comfort are changed into distress and anxiety and pure blood is spilt on the earth and the structure of the right Islam is destroyed.
Some people vied for Caliphate, whereas they had no share and capability for it, except that they was busy selling cloth in the market, acting as brokers or spinning cloth and they were imposed as rulers on the people, or one who dug graves, while he was even unaware of its length and breadth, or a slave freed by unjust or usurper, or one, who was always intoxicated, or a shameless man, who did whatever he liked. And mischief making persons, who enslaved people and gifted the funds of Almighty Allah to each other and misused the Book of Allah, and turned the religion of God upside down.