«And when your Lord said to the angels, I am going to place in the earth a vicegerent»
(2:30) There is a ‘tanween’ on ‘Jaa-il’ here and this is a right, which Allah has kept only for Himself. He says: Surely I am going to create a mortal from dust
(38:71) Here, there is a ‘tanween’ on ‘khaaliq’, which is an attribute selected by Allah only for Himself. Therefore if a person claims that he has the right to elect a caliph then he should be asked to create a man out of dust. If this is not possible for him, the second thing is also out of his capacity because both of them have same origin.
The angels did not have the right to appoint a caliph inspite of their excellence and infallibility. Almighty Allah did this job on His own and made it a proof on His creatures that there is no way for you to appoint an Imam. Angels did not have any way to appoint Imam in spite of their pure intentions, loyalty and infallibility. Almighty Allah has praised them in many verses as in the following: «Nay! They are honored servants; They do not precede Him in speech and (only) according to His commandment do they act»
(21:26-27) And in another verse as: «They do not disobey Allah in what He commands them, and do as they are commanded»
(66:6) How can a man who has a defective mind, foolishness and ignorance do this job perfectly? We can see that Almighty Allah did not leave any commandment including Salaat, Zakat, and Hajj etc. to the wish of man. Then how is it possible to hand over the choice of the most important of all aspects to man?
All the statements of Almighty Allah about a caliph mean that there would be a single caliph only. This invalidates the proofs of those people who say that there can be more than one Imam at a time. If the argument of those people was correct, Almighty Allah would have appointed more than one Imam at a time. Our claim is against those people and Holy Quran supports our stand and not theirs. If two statements are contradictory, the statement supported by Holy Quran will be considered correct.
Almighty Allah has addressed His messenger in the verse: And when your Lord said to the angels… Here ‘Rabbuk’ means ‘Your Lord’ is the best proof that Almighty Allah has reserved this meaning regarding His Imamate till the Judgment Day. Therefore the earth is never devoid of a proof of Allah for the sake of Muhammad’s Ummah. If this is not the fact, there would have been no logic in using the word ‘rabbuk’ or ‘Your Lord’. Instead the word ‘rabbuhum’ or ‘their Lord’ should have been used. Almighty Allah uses the same logic and reasoning for future generations as He has used for the past generations. His wisdom does not change with time because He possesses justice and wisdom. He does not have any special relationship with any of His creatures.
Commentary #4
ووجه آخر وهو أن الملائكة في فضلهم و عصمتهم لم يصلحوا لاختيار الإمام حتى تولى الله ذلك بنفسه دونهم و احتج به على عامة خلقه أنه لا سبيل لهم إلى اختياره لما لم يكن للملائكة سبيل إليه مع صفائهم و وفائهم و عصمتهم و مدح الله إياهم في آيات كثيرة مثل قوله سبحانه بَلْ عِبادٌ مُكْرَمُونَ لا يَسْبِقُونَهُ بِالْقَوْلِ وَ هُمْ بِأَمْرِهِ يَعْمَلُونَ و كقوله عز و جل لا يَعْصُونَ اللَّهَ ما أَمَرَهُمْ وَ يَفْعَلُونَ ما يُؤْمَرُونَ ثم إن الإنسان بما فيه من السفه و الجهل كيف و أنى يستتب له ذلك فهذا و الأحكام دون الإمامة مثل الصلاة و الزكاة و الحج و غير ذلك لم يكل الله عز و جل شيئا من ذلك إلى خلقه فكيف وكل إليهم الأهم الجامع للأحكام كلها و الحقائق بأسرها.
و في قوله عز و جل خَلِيفَةً إشارة إلى خليفة واحدة ثبت به و معه إبطال قول من زعم أنه يجوز أن تكون في وقت واحد أئمة كثيرة وقد اقتصر الله عز و جل على الواحد ولو كانت الحكمة ما قالوه و عبروا عنه لم يقتصر الله عز و جل على الواحد و دعوانا مُحاذٍ لدعواهم ثم إن القرآن يرجح قولنا دون قولهم و الكلمتان إذا تقابلتا ثم رجح إحداهما على الأخرى بالقرآن كان الرجحان أولى.
و لقوله عز و جل وَ إِذْ قالَ رَبُّكَ لِلْمَلائِكَةِ الآية في الخطاب الذي خاطب الله عز و جل به نبيه ص لما قال رَبُّكَ من أصح الدليل على أنه سبحانه يستعمل هذا المعنى في أمته إلى يوم القيامة فإن الأرض لا تخلو من حجة له عليهم و لو لا ذلك لما كان لقوله رَبُّكَ حكمة و كان يجب أن يقول ربهم و حكمة الله في السلف كحكمته في الخلف لا يختلف في مر الأيام و كر الأعوام و ذلك أنه عز و جل عدل حكيم لا يجمعه و أحد من خلقه نسب جل الله عن ذلك.
The angels did not have the right to appoint a caliph inspite of their excellence and infallibility. Almighty Allah did this job on His own and made it a proof on His creatures that there is no way for you to appoint an Imam. Angels did not have any way to appoint Imam in spite of their pure intentions, loyalty and infallibility. Almighty Allah has praised them in many verses as in the following: «Nay! They are honored servants; They do not precede Him in speech and (only) according to His commandment do they act» (21:26-27) And in another verse as: «They do not disobey Allah in what He commands them, and do as they are commanded» (66:6) How can a man who has a defective mind, foolishness and ignorance do this job perfectly? We can see that Almighty Allah did not leave any commandment including Salaat, Zakat, and Hajj etc. to the wish of man. Then how is it possible to hand over the choice of the most important of all aspects to man?
All the statements of Almighty Allah about a caliph mean that there would be a single caliph only. This invalidates the proofs of those people who say that there can be more than one Imam at a time. If the argument of those people was correct, Almighty Allah would have appointed more than one Imam at a time. Our claim is against those people and Holy Quran supports our stand and not theirs. If two statements are contradictory, the statement supported by Holy Quran will be considered correct.
Almighty Allah has addressed His messenger in the verse: And when your Lord said to the angels… Here ‘Rabbuk’ means ‘Your Lord’ is the best proof that Almighty Allah has reserved this meaning regarding His Imamate till the Judgment Day. Therefore the earth is never devoid of a proof of Allah for the sake of Muhammad’s Ummah. If this is not the fact, there would have been no logic in using the word ‘rabbuk’ or ‘Your Lord’. Instead the word ‘rabbuhum’ or ‘their Lord’ should have been used. Almighty Allah uses the same logic and reasoning for future generations as He has used for the past generations. His wisdom does not change with time because He possesses justice and wisdom. He does not have any special relationship with any of His creatures.