In this way...

In this way, they opened a door that couldn’t be closed before anyone, arousing the greediness of all, far and near, and bad and good for it, till it was handed over from Quraysh to the slaves, then to the Mamalik and lastly to the Turkish and Moguls.

Thereat, all the values and conditions they stipulated to be possessed by the caliph, have been neglected since anyone other than the Infallible was merely a human being full of passions and instincts, who as soon as attaining power, feels uncertain of being converted and turned to be worse than he was. And Islamic history is replete with much evidence confirming our claim.

Some readers may think that I am exaggerating, and I ask them to go through the history of the Umayyads with the Abbasids and others, to realize that who called himself Amir al-Muminin used to show openly the habit of imbibing wine, frolic with the apes, clothing them with gold. And that the so-called (Amir al-Muminin) used to clothe his bondmaid his clothes to lead Muslims in prayers.

Why do we occupy our minds in talking about those whom the Muslims judged to be representing only the mordacious kings, not the (real) caliphate, as referred to by the traditions narrated by them, which is the utterance of the Messenger (s.a.w.a)? “Verily successorship after me shall last for thirty years, after which it will be only a mordacious rule”.

This point is out of the scope of our discussion, and anyone desiring to have information about that is asked to refer to Tarikh al-Tabari, Tarikh Ibn al-Athir, Tarikh Abi al-Fid and Tarikh Ibn Qutaybah, and others. That which I intended to say was to demonstrate the disadvantages of the election, and futility of the theory from its foundation, as against the one whom we elect today we may harbour malice, and it, will be manifested for us that we were mistaken and have gone wrong in the election.

This is exactly like the case of Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf when he chose Uthman ibn Affan for the post of the caliphate, after which he felt so regretful, but that was of no use for the Ummah after putting it in trouble.

When a reputable Companion belonging to the first vanguard like Uthman, breaches the covenant he gave to Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf, and when the latter, though being a companion of fame among the predecessors, being unable to choose properly, it would be impossible then to any sane man to be satisfied with this barren theory that produced nothing but turmoil, instability and bloodshed.