241 H) records one of his explicit instructions concerning such deputies...

241 H) records one of his explicit instructions concerning such deputies: … ان أبا سلمة بن عبد الرحمن أخبره انه سمع أبا هريرة يقول قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم من أطاعني فقد أطاع الله ومن عصاني فقد عصى الله ومن أطاع أميري فقد أطاعني ومن عصى أميري فقد عصاني Abu Hurayrah said: The Messenger of Allah, (PBUHH), said: “Whosoever obeys me has obeyed Allah and whosoever disobeys me has disobeyed Allah.

Also, whosoever obeys my amir has obeyed me, and whosoever disobeys my amir has disobeyed me.” (5) Shaykh al-Arnaut says: إسناده صحيح على شرط الشيخين Its chain is sahih upon the standard of the two Shaykhs (Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim) (6) These Amirs (Commanders) were generally appointed either as army commanders or civilian governors. In the latter case, they were also referred to as khalifahs (7).

They stood in the position of the Messenger of Allah – often in a limited capacity – and substituted for him within his Ummah . The question then is about the command roles of the Prophet after his death . Did he appoint amirs to fill them for him or not? He knew for certain that he was going to die one day, and would no longer be able to personally perform his command roles at all anymore within his Ummah . So, what did he do about these roles?

Did he follow his Sunnah of appointing amirs to perform them for him whenever he was unable to do them by himself? Or, did he abandon his own Sunnah?! Our brothers from the Ahl al-Sunnah say: Yes, he abandoned his own Sunnah! He knew that he still had those roles in his Ummah which would endure after his demise and that he would soon be unable to carry them out personally. Yet, he deputized no one to perform them for him in his absence (due to death).

Meanwhile, the Shia contradict the Ahl al-Sunnah on this matter. They argue that it was absolutely impossible for the Messenger to have departed without taking steps to ensure the continued fulfilment of his command roles over his Ummah after him. They submit instead that he actually appointed twelve amirs to fill his full command roles for him among his followers till the Hour. The Shi’i claim apparently has support in authentic Sunni reports.

For instance, this is an authentic hadith documented in the Musnad of Ahmad bin Hanbal: عن جابر بن سمرة قال سمعت رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم يقول يكون من بعدي اثنا عشر أميرا فتكلم فخفي علي فسألت الذي يلينى أو إلى جنبي فقال كلهم من قريش ‘Abd Allah – Shurayh b. Yunus – ‘Umar b. ‘Ubayd – Simak b. Harb – Jabir b.