These are his senior ...

These are his senior , eg the four caliphs and the ten who received the great news (of paradise from the *(Peace Be Upon Him and His Household)* ). The third group is of those who received individual blessings from him in the form of knowledge and piety. These are the people who were steeped in the virtue of īhsān (selflessness), like Anas and Abū Hurayrah, and the people who came later.’ The three forms of inheritance owe their origin to the finality of messengership.

It may be noted that this division is based on convenience and special status whereas each category of inheritance shares the qualities of other inheritances of the Prophet*(Peace Be Upon Him and His Household)* . Each category has, in some shape or form, a relationship with the other. In governance, Abū Bakr as-Siddīq (RA) was the immediate deputy of the Prophet*(Peace Be Upon Him and His Household)* . In spirituality and sainthood ‘Alī al-Murtadā (RA) was his directly appointed deputy.

In guidance all of his and Caliphs were his immediate deputies. As a result, after the finality of prophethood, three horizons were set up in order to facilitate the eternal continuity of the Prophet’s*(Peace Be Upon Him and His Household)* blessing: The first horizon is for the political inheritance of the Prophet*(Peace Be Upon Him and His Household)* . The second horizon is for the spiritual inheritance of the Prophet*(Peace Be Upon Him and His Household)* .

The third horizon is for the educational and practical inheritance of the Prophet*(Peace Be Upon Him and His Household)* . The political inheritance of the Prophet*(Peace Be Upon Him and His Household)* was known as khilāfah rāshidah (the rightly-guided caliphate). The spiritual inheritance of the Prophet*(Peace Be Upon Him and His Household)* was known as wilāyah (spiritual sovereignty) and imāmah (spiritual leadership).

The educational and practical inheritance of the Prophet*(Peace Be Upon Him and His Household)* came to be known as guidance and honesty. Therefore, the first recipient of political inheritance was Abū Bakr as-Siddīq (RA), the first recipient of spiritual inheritance was ‘Alī al-Murtadā (RA), and the first recipients of educational and practical inheritance were the . So all of them were immediate caliphs (heads of their particular categories).

There is no form of contradiction or rivalry between the three.