It is believed that it is this aspect of the Holy Prophet...

It is believed that it is this aspect of the Holy Prophet which is visualized by the Qur’anic verse: "Believers, obey Allah, and obey His Messenger and your (qualified) leaders." (Surah an Nisa, 4:59) In fact, the three positions held by the Holy Prophet were not merely formal or ceremonial. The directions which we have received from him are basically of three kinds. (i) The first kind comprises Divine revelations, in regard to which the Holy Prophet could do nothing of his own accord.

His sole function was to convey to the people what was revealed to him. (ii) In the field of religious instructions, for example, he told the people how to offer prayers and keep fast. But when he administered justice his judgements were not revealed. In the case of a dispute between two persons, he decided the matter according to the Islamic standards and judged who was right and who was wrong. In such a case Jibra'il did not bring any revelation to him. Exceptional cases are a different matter.

On the whole he decided all judicial cases on the basis of available evidence in the same way as others do. At the most it may be said that his judgements were better than those of others. He himself said that he had orders to pronounce judgement on the basis of what appears to be specious. Suppose a plaintiff and a respondent appear and the plaintiff produces two irreproachable witnesses. The Prophet would decide the case on the basis of their evidence.

Evidently this judgement will be the Prophet's own judgement and not a judgement revealed to him. (iii) In this third capacity also when the Prophet issued an order as the leader of society, the nature of this order of his was different from the nature of what he conveyed as Divine revelation. Allah appointed the Holy Prophet the leader of society and authorized him to work as such. In this capacity he sometimes consulted others also.

We see that he consulted his companions on the occasion of the Battles of Badr and Uhud and on many other occasions. Evidently there can be no consultation about a Divinely revealed order. The Holy Prophet never consulted his companions as to how the dusk time (Magrib) prayers should be offered. There have been occasions when the Holy Prophet said about certain questions referred to him that Allah had commanded thus and hence he had to abide by His command.

But on matters in which he had received no Divine injunction, he often consulted others and asked for their opinion.