Only that person can shoulder the responsibility of...

Only that person can shoulder the responsibility of governing a state that is strong and steadfast, insightful and wise. I intend to take you back to the conduct and practice of the Holy Prophet (s) . I promise to fulfill my pledge with you, on the condition that you also remain firm and steadfast on yours. We will certainly need to pray to Allah for His help and support regarding this capacity to fulfill our pledges.

I want to remind you that I am exactly the same today as I was in the lifetime of the Holy Prophet (s) . Lead your life according to the principles and rules by ensuring obedience and submission to them. If you observe something strange and unacceptable in my behaviour, do not defy or rebel against it without prior thought. I never do anything beyond my responsibility, for which I have no rational proof to offer in the presence of God. He is watching each one of us, encompassing all our actions.

I am not interested in the position of caliph because I heard the Holy Prophet say, ‘Whoever takes control of governing the Ummah after me, will be stopped, on the day of Judgment, on the Bridge of Righteousness. His Document of deeds will be presented to him. If his actions bespeak of justice and fair play, God will grant him salvation because of His justice.

If his actions bespeak injustice and tyranny, the bridge will quake and drop him into the fire beneath.’ You have unanimously elected me for this position and I do not have a credible reason or excuse to reject your request. I, therefore, accept this responsibility. Now, hear me carefully!

I, hereby, proclaim to obstruct the path of those individuals that have abused public funds and the state treasury to make large estates, dig many streams flowing with water; that own the best breed of horses, purchase concubines, and have adopted a lifestyle of worldly pleasures. This accountability will begin tomorrow. Whatever is their legal right will remain with them, everything beyond that will return to the state treasury.

They might complain tomorrow that they were not forewarned, that Ali ibn e Abi Talib had kept them in the dark. I, therefore, proclaim in plain terms that I shall end all special privileges enjoyed heretofore. This includes all those individuals who were getting V.I.P. treatment just because they enjoyed the society of the Holy Prophet (s) , or served the cause of Islam in the past.