Instead, he claimed to be the Khalifa of the Prophet (S).

Instead, he claimed to be the Khalifa of the Prophet (S).[^6] But, the absurdity of the matter becomes evident when we consider on the same analogy Umar to be the Caliph of Abu Bakr, Uthman the Caliph of Umar and so on and so forth. The absurdity becomes patent when we notice that the institution of Khilafah ordained by God in the Empyrean was abolished by Mustafa Kamal Pasha of Turkey, in the year 1924!

A distinction is made between spiritual leadership (Imamate) and temporal leadership (Khilafah). The qualifications required to be an Imam are exempted for the Caliph. Thus, we find that the History of Islam is full of Caliphs who practiced what was prohibited and they prohibited what was permitted, for they considered themselves lawmakers.

It is a common premise between the Shia and the Sunni that even the Prophet (S) himself did not have the power to legislate or amend the Sharia h.[^7] After the Prophet (S), from Abu Bakr, the first caliph, to the last one - Mustafa Kamal Pasha, none, barring the single instance of Imam Ali (a.s.), claimed both Spiritual and temporal leadership together in one person.

All the Sunni and Shia Ulema are in perfect agreement that Imam Ali (a.s.) was one among the five people declared Immaculate in the Qur’an.[^8] The dispute was and is always between the Divinely appointed Vicegerents such as Abraham, Moses…etc*.*, and the self-proclaimed despots like Nimrod, Pharaoh…etc. There abound in the Qur’an efforts of the Prophets, Apostles and Saints to invite men to worship only One Unique God.

In the Qur’an abound also the persecution of the Divinely appointed ones by tyrannical despots. These are not fables but part of history. The Holy Prophet (S) had forewarned his Umma that, on account of their faith and adherence to Islam, Muslims will be persecuted and slain. To such of those who are slain in the cause of Allah, the special title of Shahid [martyr] is given and they are promised everlasting life and abundant rewards. The tyrant is assured the maximum eternal chastisement.

Of late, a queer tendency has developed among Muslims, to forsake history altogether and invent justification for the tyrannical rule of a majority of the Caliphs, particularly the Umayyads , by saying that the atrocities they committed were invented by later historians under the rule of the Abbasid Caliphs . A modern day writer Dr.