The device was this...

The device was this; instead of openly disobeying the orders of the Prophet, they feigned not to believe that the Prophet (P) had designated Imam Ali, or anyone else for that matter, as his successor. This is the raison d'étre of the Non-appointment Theory.

The person who formulated this Theory was definitely UMAR, and it has become an accepted article of faith with one of the two factions of the Muslim nation into which it has since been divided on the question of the Caliphate, as we have learnt before.

On his deathbed, when asked to nominate his successor, UMAR said that if he did so he would be following the example of one who was better than himself, namely ABU BAKR, and that if he did not designate anyone as his successor, he would be following the example of one who was also better than himself, that is, the Prophet. It has been an article of faith with this faction ever since.

They have proclaimed it as an established fact that the Prophet (P) did not designate anyone as his successor, whether Imam Ali or ABU BAKR. Not only this; they maintain that the Prophet did not give any direction as to how the succession should be regulated. At the SAQIFA, where ABU BAKR was selected as Caliph, no definite direction of the Prophet was cited and none was followed.

The so-called election at the SAQIFA, the arguments that were advanced there, and the conduct of UMAR and ABU BAKR in abruptly leaving the dead body of the Prophet and hastening to the SAQIFA to get ABU BAKR selected as the Caliph, can have a meaning only on the assumption that the Prophet did not nominate his own successor.

All the Muslim writers whose on Islamic History have been acknowledged as authentic have been Sunnis, that is, belonging to the majority party who formulated the Non-appointment Theory, and they believe as an article of their faith that ABU BAKR was rightfully elected by the UMMA as Caliph. This explains why they are unanimous in saying that the Prophet did not nominate his successor. But as a piece of historical evidence, this unanimity is of no value.

Chapter Two : The Parties We have seen that the birth of the Islamic State gave rise to speculation regarding the ruler after the Prophet, and that this made certain people take stock of their own possibilities and potentials. They were determined to make a bid for the throne. The result was that the companions of the Prophet were, during his life, as his UMMA has been since his death, divided into two groups, viz.