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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books A Shi'ite Encyclopedia (chpater 4) Attacking the House of Fatimah (as) A Sunni Brother mentioned that the Caliphate of Abu Bakr is the Consensus of scholars (Ijma'). It is incumbent upon Muslims to accept the Ijma'. First I would like to point out that we also believe that Ijma'a is binding. But, my brother, how can Sunni scholars make Ijma'a on something that the Prophet and some of his companions opposed it?

This opposition is a clear evidence to the fact that there is no Ijma'a in that very matter. As for the Prophet (PBUH&HF), I mentioned the authentic Sunni traditions in the previous articles where he gave Imam Ali the position that Haroon had to Moses. That position is explained in Quran whose verses I mentioned. The verses show that: 1-Allah is the one who appoints the Caliph. 2-The verse also uses the word "Ukhlofni" which is exactly the verb form of Khalif.

Moreover, I reproduced the historical reports documented by the Sunni scholars concerning the fact that the Messenger of Allah unequivocally announced Imam Ali (AS) as his successor in his first open preach. I also mentioned the authentic and frequent tradition of Ghadir Khum where the Prophet declared the leadership of Imam Ali (AS) officially. Now, my brother, how can Ijma'a exist on this important issue when the Messenger of Allah oppose it?

This is enough for us to close the issue of Ijma'a on this subject. However let us, now, go a little further: Even the companions did not all agree that all these four individuals are the legitimate successors of the Prophet (PBUH&HF). Muslims agree that the caliphate of Abu Bakr came through election by a limited number of people and was a surprise for all other companions. By limited, I mean, a majority of the prominent companions of prophet had no knowledge of this election.

Ali, Ibn Abbas, Uthman, Talha, Zubair, Sa'd Ibn Abi Waqqas, Salman al- Farsi, Abu Dhar, Ammar Ibn Yasir, Miqdad, Abdurrahman Ibn Owf were among those who were not consulted or even informed of. Even Umar confessed to the fact that the election of Abu Bakr was without consultation of Muslims. (See sahih al-Bukhari, Arabic-English, v8, Tradition #817) My dear brother, we can not close our eyes to the undeniable facts documented even by the Sunni scholars, and yet claim to have Ijma'a.