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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Inquiries About Shi'a Islam Imamah The major distinction between the school of Ahlul Bayt and the other Islamic schools of thought revolves around the issue of Imamah , or the early succession to . The school of Ahlul Bayt maintains that the office of the imamah is a divine office - meaning, the imam or khalifah (leadership) has to be appointed and given directly by Allah, for this office holds the same significance as that of prophethood.

People are thus commanded by Allah to follow specific successors ( imams ) after the demise of the Prophet. Other schools of thought say that the imamah is determined by shura (election) and that this method was used to determine the successor of the .

However, the Shi‘a school of thought considers that the concept of shura was never fully enacted after the death of the Prophet because ibn Qutaybah asserts that the first caliph was nominated mainly by two people;[^1] Ibn Kathir says that he had confined the candidacy for the khilafah to *‘*Umar ibn al-Khattab and Abu ‘Ubaydah ibn al-Jarrah, both of whom declined and nominated him, a nomination that was seconded by Ma΄adh, ‘Usayd, Bashir, and Zayd ibn Thabit.[^2] Tabari narrates that the Ansar refused to submit to his allegiance in al-Saqifah (the place where the matter of immediate succession to the Prophet was discussed) and declared that they would only pay allegiance to ‘Ali (because he was the one appointed by the Prophet to be his successor).[^3] The first caliph has been recorded to have said in his inaugural ceremony, “O people!

I was appointed over you, but I am not the best one among you.”[^4] Historian ibn Abi al-Hadid al-Mu΄tazili records that the second caliph admitted his role in orchestrating the meeting at al-Saqifah when he later declared that paying allegiance to the first caliph had been a mistake ( faltah ) but that Allah had averted the disaster of it from the Muslims.[^5] The concept of shura however was not implemented during the second caliph’s ascension to the caliphate since the first caliph appointed him before his death.