Ibrahim then made a du’a to him to make it uninterrupted and...

Ibrahim then made a du’a to him to make it uninterrupted and eternally perpetual within his offspring after him. The supplication was answered, but with a condition: the khilafah would never reach any wrong-doer among his descendants. Prof. Ibn Yasin also records in this regard: أخرج الطبري بسنده الصحيح عن مجاهد (قال لاينال عهدي الظالمين) قال: لا يكون إماما ظالما.

Al-Tabari records with his sahih chain from Mujahid that he said: “(My Covenant shall not reach the wrongdoers) There will never be an Imam who does wrong .”[^2] Of course, every sinner is a wrong-doer: ومن يتعد حدود الله فقد ظلم نفسه And whosoever transgresses the set limits of Allah, then indeed he has wronged himself .[^3] And: ومن يتعد حدود الله فأولئك هم الظالمون And whosoever transgresses the set limits of Allah, then such are the wrongdoers .[^4] Therefore, the khilafah – which is a Covenant of Allah (and therefore His exclusive affair) – will never reach any sinner.

Whosoever claims the Imamah but is a sinner, he is only an impostor. Interestingly, even though he was the khalifah of the earth, Ibrahim had no political or military power. This is a crucial point about Imamah . Whether the people recognize their khalifah and give him their allegiance or not, he remains the only legitimate Imam on the face of the earth. His authority does not come from the people, nor is he appointed by them.

Rather, he holds the “Covenant of Allah” which He bestows upon some of His pure servants from the offspring of Ibrahim. Some other khalifahs after Ibrahim also lacked political and military power, and were nonetheless the true Imams of mankind: ووهبنا له إسحاق ويعقوب نافلة وكلا جعلنا صالحين وجعلناهم أئمة يهدون بأمرنا And We bestowed upon him (i.e. Ibrahim) Ishaq and Ya’qub . Each one We made righteous.

And We appointed them IMAMS, guiding by Our Command .[^5] Neither Ishaq nor Ya’qub was ever allowed to rule, even though they were both khalifahs . In line with the du’a of Ibrahim, which was answered by Allah, the khilafah remains eternally perpetual and uninterruptible within his sinless offspring. Naturally, it exists in our Ummah too, till the Day of al-Qiyamah . However, amongst us, it has been limited to the descendants of Ibrahim from the tribe of Quraysh only, as Imam al-Bukhari (d.

256 H) documents: حدثنا أبو الوليد حدثنا عاصم بن محمد قال سمعت أبي عن ابن عمر رضي الله عنهما: عن النبي صلى الله عليه و سلم قال لا يزال هذا الأمر في قريش ما بقي منهم اثنان Abu al-Walid – ‘Asim b.