"It was also because of this absence of explicit statement...

"It was also because of this absence of explicit statement on these occasions that Imam 'Ali never used any of these occasions, including al-Ghadir, to put forward his candidacy as the only rightful successor of the Prophet."[^3] After the 21st of Ramadhan 1418, the learned scholar issued another statement in which he reaffirmed his belief in the absence of the explicit appointment of Imam 'Ali by writing: "The foundation of our faith, that is the Shi'a faith, is based on this IMPLICIT sense.

Historically (the only position that can be taken in the article here) the source of dissension in the early community was the absence of EXPLICIT directions regarding the succession in the community." "The statement of the wilaya (man kuntu mawla[hu] fa hadha 'Aliyyun mawla[hu]), which is the documentation for the Shí'a acclamation in support of the Imamate of Imam 'Ali, is regarded as an implicit rather than explicit statement of the Prophet regarding the 'succession of his comprehensive authority.' The reason is that the word mawla in Arabic is ambiguous as far as the 'succession' itself is concerned."[^4] The Explicit vs Implicit First let us see whether or not this division of appointment of caliphate into "implicit" and "explicit" has any historical precedence in the history of Islamic theology.

For the sake of time restraint, let me just state the following historical facts: On the issue of caliphate, the Muslims have different views. The Sunni Muslims do not believe that the Prophet appointed anyone as his successor, neither explicitly nor implicitly; and that it was left for the community to choose whomsoever they wanted. The Shi'as , on the other hand, believe that the Prophet appointed 'Ali bin Abi Talib as the caliph and successor after him.

All the Shi'a sects (i.e., the Imamiyya/Ithna-'Ashariyya and both the existing Isma'iliyya groups: the Bohras and the Agha Khanis) believe that the Prophet of Islam explicitly appointed Imam 'Ali on many occasions as his caliph and successor. The Zaydiyya sect has a belief different from the Sunnis as well as the Shi'as.

Although they believe that 'Ali was the best and the most qualified for caliphate, they still accept Abu Bakr and 'Umar ibn al-Khattab as the first and the second successors of the Prophet respectfully; but they do not accept 'Uthman bin 'Affan as the third caliph.