The hypocrites whispered to themselves that the Islamic...

The hypocrites whispered to themselves that the Islamic movement would come to an end and everybody would be relieved.[^2] The destructive power of the hypocrites was so dangerous that the Qur’an has referred to it in many surah s such as in Al ‘Imran (3), An-Nisa’ (4), Al-Ma’idah (5), Al-Anfal (8), At-Tawbah (9), Al-‘Ankabut (29), Al-Ahzab (33), Muhammad (47), Al-Fath (48), Al-Hadid (57), Al-Mujadilah (58), Al-Hashr (59), and Al-Munafiqun (63).[^3] With the existence of such enemies who were lying in ambush for Islam, is it appropriate to assume that the Prophet of Islam (S) had not designated a successor for the political and religious leadership of the nascent Islamic community?

Social reckonings indicate that the Prophet (S) must have designated a chief and leader in order to prevent any kind of discord after his death and ensure Islamic unity by creating a firm and strong line of defense. Preventing any bad and unpleasant incident and avoiding the possibility that, after the demise of the Holy Prophet (S), every group would say, “The emir must be from us,” would not be without designating a leader.

These social considerations are clear indications to the validity and soundness of the idea that the position of leadership after the Prophet (S) is a matter of appointment. The evidence of the sayings of the Messenger of Allah (S) On the basis of this social context and other aspects, the Prophet (S) kept reminding of the idea of succession from the early days of his mission till the last moments of his life.

And he (S) designated his successor at the commencement of his mission—on the occasion of publicizing his prophethood to his relatives—as well as at the last days of his life—during the return journey from the Farewell Pilgrimage { hajj al-wida‘ } at Ghadir Khumm—and in different phases of his life.

We have introduced three well-based instances of these sayings in reply to the question: “Why is ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib ( ‘a ) the wasi {executor of will} and successor of the Prophet (S)?” along with references from the books of Muslim scholars and muhaddithun which confirm this idea.

By taking into account the aforementioned social considerations of the early period of Islam and the sayings of the Messenger of Allah (S) regarding the designation of the Commander of the Faithful (‘Ali) ( ‘a ) as his successor, we realize the necessity of the idea that the position of caliphate is conditional upon appointment.