How is it possible to imagine that Most Noble Prophet peace...

How is it possible to imagine that Most Noble Prophet peace and blessings be upon him and his family should have neglected nothing in the proclamation of his message but paid no attention to the future course of Islam and its culture to the guardianship of the truth and the preservation of both religion and society entrusting all this simply to the hand of fate and whatever circumstances might later arise?

Was it possible that he should not select a captain to steer the ship of the ummah away from the dangerous waves of dissension that he expected it to encounter? Those who say that the Prophet did not delineate any form of government to succeed him remaining silent on the subject and leaving his crisis-stricken ummah at a loss what to do - how can they attribute such inappropriate silence and such irresponsible laxity to one whom we know as the Universal Intelligence?

It must also be borne in mind that his death did not come suddenly; he realized in advance that he was about to leave the world. In his sermon of the Farewell Pilgrimage (hijjatu 'l-wada') lie had proclaimed to the people that he was about to depart from their midst and that he would not be standing with them at the same place the following year. Islam was then young and a long path lay ahead of it if it was to come to fruition.

The standard bearer of its movement had committed himself to uprooting all traces of the Jahiliyyah and to erasing from the hearts and souls of the people any of its ( 21 ) residue that might persist. He was threatened on two fronts. Internally he was threatened by the Hypocrites who had penetrated the ranks of the Muslims through outwardly ranging themselves beneath the banner of prophethood and were striving repeatedly to defeat the Prophet.

In the ninth year of the Hijrah when he had departed on the Tabuk campaign he became anxious on account of their intrigues and plotting and in order to prevent the occurrence of any untoward event he named 'Ali peace be upon him as his deputy in Madinah. Externally he was threatened by the two great empires Byzantium and Persia and there was the constant fear that at any moment either of those great powers might attack the center of the Islamic movement.

It is evident that confronted with such grave problems the Prophet was bound to place responsibility for the preservation of the ummah in the hands of a person or persons who had the capacity for it in order that the Islamic call might remain firm and protected.