God cannot command men to obey one who is polluted by error...

God cannot command men to obey one who is polluted by error and sin nor can He create an indissoluble link between the Qur'an and such a person. Only those who are utterly beyond the reach of impurity can be juxtaposed with the Qur'an for those obedience to whose commands God has made incumbent on all Muslims must be free of all defect.

Not content with his other utterances on the subject the Prophet declared the number of successors (khulafa') who would come after him: "This religion will endure until the Day of Judgement for as long as twelve persons from Quraysh rule over you as my successors." ( 8 ) "My successors will be twelve in number just like the ( 65 ) chieftains of the Bani Isra'il all of them from…