However...

However, there are authentic ahadith in the Sunni sources which firmly establish that the Prophet – by the Command of Allah - did appoint twelve khalifahs from his bloodline, with the first of them really being ‘Ali! This then is exactly where the supreme problem lies for the Sunni claims, and - of course – the entirety of Sunni Islam as a whole. The khalifah is the one who takes the place of another one, who is physically absent for one reason or another. Imam Ibn al-‘Athir (d.

606 H), an ace Sunni lexicographer, explains: الخليفة من يقوم مقام الذاهب ويسد مسده The khalifah is whoever stands in the position of the one who is physically absent and substitutes for him.[^2] So, the khalifah is basically the “substitute” of the one who is physically absent. The cause of the absence does not matter – whether distance, death or others.

What is important is that someone who occupies/occupied a certain position is physically absent, and another – the khalifah – “substitutes” for him in it . This often happens in football matches. A player is substituted by another who then plays his exact role on the pitch. The substitute is the khalifah of the substituted footballer. With regards to our Ummah , the Messenger of Allah is our amir (commander)[^3].

His command endures over, and binds, all Muslims – civilian and military - till the End Time. In particular, he had, and still has, full command of all Muslim armed forces. No Muslim can ever validly claim that the Prophet’s command has ceased over any of the believers. None has ever, and none will ever, do such. The Messenger of Allah is, and will forever remain, the amir of the believers ( amir al-muminin ).

However, it was impossible for the Prophet to personally exercise all his command roles over the Ummah , even during his lifetime. Therefore, whenever he was unable to do so by himself, he used to deputize people to fill the roles for him. Whoever he appointed was therefore known as his amir (i.e. the amir appointed by him)[^4]. Imam Ahmad (d.

241 H) records one of his explicit instructions concerning such deputies: حدثنا عبد الله حدثني أبي ثنا روح ثنا بن جريج أنا زياد عن بن شهاب ان أبا سلمة بن عبد الرحمن أخبره انه سمع أبا هريرة يقول قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم من أطاعني فقد أطاع الله ومن عصاني فقد عصى الله ومن أطاع أميري فقد أطاعني ومن عصى أميري فقد عصاني ‘Abd Allah (b. Ahmad) – my father (Ahmad b. Hanbal) – Ruh – Ibn Jurayj – Ziyad – Ibn Shihab – Abu Salamah b.