Succession of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in Teachings of Shiism and Sunnism
Succession of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in Teachings of Shiism and Sunnism
After the Prophet (PBUH) passed away, his followers unanimously agreed that there should be a successor to lead and guide Muslims after him. However, they disagreed both about who should succeed him and how a successor was to be chosen. As we will see in the following paragraphs, the early Shias and Sunnis have fundamentally different views on this issue.
The Shia believe that the Caliphate, like prophethood, is a divinely-chosen position: An Imam must be appointed by God, not the people, in the same manner as the Prophets, because An Imam must fulfil the same functions as a prophet, except for receiving revelation and bringing a new religion. However, aside from these two features, the Imam bears all the other responsibilities of the Prophet and must compensate for the shortcomings that result from his absence. This means that the Imam should interpret the Quran, issue religious decrees and behave in a way that his personal conduct may act a criterion for differentiating right from wrong.
Such a personality can only be made through divine education. This is not to suggest that An Imam has only a spiritual and religious function and has nothing to do with people’s secular lives, as An Imam is meant to provide political as well as spiritual leadership; he must also implement religious decrees, provide security, act as a judge and the commander-in-chief of Muslims in wars, etc. And it is for this reason that they say ‘the Caliph is the general leader of secular and religious affairs of the people on behalf of the Prophet.’
On the other hand, Sunnis see the Caliphate as a purely political institution. Mawardi, for instance, believes that An Imam is supposed to lead the army, protect the borders of the Muslim territory, protect the oppressed against the oppressors, distribute the spoils of war and lead Muslims in Hajj (Al-Ahkam Al-Sultaniyya, 15-16). Since the Caliphate in Sunni Islam is a political institution dedicated to taking care of people’s secular affairs, it is not necessary for the Caliph to be infallible or have a full awareness of the religion’s doctrines and laws in the same manner as the Prophet. He only needs to lead the nation, and if he makes a mistake he will not be deposed (Ibid., 6).
As you can see, these represent two fundamentally different views about the Caliphate; according to the one, it is a divine affair and the Caliph must be infallible and fully aware of the teachings of the religion. According to the other, however, a Caliph is no more than a secular head of state who must be capable and sufficiently education to lead the country. However, as far as his spiritual abilities are concerned, he only needs to be a Muslim. It is ultimately as a result of the divergence between these two views that two major streams of religious tradition have emerged: Shia and Sunni. While the first school has it that the Imam is appointed through revelation and that the Prophet appointed his succeeding the Imam in the last few days of his life, the second school holds that people’s choice is sufficient to appoint a leader; there is no need for divine affirmation.
Having said that, we should not forget that Sunnis do not agree on a single way of choosing the Caliph. Rather than evaluate the previous processes of choosing the Caliph in terms of its agreement with Islamic laws, Sunnis look to the history of Islam after the Prophet for models of succession. Thus Mawardi writes that ‘choosing An Imam can be done in two ways: choosing by a council composed of “the People of Loosing and Binding” (Ahlal-Hall wal-Aqd) or by the appointment of the previous the Imam (Al-Ahkam Al-Sultaniyya, 4). Azadi argues, however, that the Imam could be appointed by the Prophet, the previous the Imam or the council of the People of Loosing and Binding (qtd. in Jurjani 3/265).
Moreover, Sunnis widely disagree on the number of the members of the council which is supposed to choose the Imam. Some, for example, hold that the council must consist of at least five people, as was the council which chose Abu Bakr: Umar ibn Khattab, Abu Ubayda ibn Jarrah, Asid ibn Hadir, Bakr ibn Sa’d and Salim, the Mawla of Abu Hudhayfa. Some think that three persons are sufficient: one to give the oath of allegiance and the other two to witness to it. Yet others consider one person to suffice, pointing to the fact that Abbas said to Ali: ‘Hold out your hand that I may grasp it and make the pledge of allegiance to you. For if I do so, the people will say that the Prophet’s (PBUH) cousin has become your ally and not even two people will disagree on your leadership’ (Al-Ahkam Al-Sultaniyya, 4).
Such disagreements over choosing the Caliph suggests that succession to the Prophet had not been left to the people, for if it had, then the Prophet would have described the characteristics of a proper candidate to prevent people from becoming confused about it. This point is conceded by the Egyptian author, Al-Khidri, who generally holds a rather negative position towards Shia, in his book Muhadirat fī Tarikh Al-Umam Al-Islamiyya, wherein he says: There are no verses in the Quran clearly telling us as to how the Prophet’s successor should be determined, although there are verses which generally talk about consultation.
Neither does the Prophet’s (PBUH) tradition tell us anything about the way to choose the Caliph, although it advises the people against serious disagreements. If there had been any traditions about caliphate, it would have clearly appeared in the theological works and hadith collections and Muslims would have become familiar with its rules and regulation just as they did with regard to prayers and fasting. (2/161)
Considering the fact that the leadership of Muslims after the Prophet is vital to Sunni Muslims, and presuming that Al-Khidri really believes what he says, there are some questions that must be answered: would it be possible for the Prophet to have said nothing about the Caliphate and the desired characteristics of a Caliph? How could we admit that the Prophet (PBUH) ignored the issue of succession to leadership of the nation which he himself had founded? How could we imagine that the Prophet had uttered so many words about such minor affairs as the proper use of the lavatory, eating and drinking, sleeping and taking baths, and yet said absolutely nothing about Caliphate, leading to much conflict and bloodshed as a result? It is inconceivable that the Prophet, who was the wisest person ever to have lived and guided by divine revelation, would have neglected such an important matter!
If the Caliph was supposed to be chosen by a council of notables, there should have been many Ahadith and statements about the number of members required to constitute such a council, their qualifications (such as knowledge and piety), how and where they should be chosen, so that their decision would be completely acceptable to all. However, there is no evidence in the Quran or the Sunna to explain any of this. At the very least, we would expect the sources to make a few things clear: who can be a member of this council? Should it be made up of religious elites, political leaders, army commanders or a mixture of all of them? Who should choose the members of such a council?
And if the members of the council disagreed over a matter or person, who will have the deciding vote? While some theologians have said that the Imam is to be chosen by the council of Ahlal-Hall wal-Aqd, it is not clear as to what this means. Does the council of ‘Ahlal-Hall wal-Aqd’ denote ‘those who open and tie up’? No one knows since there is no prophetic hadith to explain this. Such confusions as well as others imply that the idea of the Imam being chosen by that type of council is basically wrong and the matter of the succession to the Prophet (PBUH) could never be settled by the people. As Taha Husayn rightly suggests: ‘If Muslims had a written system of councils, they would have resorted to it at the time of Uthman and would have known what to do and what not to do.’
Source: Shīa Islam: History and Doctrines, Ayatullāh Jaʿfar Subḥānī, Chapter 7