This is a question that I was asked this morning by a friend and I really didn’t know how to answer. It arose in a discussion on Sunni and Shia. I must admit that my knowledge isn’t very much, especially when it comes to quoting sura and hadith. Please take no offense in my asking. And I can only hope that this thread doesn’t devolve into a useless argument.
Why was it deemed necessary to have a successor to Mohammed? Can this question be answered using only the Quran and basic hadith?
Because I don’t know the answer to this one it leads me to ask other questions: I understand that the schism that created Sunni and Shia branches wasn’t as absolutely simple as rights of succession (much like the US Civil War wasn’t simply over slavery), but it is always considered the fundamental difference in every quick & dumb explanation so it obviously matters.
Why does it matter? Mohammed was the last prophet, any successor surely would have no divine guidance–if he did he would be a prophet (not possible). So it seems the only distinguishing quality the Successor could have is the purity of his soul. Being that Mohammed had a communion with God he would have been able to select the most righteous person among the early umma, but beyond that wouldn’t any divine intervention cause a problem in the principle of (how to put it best?) “free will”? If the line of succession were hereditary from Mohammed it would be interference on God’s part in the affairs of man because no other mechanism could guarantee purity of soul and understanding through indirect hereditary means (and, also, wouldn’t the current lack of a caliph impact on this debate?). And non-hereditary means of selecting a successor only brings us back to the question of why a single human leader lacking in divine inspiration is/was even necessary?
OK, so obviously I get tangled and run into dead ends when thinking of this stuff. And I know speaking of the hereditary stuff makes it seem that I am hitting one side more but I am not.. Sunni processes are far more complex to debate, at least to me.
Please set me straight someone. And, please, no one take offense by this.
i guess the basic answer to why the question of succession is so important depends on what you believe in. if you think that Quran is our only source of guidance, then yes, it doesnt matter who is in power after the Prophet, we have Allah's word on its preservation.
there are two versions of a hadith, one quoted in Bukhari, that says Im leaving behind the Book and the sunnah, one quoted in Muslim that says Im leaving behind the Book and the Ahl e bayt. if you believe in either or both, you'll see that the people who took on the role of leaders of Islam became very important, because who collected the ahadith determined to a large extent what those ahadith looked like. similarly, religious rulings vary if you follow exclusively Quran and sunnah, or if you look towards the ahl e bayt too for religious interpretations of Islam.
so it is not just politics, because the politics influenced the finer details of the religion.
[Quote]
Hudhaifah bin Al-Yaman reported that the Messenger of Allah sallallahu `alayhi wa sallam said,
"Prophethood (meaning himself) will remain with you for as long as Allah wills it to remain, then Allah will raise it up wherever he wills to raise it up. Afterwards, there will be a Caliphate that follows the guidance of Prophethood remaining with you for as long as Allah wills it to remain. Then, He will raise it up whenever He wills to raise it up. Afterwards, there will be a reign of violently oppressive [The reign of Muslim kings who are partially unjust] rule and it will remain with you for as long as Allah wills it to remain. Then, there will be a reign of tyrannical rule and it will remain for as long as Allah wills it to remain. Then, Allah will raise it up whenever He wills to raise it up. Then, there will be a Caliphate that follows the guidance of Prophethood."
Then Hudhaifah said, "The Prophet stopped speaking." [As-Silsilah As-Sahihah, vol. 1, no. 5]
[/Quote]
how about this? I think this should explain it all.. all the answers are in there
Spoon, I don’t think that there is a need to ask this question in the first place. If, by a successor, one means the head of the caliphate, then ofcourse you need one as you need a caliphate or a governing body for the Muslim Nation. To my knowledge, there is no formal ‘office position’ as a successor to Hazrat Muhammad :saw:.
And please when you mentioned Hazrat Muhammad’s :saw: name, please don’t forget to mention the darood-o-salaam.
the khalifas r not successors to the Prophet (saw)....
they were just the leaders who commanded the muslims in their social/political/religious etc etc affairs....
Umar Farooq (ra) hence appropriately selected the title Ameer ul-Mominnen (commander of the faithful) for the khalifa....
and the principle of decision among the four khalifas was exactly what Quran told them "wa amruhum shoora baynuhum"....