أصلُ أنَّ السلطانَ للأمة مأخوذٌ من الحكمِ الشرعيِّ القائلِ بأنَّ تعيينَ الخليفةِ حقٌّ للأمة، وأنَّ الخليفةَ لا يتولى منصبَه ولا يمارسُ سلطانَه إلا بالبيعة. وقد بُيِّنَ الدليلُ على ذلك بيانًا واضحًا في أحاديثَ كثيرةٍ. فقد روى مسلمٌ عن عُبادةَ بنِ الصامتِ، قال: قال رسولُ اللهِ ﷺ:

The principle that the authority belongs to the Ummah is taken from the Shari’ah rule that states that the appointment of the Khaleefah is the right of the Ummah and that the Khaleefah can only take up his post and exercises his authority by taking a Bay’ah. The evidence for this has been clearly demonstrated in many Ahadith. Muslim narrated from ‘Ubadah Ibn us-Samit, he (pbuh) said:

بايعنا رسولَ الله ﷺ على السمع والطاعة في العُسر واليُسر. وعن جرير بن عبد الله، قال:

“We gave Bay’ah to the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) to hear and to obey in ease and hardship.” And from Jarir Ibn ‘Abdullah, who said:

بايعتُ رسولَ اللهِ ﷺ على السمعِ والطاعةِ وأن أنصحَ لكلِّ مسلمٍ. وعن أبي هريرةَ رضي الله عنه أنّ رسولَ اللهِ ﷺ قال:

“I gave Bay’ah to the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) to listen and obey and give advice to every Muslim”. Abu Hurayrah reported that the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said:

ثلاثة لا يكلمهم الله يوم القيامة ولا يزكيهم ولهم عذاب أليم: رجل كان له فضل ماء بالطريق فمنعه من ابن السبيل، ورجل بايع إماماً لا يبايعه إلا لدنيا، فإن أعطاه منها رضي، وإن لم يعطه منها سخط، ورجل أقام سلعته بعد العصر فحلف بالله لقد أعطى بها كذا وكذا، فصدقه رجل فأخذها ولم يُعْطَ بها. [رواه البخاري ومسلم] وهكذا، فإن المسلمين هم الذين يبايعون الخليفة، لا الخليفة الذي يبايع المسلمين. فهم الذين يعطونه البيعة، أي يولونه الحكم عليهم. وقد أخذ الخلفاء الراشدون البيعة من الأمة؛ ولم يصيروا خلفاء إلا بعد أن بايعتهم الأمة. وأما الدليل على أن الخليفة لا يتولى السلطة إلا بهذه البيعة، فهو واضح في الأحاديث المتعلقة بالطاعة، وفي الأحاديث المتعلقة بوحدة الخلافة. فقد روى مسلم عن عبد الله بن عمرو بن العاص أن رسول الله ﷺ قال:

“Three types of people which Allah (swt) will not speak to (on the Day of Judgement), nor will He praise them and they have severe punishment are: A man with surplus water on the road but he bans the traveller from it; a man who gives a Bay’ah to an Imam only for his own dunia, if he gave what he wanted him, he fulfilled to him otherwise he would not; and a man offered a commodity for sale after ‘asr, (i.e. from at the end of the day) so he swore that he was given so and so price for it, so he (the buyer) trusted him and took it, but he was not given (that price) for it.” [Narrated by Al-Bukahri and Muslim] Thus, the Muslims give the Bay’ah to the Khaleefah and not by the Khaleefah to the Muslims. They are the ones who give him the Bay’ah, i.e. they appoint him as a ruler over them. The Khulafaa’ Ar-Rashidoon took their Bay’ah from the Ummah; they only became Khulafaa’ once the Ummah gave the Bay’ah to them. As for the evidence that the Khaleefah only takes his authority by this Bay’ah, this is clear in the Ahadith concerning the obedience and the Ahadith regarding the unity of the Khilafah. Muslim narrated from ‘Abdullah Ibnu ‘Amru Ibn al-‘A‘as that the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said:

"مَنْ بَايَعَ إِمَامًا فَأَعْطَاهُ صَفْقَةَ يَدِهِ وَثَمَرَةَ قَلْبِهِ، فَلْيُطِعْهُ مَا اسْتَطَاعَ، فَإِنْ جَاءَ آخَرُ يُنَازِعُهُ فَاضْرِبُوا عُنُقَ الْآخَرِ." قَالَ نَافِعٌ: قَالَ لِي عَبْدُ اللهِ بْنُ عُمَرَ: سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللهِ ﷺ يَقُولُ:

“Whoever gave Bay’ah to an Imam giving him the clasp of his hand and the fruit of his heart shall obey him as long as he can. If another comes to dispute with him, you must strike the neck of that man.” Naf ’i said ‘Abdullah Ibn ‘Umar told me: I heard the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) say:

«مَنْ خَلَعَ يَدًا مِنْ طَاعَةٍ، لَقِيَ اللهَ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ لَا حُجَّةَ لَهُ، وَمَنْ مَاتَ وَلَيْسَ فِي عُنُقِهِ بَيْعَةٌ مَاتَ مِيتَةً جَاهِلِيَّةً». [رواه مسلم] عن ابنِ عباسٍ رضي الله عنهما أنّ رسولَ اللهِ ﷺ قال:

“Whoever takes off his hand from an obedience, he will meet Allah (swt) on the Resurrection Day without having any proof to show for himself; and whoever dies while having no Bay’ah on his neck he dies the death of the days of ignorance (Jahiliyyah).” [Narrated by Muslim] Ibn ‘Abbas reported that the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said:

"مَنْ رَأَى مِنْ أَمِيرِهِ شَيْئًا يَكْرَهُهُ فَلْيَصْبِرْ، فَإِنَّهُ مَنْ فَارَقَ الْجَمَاعَةَ شِبْرًا فَمَاتَ، فَمِيتَتُهُ جَاهِلِيَّةٌ" [رواه مسلم]. وعن أبي هريرة رضي الله عنه قال: قال رسول الله ﷺ:

“If anyone sees in his Ameer something that displeases him let him remain patient, for behold! He who separates himself from the Sultan (authority of Islam) by even so much as a hand span and dies thereupon, he has died the death of Jahiliyyah.” [Narrated by Muslim] Abu Hurayrah reported that the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said:

"كانت الأنبياءُ تَسُوسُ بني إسرائيل، كلما هلكَ نبيٌّ خلفَهُ نبيٌّ، وإنه لا نبيَّ بعدي، وسيكونُ خلفاءُ فيكثرون. قالوا: فما تأمرنا؟ قال: فُوا ببيعةِ الأولِ فالأولِ، وأعطوهم حقَّهم، فإنَّ الله سائلُهم عما استرعاهم". ﷺ [رواه مسلم] تُبيِّنُ هذه الأحاديثُ أنَّ الخليفةَ لا يتولى السلطةَ إلا بهذه البيعة، لأنَّ الله (سبحانه وتعالى) قد أمرَ بطاعته.

“The prophets ruled over the children of Israel. Whenever a prophet died, another prophet succeeded him, but there will be no prophet after me. There will soon be Khulafaa’ and they will number many. They asked: What then do you order us? He (pbuh) said: Fulfil Bay’ah to them one after the other, and give them their dues, for verily Allah will ask them about what He entrusted them with.” [Narrated by Muslim] These Ahadith demonstrate that the Khaleefah only takes the authority by this Bay’ah, for Allah (swt) has commanded his obedience:

"مَنْ بَايَعَ إِمَامًا ... فَلْيُطِعْهُ." فهو يُنصَّب خليفةً بالبيعة، وتصبح طاعته واجبةً لأنه مبايَعٌ بوصفه خليفةً. فيكون قد أخذ السلطان من الأمة التي أعطته البيعة وطاعتها، فصارت الطاعة لمن بايعته، أي لمن صارت البيعة في عنقها. وهذا يدل على أن السلطان للأمة. ومع أن رسول الله ﷺ كان خاتم الرسل، فقد أخذ البيعة من الناس، وهي بيعة على السلطان والحكم لا على النبوة. وأخذ ﷺ هذه البيعة من الرجال والنساء، ولم يأخذها من الأطفال. وكون المسلمين هم من ينصّبون الخليفة بإعطائه البيعة وفق كتاب الله وسنة رسوله، وأن الخليفة لا يتولى السلطة إلا بهذه البيعة، يدل دلالة واضحة على أن السلطان للأمة، فهي تعطيه لمن تشاء.

“Whoever pledged allegiance to an Imam ... shall obey him.” So, he is appointed Khaleefah through the Bay’ah, and his obedience becomes compulsory because he is a pledged allegiance to as Khaleefah. Thus he took the authority from the Ummah which gave her Bay’ah and her obedience to the one whom she pledged to i.e. to the one who has a Bay’ah on her neck. This proves that the authority belongs to the Ummah. Despite the fact that the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) was the final Messenger, he took the pledge (Bay’ah) from the people, which is a Bay’ah on authority and ruling and not on Prophet hood. He (pbuh) took this Bay’ah from men as well as women, but not from children. The fact that it is the Muslims who appoint the Khaleefah by giving him the Bay’ah according to the Kitab (Book) of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger, and that the Khaleefah only assumes power by this Bay’ah, clearly indicates that the authority belongs to the Ummah who gives it to whoever she wishes.