The Islamic Personality by Sheikh Taqīuddīn An-Nabahānī

The Khalifah must fulfill seven conditions to be eligible for the Khilafah and to have the bay’ah contracted to him for the Khilafah. These seven conditions validate the contract, if one was missing, the Khilafah cannot not be convened. The conditions are:

1. He must be a Muslim. The Khilafah cannot be contracted to a kafir (disbeliever) whatsoever, nor is his obedience obliged because Allah (swt) says:

Ruling is the strongest way (sabeel) of the ruler over the ruled people. The expression of ‘Lan’ (never) which is an indication of permanence is a connotation (qareenah) for the decisive prohibition for the disbeliever taking charge of any ruling whatsoever, whether it was the Khilafah or anything less significant than that.

2. He must be male. The Khalifah is not permitted to be a female i.e. he must be a man and it is invalid for the Khalifah to be a woman due to what was narrated from Abu Bakrah who said: Allah benefited me with a word I heard from the Prophet (saw) in the days of al-Jamal (camel) when I was about to join the people of al-Jamal and fight with them. He said: When the news arrived that the people of Persia appointed the daughter of Kisra as a queen over them, the Prophet (saw) said:

So the information from the Prophet (saw) about the negation of success of those who appoint a woman to look after their affairs is a prohibition to appoint her, as this is from the forms of request. And since this information included information of a rebuke for those who appoint a woman by negating success from them, it is a connotation for a decisive prohibition. So the prohibition here of appointing a woman came with a connotation which indicates that the request to refrain is a decisive request; thus the appointment of a woman is haram. The meaning of her taking charge of the rule here is taking charge of the Khilafah or any other ruling post lower than it, because the subject of the hadith is the appointment of the daughter of Kisra as a queen. So it is general in the subject of ruling which the hadith expressed about. It is not specific to the incident of appointing the daughter of Kisra alone, and it is not also general in every function, so it does not include any function other than the ruling in any way whatsoever.

3. He must be mature. The Khalifah is not allowed to be a child due to what was narrated from ‘Ali bin Abu Talib (ra) that the Prophet (saw) said:

So whosoever has the pen lifted from him is not in a position to conduct his affairs and therefore legally he is not liable; so it is not correct for him to be a Khalifah or in any ruling position subordinate to that, because he does not have the right of disposal. Another evidence for the illegality of the Khalifah being a child is that the Prophet (saw) refused a child to give him the bay’ah. He refused the bay’ah of ‘Abdullah bin Hisham, and explained that it was due to his young age, saying “he is a child.” So if the bay’ah is not accepted from the child and he is not allowed to give a bay’ah to another person as a Khalifah, then it is of greater reason that he is not allowed to be a Khalifah.

4. He must be sane. It is incorrect for him to be insane due to the Messenger of Allah's (saw) statement:

And he said among them (is)

The one who has the pen lifted from him is not accountable; this is because the accountability depends on the mind and a condition for the legality of disposition. The Khalifah carries out the acts of the rule and implements the Shari’ah responsibilities, so it is invalid for him to be insane.

5. He must be just. Also it is invalid for him to be an evildoer (fasiq). Justice is an essential condition for the appointment contract of the Khilafah and its continuation, because Allah (swt) made it a condition for the witness to be just. Allah (swt) said:

So if the condition of justice applies to a witness, it obviously applies even more as a condition for appointing of a Khalifah since the Khalifah is in an even greater position than the witness.

6. He must be free. The slave is possessed by his master, so he does not have the authority to dispose of his own self. So, by greater reason, he cannot conduct the affairs of others and so cannot take charge of ruling over the people.

7. He must be capable to undertake the responsibilities of the Khilafah: This is because this is from the requirements of the bay’ah and therefore the bay’ah to one incapable to undertake the responsibilities of the Khilafah is invalid. These are the conditions of contracting the Khalifah to the Khilafah. Anything other than these seven conditions are not suitable to be a contracting condition though they may be from the conditions of preference if they are produced from sound texts, or if they came under a hukm proven by a sound text. This is so because in order for condition to be a condition of contract, its daleel should include a decisive demand that becomes a connotation for its obligation. So if the evidence does not include a decisive demand, then the condition is one of preference and not of contracting. No evidence including a decisive demand was reported other than these seven conditions, so they are alone the conditions of contract. Other conditions included in sound evidences are conditions of preference only. Therefore, it is not a condition of contract to the Khilafah that the Khalifah must be a mujtahid because there is no sound text on the matter, and also because the duty of the Khalifah is to rule and he does not necessarily need to make ijtihad since he can inquire about the hukm, follow a mujtahid and adopt laws according to the opinion of that mutjahid. It is therefore not necessary for him to be a mujtahid, although it is preferable; but if he were not a mutjahid, the Khilafah would still be contracted to him. Also it is not a contracting condition to the Khilafah that the Khalifah must be brave, or of the people of good vision to manage the affairs of the community and to conduct its interests. This is so because no sound hadith was reported on this issue and it does not come under a hukm shari’ which makes it a contracting condition; although it is preferable that the Khalifah be brave and carry deep insight and vision.

Also it is not a contracting condition for the Khilafah that the Khalifah must be from the Quraish. As for what was reported from Mu‘awiya that he said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (saw) saying:

And it was narrated from ibn ‘Umar that he said: The Prophet (saw) said:

These ahadith and others which were soundly ascribed to the Prophet (saw) about limiting the Khilafah to Quraish came in an informative form, and not even a single one of them came in the instructive form (seegat al amr). The informative form (seegat al akhbar), although it indicates a request, is not considered a decisive request unless it was associated with a connotation which indicates the confirmation; and these informative forms were not associated with any connotation which indicates emphasis (ta'keed) in any sound narration. So these ahadith indicate that it is a recommendation and not an obligation, thus it is a condition of preference not a contracting condition. As for his saying in the hadith

This is another meaning in prohibiting their enemity and not a confirmation to his saying:

The hadith states that the matter is in the Quraish, and that their enemity is prohibited. Moreover, the word “Quraish” is a name and not an adjective and in the terminology of usul (principles of fiqh) it is called a title (laqb). The meaning of the name i.e. the meaning of the title is not acted on at all, because the name i.e. the title carries no understanding (la mafhum lahu). Therefore the statement about Quraish does not mean that the Khilafah cannot in from other than the Quraish. So the saying of the Prophet (saw)

And

Does not mean that it is illegal for the Khalifah to be from other than Quraish nor (does the saying) that the leadership will remain in Quraish mean that it invalid for it to be in other than them. Rather it is in them and it is valid to be in other than them. Thus the statement about them does not prevent the Khalifah to be from other than them. Accordingly, this is a condition of preference and not a condition of contract.

Additionally, the Messenger of Allah (saw) did appoint as leaders ‘Abdullah bin Ruwaha (ra), Zaid bin Haritha (ra), and Usama bin Zaid (ra), and all of them were not from Quraish. Thus the Messenger (saw) gave leadership to people other than the Quraish. The word “this matter” means the authority i.e. the rule and it is not restricted in the Khilafah alone. We can conclude therefore that since the Messenger (saw) appointed other than Quraish in the ruling then this is evidence that ruling is not restricted to them and not prevented from people other than them. So these ahadith state some of the people who are eligible for the Khilafah to indicate their preference, not to restrict the Khilafah within them and to prevent its contracting to people other than them. Also, Al-Bukhari narrated that the Messenger of Allah (saw) said:

And Muslim narrated from Abu Dharr (ra) who said:

And in another narration:

These ahadith are explicit texts in allowing a black slave to take charge of leadership of the Muslims. This indicates explicitly that the Khilafah or leadership (wilayah al-amr) is permitted to be taken charge of by people who are not from Quraish, rather not even Arabs. So the ahadith stated upon the preference of some of those who are from the people of the Quraish and not the restriction of the Khilafah within them nor the impossibility of contracting it to other than them.

Accordingly, it is not a condition that the Khalifah must be Hashemite or Alawite (from the family of ‘Ali) because it was confirmed that the Prophet (saw) had given the ruling to people other than Banu Hashim, and Banu ‘Ali. When he left for Tabuk he appointed Muhammad bin Maslamah (ra) as ruler over Madinah, and he was not a Hashemite or Alawite. He also appointed Mu‘adh bin Jabal (ra) and ‘Amr bin al-‘Aas (ra) as rulers for Yemen, and they were neither Hashemites nor Alawites. It was also proven by decisive evidence that the Muslims made the bay’ah of Khilafah to Abu Bakr, ‘Umar and ‘Uthman, and that ‘Ali (ra) made bay’ah to each one of them although they were not of Banu Hashim. And all the Sahabah agreed on their bay’ah, and it was not narrated that anyone denied their bay’ah although they were neither Hashemites nor Alawites. So this was an Ijma’a from the Sahabah, including ‘Ali and ibn ‘Abbas and the rest of the Hashemites, that it is allowed for the Khalifah to be non-Hashemite or non-Alawite. As for the ahadith talking about the superiority of our master ‘Ali (ra) and the household of the Prophet (saw), they indicate their preference, not that it is a condition for the Khilafah contract that the Khalifah must be from them.

From this it becomes clear that there is no evidence for any condition to contract the Khilafah other than the seven conditions mentioned above. As for the others, assuming the correctness of all the texts which made mention of them or that they came under rules deduced from sound texts, are conditions of preference and not conditions of contracting. What is legally required to become a Khalifah is the fulfillment of the conditions of contracting for the Khilafah. Other than that, Muslims are informed about the candidates for the Khilafah so as to decide the best among them. But any person chosen that they choose will have the Khilafah contracted to him as long as the conditions of contract alone were fulfilled by him even if he does not possess other than them.