A llah, exalted is He, said: “You who believe! obey Allah and obey the L \ Messenger and those in command among you!' (Qur’an 4:59) Al- . Jk-Qurtubi narrates in commentary on this ayah.

When He, glorious is He and exalted, had previously addressed himself to those in authority in the previous ayah and had begun with them and ordered them to discharge trusts and to judge justly between people, then He proceeded in this ayah to address Himself to their subjects, and He ordered obedience to Himself, mighty is He and majestic, first of all, which means obeying His commands and avoiding His prohibitions, and then obedience to His Messenger secondly in that which he ordered and forbade, and then thirdly obedience to the amirs, according to the position of the dominant majority and Abu Hurayrah, Ibn cAbbas and others. Sahl ibn cAbdullah at-Tustari said, ‘Obey the sultan in seven things: miming dirhams and dinars, measures and weights, judgements, httjj Jumu'ah, the two cEids and jihad.’ (A\-Qunubi,Al-Jamic liahkamal-Qur’an, Dar Ihyaat-Turaih .11 Arahi, Beirut, Libanon, 1405/1985)

Ibn Juzayy al-Kalbi said:

Concerning the Imamate there are two issues.

1. An affirmation of the Imamates of the Four Khuliifi', may Allah be pleased with them. The proof of the Imamate* of till of them has three aspects:

a. Each of them united the conditions of the Imumaic completely; b. The Muslims who lived in the time of each one of them were unanimous in pledging allegiance to him and in coming under obedience to him, and consensus is a proof; c. That companionship (with the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace) which each of them had, emigration, magnificent deeds, Allah’s praise of them, and the Truthful One’s bearing witness of the Garden for them.

Moreover the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, indicated the khilafah of Abu Bakr and cUmar, and he commanded that people model themselves on them. He put Abu Bakr in charge of the Farewell Hajj and made him lead the prayer in his final illness which is an indication of his being appointed Khalifah. Then Abu Bakr appointed cUmar Khalifah, then cUmar made the matter the business of consultation among six [people] and they agreed on putting cUthman forward. He was wrongfully killed, for which there is the testimony of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and his promise to him of the Garden for that. Then the man with most right to it was cAli because of his noble rank and his sublime virtues.

As for that which happened between cAli and Mucawiyah and those Companions with each of them, then the most fitting thing is to withhold oneself from mentioning it, and that they should be remembered in the best way, and that one should seek the best interpretation for them, because it was a matter of ijtihad. As for cAli and those with him, they were in the right because they exercised ijtihad and were correct [in it] and so they will be rewarded. As for Mucawiyah and those with him, they exercised ijtihad and were mistaken, and they are to be excused. It is required that one respect them and all of the Companions and love them because of the praise of them that occurs in Qur’an and because of their accompanying the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.

He, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “[Beware of] Allah! [Beware of] Allah! concerning my companions. Do not make them a target after me. Whoever loves them, then it is for love of me he loves them. Whoever hates them, it is because of hatred of me that he hates them. Whoever harms them has harmed me, and whoever harms me has harmed Allah.” 2. The preconditions of the Imamate are eight:

Islam, maturity (puberty), intellect (sanity), maleness, justice, knowledge, competence, and that his descent should be from Quraysh, but on this [last] there is a difference of opinion, so that if people agree [on pledging allegiance] to one who does not meet all of the conditions then it is permitted, from fear of causing dissension and sedition.

It is not permitted to rise up against people in authority even if they are tyrannical, unless they openly display clear disbelief.

It is obligatory to obey them in whatever a man loves and dislikes, unless they order disobedience [to Allah] for there is no obedience due to a creature it if involves disobedience to the Creator.

(Ibn Juzayy al-Kalbi, al-Qawanin al-Fiqhiyyah, The Opening (.Fatihah) concerning what principles of caqidah of the fundamentals of the deen are obligatory, chapter 8)

Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali said:

Al-Hasan said about amirs, “They take charge of five of our affairs: the ]umucah and the congregational prayer [jam/tab], the cEid, the frontiers, and the ^^punishm ents. By Allah! the deen will only be straight and effective by them, even if they arc tyrannical and wrongdoing. By Allah! that which Allah pill.s right by means of them is more than that which they corrupt, although, by Allah! obedience to them is tough, but separating oneself from them is kufr.” Al-Khalal narrated in the “Kitab al-Imarah -Book of Ami rate" from the hadith of Abu Umamah that he said, “The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, commanded his companions when they had prayed Tsha’, ‘Assemble, because I have need of you.’ When they finished the morning prayer, he asked, ‘Have you assembled as I told you?’ They answered, ‘Yes.’ He said three times, ‘Worship Allah and do not associate anything with Him! Have you grasped this?’ We answered, ‘Yes.’ He said three times, ‘Establish the prayer and produce the zakah\ Have you grasped this?’ We answered, ‘Yes.’ He said three times, ‘Hear and obey!’ He said three times, ‘Have you grasped this?’” He said, “We had thought that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was going to give a long discourse, but then [we saw] that he had collected together the entire affair for us.” (Ibn Rajab al-Hanbalij/^m/'1 al-ulum wa’l-hikam translated by Abdassamad Clarke and published by Turath Publishing Ltd., as The Compendium (of knowledge and wisdom). In commentary on hadith no.28, p.707)