Ikiwa Ukhalifa unafungwa kwa mtu mmoja kupitia bai'ah ya wale ambao ni halali kufungwa nao, basi bai'ah ya watu wengine waliobaki ni bai'ah ya utiifu na si bai'ah ya kufunga mkataba; na hivyo, yeyote anayeonekana kuwa na uwezekano wa kuasi analazimishwa kutoa bai'ah.

If the Khilafah is contracted to an individual by the pledge of those it is valid to be contracted with, the pledge of the remainder of the people is a pledge upon obedience and not a pledge of contracting; and so, any one who is seen to have the potential of rebellion is forced to give the pledge.

Ushahidi wa hili ni kilichotokea katika kiapo cha utii cha Makhalifa wanne, kwa kuwa lilikuwa Ijma' ya Maswahaba. Katika kiapo cha utii kwa Abu Bakr (ra), watu wenye mamlaka na ushawishi (Ahl Al-Hal wal-‘Aqd) wa Madina peke yao walitosha, na ndivyo ilivyokuwa katika kiapo cha utii kwa Umar (ra). Katika kiapo cha utii kwa ‘Uthman (ra), ilitosha kuchukua maoni ya Waislamu wa Madina na kuchukua kiapo cha utii kutoka kwao. Na katika kiapo cha utii kwa Ali (ra), kiapo cha utii cha wengi wa watu wa Madina na Kufa kilitosha. Yote haya yanaonyesha kwamba si lazima Waislamu wote watoe kiapo cha utii ili kuanzisha Ukhalifa; bali kiapo cha utii cha wengi wa wawakilishi wao kinatosha. Kwa upande wa wengine waliobaki, ikiwa walitoa kiapo cha utii, basi kiapo chao kinawalazimu kutii.

The evidence for this is what happened in the pledge of the four Khulafaa’, because it was an Ijma’ of the companions. In the pledge of Abu Bakr (ra), the people of power and influence (Ahl Al-Hal wal-‘Aqd) of Madinah alone were sufficient, and that was the case in the pledge of Umar (ra), and in the pledge of ‘Uthman (ra) it was enough to take the opinion of the Muslims in Madinah, and take the pledge from them, and in the pledge of Ali (ra) the pledge of the majority of the people of Madinah and Kufa was enough. All of this indicates that it is not necessary that all the Muslims have to give the pledge in order to contract the Khilafah; rather the pledge of most of their representatives is enough. As for the remainder, then if they gave a pledge their pledge is upon obedience.

Kuhusu kuwalazimisha wale wanaoweza kuasi kula kiapo cha utii baada ya kiapo cha wengi wa wawakilishi, dalili ni azma ya bwana wetu Ali (ra) ya kumfanya Mu'awiyah ampe kiapo cha utii na kukubaliana na yale ambayo watu walikuwa wameyakubali, pamoja na kumlazimisha Talha na Az-Zubayr kutoa kiapo chao kwake. Hakuna hata mmoja wa Maswahaba aliyemkemea kwa kufanya hivyo, ingawa baadhi yao walimpa ushauri wa kutomwondoa Mu'awiyah katika uwaliwa wa Ash-Sham. Kimya cha Maswahaba kuhusu matendo ya mmoja wao, ikiwa ni miongoni mwa matendo yanayostahili kukemewa – kama vile kumlazimisha mtu kutoa kiapo cha utii ilhali ni mkataba unaotegemea kuridhika na ridhaa – kinachukuliwa kuwa Ijmaa' ya kukubali kimya kimya, na kinachukuliwa kuwa dalili ya Shari'ah.

With respect to forcing those whom may rebel to take the pledge after the pledge of the majority of the representatives, the evidence is the resolve of our master Ali (ra) to make Mu’awiyah give him the pledge and agree with what the people had agreed, and his forcing of Talha and Az-Zubayr to take his pledge, and none of the companions rebuked him for doing so, though some of them gave him advice not to remove Mu’awiyah from the governorship of As-Sham. The silence of the companions upon the actions of one of them, if it was from the actions that are rebuked – such as forcing someone to take the pledge whereas it is a contract upon satisfaction and consent – is considered to be an Ijma’ of silent consent, and is considered a Shari’ah evidence.