Khalifa hana muda maalum wa kukaa madarakani. Mradi Khalifa anahifadhi Shari'ah, anatekeleza hukumu zake, na ana uwezo wa kusimamia mambo ya Dola, anabaki kuwa Khalifa, maadamu hali yake haibadiliki kuwa hali inayomwondoa kwenye uongozi wa Dola. Iwapo hali yake itabadilika kwa namna hii, basi ni wajibu kumwondoa kwenye nafasi yake wakati huo.

The Khalifah does not have a fixed term of office; as long as the Khalifah preserves the Shari’ah and he implements its rules, and is capable of carrying out the affairs of the State, he remains as a Khalifah as long as his situation does not change to one that would remove him from the leadership of the State. If his state changes in this manner, then it is obligatory to remove him from his position at that time.

Ushahidi wa hili ni kwamba maandishi ya kiapo cha utii yaliyotajwa katika riwaya yalikuja kwa namna isiyo na kikomo, wala hayakufungwa na kipindi chochote maalum. Zaidi ya hayo, kila mmoja wa Khulafaa' Waongofu walioongoza kwa haki aliwekwa madarakani kwa kiapo cha namna isiyo na kikomo, ambacho ndicho kiapo kilichotajwa katika riwaya, na masharti yake hayakuwa maalum. Hivyo kila mmoja wao alichukua Ukhalifa tangu siku alipowekwa hadi alipofariki, jambo ambalo ni Ijma' ya Maswahaba kwamba Ukhalifa hauna muda maalum, bali ni wa kudumu, na mtu akiwekwa kuwa Khalifa, anabaki Khalifa hadi afe. Hii ndiyo hali isipotokea jambo linalomwondoa Khalifa, au linalofanya iwe lazima kumwondoa wakati huo. Lakini hilo si kikomo cha muda wa Ukhalifa, bali ni jambo lililotokea lililosababisha upungufu katika masharti ya Ukhalifa, kwa kuwa namna ya kiapo cha utii iliyoamuliwa na maandiko ya Shari'ah na Ijma' ya Maswahaba ilifanya Ukhalifa uwe wa muda usiojulikana. Hata hivyo, unafungwa na yale aliyoahidi kuyatekeleza, ambayo ni Kitabu na Sunnah, yaani kutekeleza Shari'ah; ikiwa hakuilinda Shari'ah wala hakuitekeleza, basi atakuwa ameonyesha ukafiri wa wazi, jambo ambalo linafanya upinzani dhidi yake kuwa wajibu kwa Umma kutokana na riwaya hiyo.

The proof for this is that the text of the pledge of allegiance mentioned in the narrations came in an absolute form and was not restricted by any specific period. Additionally, the righteously guided Khulafaa’ were each contracted upon a pledge in an absolute form, which was the pledge mentioned in the narrations, and their terms were not fixed. So each one of them undertook the Khilafah from the time they were contracted until they died, which is an Ijma’ of the companions that the Khilafah does not have a fixed term, rather it is absolute, and if someone is contracted, they remain as Khalifah until they die. This is the case unless something occurs to the Khalifah which would remove him, or make it necessary to remove him at that time. But this is not a limit upon the term of the Khilafah, rather it would be something that occurred which led to a deficiency in the conditions of the Khilafah, since the form of the pledge of allegiance which has been determined by the Shari’ah texts and the Ijma’ of the companions made the Khilafah an indeterminate term. However, it is limited by the undertaking of what he was contracted upon, which was the Book and the Sunnah, in other words, the implementation of the Shari’ah; if he did not protect the Shari’ah or did not implement it, then he would display open disbelief which would make resistance against him obligatory upon the Ummah due to the narration.

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"Isipokuwa uone kufr iliyo wazi" (Hadith iliyokubaliwa kutoka kwa 'Ubadah bin Al-Samit).

“Unless you witness open Kufr” (agreed upon narration from ’Ubadah b. Al-Samit).