When the Khaleefah of the Muslims retires, dies or is displaced for any
reason, there is no concept of automatic succession or 'Royal Family.'
Rather, leadership in Islam is a contract between the Muslims and the
Khaleefah. His authority depends entirely on the acceptance of the Ummah,
which is represented by their giving him the bay'ah (pledge of
allegiance). You are involved in appointing the new Khaleefah. These are
the steps taken :
Any candidates who wish to take the post make an application to the Majlis
al-Ummah (Council of the Ummah). You may propose any candidate yourself,
if you know someone suitable for the post. The members of the Majlis will
consider all the applicants, and evaluate whether they meet the conditions
required by Islam for the Khaleefah. The Khaleefah must be :
1. Muslim
2. Male
3. Free (i.e. not a slave)
4. Sane
5. Mature
6. Just
7. Able to rule
Islam also recommends other conditions, such as that he should be a
mujtahid (scholar), experienced in politics, brave, pious etc.
You would probably hear about the candidates once the Majlis has assessed
them all and publicly announced who they are, along with a rsum of their
respective achievements or abilities.
After this, you would go to the nearest polling station, one of which will
be available in every locality. Here you may cast a vote for the candidate
whom you prefer.
The State will order counting of the votes as quickly as possible so that
the new Khaleefah may be appointed within 3 days - the maximum time that
Islam allows the Ummah to be without an Amir.
The candidate who has received the largest proportion of the vote will be
the winner, regardless of whether he had the vote of more than half of the
citizens of the State or not. Thus, if you had chosen someone who had the
vote of 20% of the Ummah, he will win as long as no other candidates
superceded this figure.
Once the successor to the leadership of the Khilafah has thus been
nominated by the Muslims, the members of the Majlis al-Ummah, along with
the other candidates and those who hold key positions, such as the army
officials and governors, will publicly give their bay'ah. These are the
people who are the representatives of the Ummah, and they are collectively
known as the ahl al halli wal 'aqd (people of influence and authority).
This stage is the bay'ah of in'iqad (pledge of selection).
You will be well informed about this selection from the media and other
channels of government communication, such as the juma' khutbah.
Remember : the sovereignty lies with Allah (swt) alone, but the authority
is held by the Muslim Ummah. Thus, the Ummah must give their consent to
the new Khaleefah for his rule to be valid, and this consent is manifested
by the agreement of the people of influence and authority, who are the
natural representatives of the Ummah.
The newly appointed Khaleefah will then present himself to the Ummah and
invite them to give their bay'ah. This second pledge is the bay'ah
al-ta'aa (pledge of obedience). Obedience to the Khaleefah is a duty upon
all Muslims, and you become sinful if you neglect it.
You may give this pledge in person to the new Khaleefah, but as this is
often impractical, you can represent your bay'ah by other means such as
telegram or fax. It is recommended for you to do this, but the principle
of 'silence is consent', means that if you took no action after hearing of
the invitation for your bay'ah, you would not be sinful and would be
regarded as having given it and accepted the Khaleefah.
Once you have given this pledge, you have entered a contract to obey the
Khaleefah for as long as he implements Allah's Law, whether you are in
public or in the privacy of your home.
Abu Hurayrah narrated that the Messenger of Allah (saw) said, "Whoever
obeyed me he obeyed Allah; whoever disobeyed me he disobeyed Allah;
whoever obeyed the Amir, he obeyed me, and whoever disobeyed him he
disobeyed me." Bukhari and Muslim
In Britain for example, it is well known that as soon as the new Prime
Minister is elected, he and his party throw most of the election promises
they made to you in the bin, and proceed with the personal agenda they
never told you about before. Now that you have appointed the Khaleefah,
how can you make sure that he does not renege on his promise to obey
Allah's Law?