Leadership and the divine will

بِسْمِ اللّهِ الرَّحْمـَنِ الرَّحِيمِ

وَإِذْ قَالَ رَبُّكَ لِلْمَلاَئِكَةِ إِنِّي جَاعِلٌ فِي الأَرْضِ خَلِيفَةً قَالُواْ أَتَجْعَلُ فِيهَا مَن يُفْسِدُ فِيهَا وَيَسْفِكُ الدِّمَاء وَنَحْنُ نُسَبِّحُ بِحَمْدِكَ وَنُقَدِّسُ لَكَ قَالَ إِنِّي أَعْلَمُ مَا لاَ تَعْلَمُونَ

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
And when you're Lord said to the angels, I am going to place in the earth a khalif (vicegerent), they said: What! Wilt Thou place in it such as shall make mischief in it and shed blood, and we celebrate Thy praise and extol Thy holiness? He said: Surely I know what you do not know. (Quran 2:30)

It is a common misconception among our sunni brothers that the concept of Imamah (divinely appointed leader of the believers) is not founded in the Quran. This is mostly because they don't understand what Imamah means and therefore view the shia as a misguided group of Muslims. However the concept of Imamah is founded in the Quran and in this article I will answer "the Quran challenge" and present the Quranic argument that Imamah or leadership is not an office to be chosen democratically but an office that is divinely legislated.

Qualifying Divine Will

Before proceeding further, we have to first qualify divine will. What does it mean and what does it encompass? Simply put, divine Will can be either generative (Irada Takwini) or legislative (Irada tashri'i). The generative will deals with the creation. I.e. the universe and everything in it while the legislative will, deals with the rules and laws that regulate and govern the creation. For example; the creation of mankind is through the generative will while the command to pray, fast, and perform hajj is through the legislative will. When Allah(swt) spoke to the angels about creating Adam, he demonstrated both the generative and the legislative will by saying to them "I am going to create a mortal" and "I am going to place in the earth a khalifa"


And when your Lord said to the angels: Surely I am going to create a mortal of the essence of black mud fashioned in shape. Quran (15:28)
Here, Allah (swt) informs the angels about his decree to create a new creature called man. This is the generative will

And when your Lord said to the angels, I am going to place in the earth a khalif (vicegerent)… Quran (2:30)
Here, Allah (swt) informs the angels about his decree to place or appoint a representative of his on the earth. One who will carry out his commands and is to be obeyed by the people. This is the legislative will

We read in the Quran that Allah had a conversation with the angels where He informs them about his decision to place a khalifa in the earth. The angels object to this appointment on the basis that this new creature will cause mischief and shed blood. Allah refutes their objection by telling them he knows what they don't know.

First: We know the angels are sinless beings; they do not commit any sin because they do not have free will like humans. The angels simply perform the acts which they have been created to perform. Even though the angels are sinless, Allah (swt) did not give them a choice in the matter. It was Allah's decision alone, He legislated the khilafat before he created Adam.

Second: The one who says "I am going to place in the earth a khalif" is the same One who says "I am going to create a mortal of the essence of black mud", therefore the one who appoints or legislates this position must have the ability to create. Read Quran 2:30 and Quran 15:28 above.

Third: The roots are always more important than the branches. If the roots of a tree are bad or rotten, that tree will never give out good fruit no matter how much you water it or give it sunlight. Healthy and firm roots will have healthy and strong branches. This is a law of nature. The roots of faith apply to all people with no exception while the branches of faith only apply to a subset of people. Tawhid (Oneness of Allah) is the most important of the roots and it applies to all people while fasting and hajj are of the branches and only apply to those who are able. In other words no matter how old, young, weak or strong a person is, they have to believe in the Oneness of Allah without exceptions but if a person is severely sick he does not have to fast. If a person has no money, he is not required to perform Hajj. Likewise, the legislation (choosing) of a leader by Allah (swt) is one of the roots and applies to all people without any exception.

Fourth: If Allah (swt) did not give permission or ability to anyone to legislate (chose) hajj and zakat while it is from the branches then how does he give them the ability to legislate (chose) the khalifa while it is from the roots? Allah did not give authority for anyone to chose the Hajj or zakat and salaat, we have to take these from the Quran and from revelation, how is He going to give us permission to chose the khilafa and the khalifa? This is also something we have to take from the Quran and from revelation.

Fifth: A khalif (leader) always points to the one who appoints him. Suppose a king dies and appoints his prince son the next Heir to the kingdom. If the Prince is an oppressor, the people will say the king was also an oppressor because if he was a just king then how could he chose a son as heir after him who is an oppressor who oppresses the people? Then if the oppressive prince points to the oppressiveness of the king who appointed him, Allah's choice of Khaliph demands the khaliph's infallibility because Allah is JUST and does not oppress anyone even an atoms weight. So the khalifa also must not sin. Allah does not appoint a liar, cheater, thief and murderer as his representative on earth because this person would oppress the people and Allah is not an oppressor.

If we read the Quran more carefully we will see that every single imam, khaliph or king representing Allah's religion was divinely appointed.

"...Then He said: Lo! I appoint you an Imam (leader) for mankind" Quran (2:124)
Allah (swt) tests Prophet Ibrahim (as) and after Ibrahim (as) passes all of Allah's tests. He appoints him an Imam for mankind

"And We made them Imams (leaders), guiding (men) by Our Command..." Quran (21:73)
Allah (swt) again speaks about Ibrahim (as) and his family, Lot, Issac, and Jacob, and tells us He appointed them as Imams to guide by His command.

"And We appointed, from among them, Imams (leaders), giving guidance under Our command…" Quran (32:24)
Allah (swt) speaks to the prophet (pbuh.gif.gif) that He appointed from among the children of Israel leaders to guide under His command.

"...they said to a prophet (That was) among them: "Appoint for us a king, that we May fight in the cause of Allah."....Their Prophet said to them: "(Allah) hath appointed Talut as king over you." Quran (2:246-247)
The story here is that Allah appointed Salih (as) [Samuel] as a prophet over the Bani Israel (children of Israel), they asked him to appoint a king for them who will lead them into battle and give them victory. They knew that the king who will govern them is not someone they can chose, they knew this was a person who has to be divinely chosen so they asked Prophet Salih (as) . Salih (as) prayed to Allah to appoint them a king and Allah chose Talut [Saul] as king over them. Even a king to govern is chosen by Allah and not by the people themselves.

All of this points to one thing that is clear as daylight. Allah appoints the Imam, the khaliph and the king, In the very first example, the sinless angels had no choice or say in the matter then how can we, the sinful people legislate our own khalifa? And In the very last example the children of Israel asked for a king to govern them and Allah chose Talut as their king. There is no room for democracy here because the matter is in Allah's hands only just as Allah decides and legislates the Prayer, Fasting, Hajj, and Zakat for us, He also legislates the Imam who will govern and rule over us.