Khilafat-e-Rashidah — Page 234
234 KHILAFAT-E-R A SHIDAH “consult them in matters of administration; and when you are determined, then put your trust in Allah”. that though Khulaf a ’ are bound to make consultation in important matters of administration they are not bound to act upon them. Some people have questioned that it is against the teachings of Islam. The first Khalifah, Hadrat Abu Bakr ra , said, “If I show any crookedness then set me right”. 55 It is argued that this shows that the public has the right to check the Khalifah. Dissentients always raise this objection that when Hadrat Abu Bakr ra said it, it is a proof that a Khalifah can be wrong, and so the public has the right to check him and put him on the right path forcibly. The answer is that the acts of Hadrat Abu Bakr ra is testimony to the fact that he never took the meaning of his words from these critics, nor did the Muslims ever take the theme of his speech to mean that whenever they found the opinion of Hadrat Abu Bakr ra against their own, that they could set him right forcibly. When the great Companions ra met Hadrat Abu Bakr ra to stop the departure of the army of Hadrat Usama ra , they did not address him by saying, “agree with our advice 55 Al-K a mil fit T a r i kh , Vol. 2, p. 332, by ‘Izzuddin Abul Hasan Ali bin Abul Karam Muhammad bin Muhammad bin Abdul Kar i m bin Abdul W ah id Ash-sh i b a n i , known as Ibnil Ath i r, publisher D a ru Sa dir, D a r Beirut, AH 1385, AD 1965.