The Life & Character of the Seal of Prophets (sa) - Volume II — Page 541
XII - First Era of Life in Madīnah Comes to an End and the Islāmic System of Government 541 objection against his Khilāfat. Quite the contrary, everyone accepted it with the utmost satisfaction of heart. The second question relates to the Khilāfat of Ḥaḍrat ‘Uthmān ra. Firstly, although his election took place within a small group, it was still a form of consultation nonetheless, 1 and it cannot be said that his Khilāfat was established as a result of the decision of his predecessor. Islām has not interfered with respect to the details of the specific method of election or consultation, rather, has left them to be settled by the circumstances of varying times. Hence, the method of limited consultation, which was employed for the Khilāfat of Ḥaḍrat ‘Uthmān ra cannot be deemed to contradict Islāmic teaching at all; especially when it is taken into account that Ḥaḍrat ‘Abdur- Raḥmān bin ‘Auf ra , who was the President of the consultative body that elected Ḥaḍrat ‘Uthmān ra , personally consulted many learned Companions himself and decided the matter of his Khilāfat after gauging the public opinion first. 2 Then, the circumstances of the time were such that if this issue had been left to the public opinion completely, it was possible that some form of unrest may have broken out. In addition to this, Ḥaḍrat ‘Umar ra elaborated that although my son would be a member of the consultation, he would not have the right to be elected as the next Khalīfah. 3 Moreover, it should also be remembered, that just as in the case of Ḥaḍrat ‘Umar ra , there was a prophecy of the Holy Prophet sa 1 * Ṣaḥīḥul-Bukhārī, Kitābu Faḍā’ili Aṣḥābin-Nabiyyi sa , Bābu Qiṣṣatil-Bai‘ati Wal-Ittifāqi ‘Alā ‘Uthmānabni ‘Affāna, Ḥadīth No. 3700 * Ṣaḥīḥu Muslim, Kitābul-Masājidi Wa Mawāḍi‘iṣ-Ṣalāti, Bābu Nahyi Man Akala Thauman Au Baṣalan. . . . . , Ḥadīth No. 1258 * Ṣaḥīḥul-Bukhārī, Kitābul-Janā’iz, Bābu Mā Jā’a Fī Qabrin-Nabiyyi sa Wa Abī Bakrin Wa ‘Umara. . . . . , Ḥadīth No. 1392 * Ṣaḥīḥu Muslim, Kitābul-Imārati, Bābul-Istikhlāfi Wa Tarkihī, Ḥadīth No. 4713-4714 * Sunanu Abī Dāwūd, Kitābul-Kharāji Wal-Imārati Wal-Fai’i, Bābu Fil-Khalīfati Yastakhlifu, Ḥadīth No. 2939 * Sunanut-Tirmidhī, Kitābul-Fitani, Bābu Mā Jā’a Fil-Khilāfah, Ḥadīth No. 2225 2 * Ṣaḥīḥul-Bukhārī, Kitābul-Aḥkām, Bābu Kaifa Yubāyi‘ul-Imāmun-Nāsa, Ḥadīth No. 7207 * Tārīkhur-Rusuli Wal-Mulūk (Tārīkhuṭ-Ṭabarī), By Abū Ja‘far Muḥammad bin Jarīr Aṭ-Ṭabarī, Volume 5, pp. 77-81, Thumma Dakhalat Sanatu Thalāthin Wa ‘Ishrīna / Qiṣṣatush-Shūrā, Dārul- Fikr, Beirut, Lebanon, Second Edition (2002) * Al-Kāmilu Fit-Tārīkh (Tārīkhu Ibnil-Athīr), By ‘Izzuddīn Abul-Ḥasan ‘Alī bin Muḥammad Ibnul- Athīr, Volume 2, pp. 459-468, Sanatu 23, Dhikru Qiṣṣatish-Shūrā, Dārul-Kutubil-‘Ilmiyyah, Beirut, Lebanon (2006) 3 Ṣaḥīḥul-Bukhārī, Kitābu Faḍā’ili Aṣḥābin-Nabiyyi sa , Bābu Qiṣṣatil-Bai‘ati Wal-Ittifāqi ‘Alā ‘Uthmānabni ‘Affāna, Ḥadīth No. 3700