Every town, county, city, state, country, every corporation, company, organization, foundation, every movement, revolution, community and society needs a leader or else it is doomed to fail. A more recent example comes to mind when thinking of the 2011 Arab Spring. I was a youth who was on the frontlines of the Egyptian revolution and I risked my life to topple the Egyptian dictator Mohammed Hosni Mubarak. I camped out in Tahrir square, I was attacked by government agents and Egyptian police forces, I had dodged bullets and engaged in deadly battles and I was arrested and tortured. In the end, we won. The Egyptian people won, and the power of the people changed history and the old Pharaoh was forced to go away. Much like the story of Moses, that old Pharaoh, Hosni Mubarak, could have been struck by the ten plagues and he still would not have given up his throne, but he stood no chance against the power and will of the people. And yet, when it was all said and done, and the dust settled and the sound of the cheering and laughter and joy had gone silent, the revolution that toppled the Pharaoh was without its Moses. With no leader to follow, the Egyptian revolution ended up being stolen by the Muslim Brotherhood, an Evil Islamic organization that had long opposed the government of Egypt. The people were left with a choice to vote for the Muslim Brotherhood Candidate Mohammed Morsi or for a candidate who was from the remnants of the former regime, Ahmed Shafik. The enthusiasm for change began to die and Morsi came to power, and a new page opened for Egypt which was worse than the page before. This was indeed the fulfillment of the prophecy of the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH & His Family) which stated, “There shall not come a time upon you except that the one after it is worse.”2 And indeed, after that was even worse, when Abdel Fatah El-Sisi, a military commander, lead a coup against the dictator Mohammed Morsi and came into power in 2014, and remained ever since, leading the country of Egypt into chaos and darkness. The Egyptians still say to this day, if only we had a leader for the revolution, that was our one mistake. The crowd moving without a leader was like a body running around without a head. Without an adequate leader, the people are forced to choose between inadequate ones. The feature of any truly successful nation is to be lead by the best of its people. But how does one find who is the best fit to lead? Can people actually determine who is best to lead? We have seen the choice of the people result in the rise of some of the world’s worst tyrants, such as Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler. For those who believe in God, especially the God of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, the choice of the people is irrelevant when it comes to a leader, in fact it is strictly prohibited. In the Hebrew Bible, God becomes infuriated with the Israelites and considers that they rejected Him when they decided to engage in choosing for themselves a leader. “So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. They said to him, “You are old, and your sons do not follow your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have.” But when they said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the Lord. And the Lord told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king.”3
In the Gospels too, it is clear that the people do not have the ability to correctly choose for themselves, for when they were given a choice between their savior and between a criminal, they chose the criminal over their own king and Messiah. “And they had then a notorious prisoner, called Barab′bas. So when they had gathered, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release for you, Barab′bas or Jesus who is called Christ?”…Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the people to ask for Barab′bas and destroy Jesus.”4
In the Qur’an as well it is said, “And if you obey most of those upon the earth, they will mislead you from the way of Allāh. They follow not except assumption, and they are not but misjudging.”5 Imam Ali (PBUH) said, “Do not hate the path of truth because of the few that take it.”6 And so, there we see, the path of truth and righteousness is not followed by the majority, and the rule of the crowd or the mob, as Socrates (PBUH) said, will always lead to tyranny. As Socrates puts it, “when this noxious class and their followers grow numerous and become conscious of their strength, assisted by the infatuation of the people, they choose from among themselves the one who has most of the tyrant in his own soul, and him they create their tyrant.”7 The leader then, for the believers, and for the righteous movement that seeks God’s divine favor, must not be chosen by the people, but chosen and appointed by God Himself. Men can judge only by the apparent while God is capable of choosing a leader by their inside or by their heart. “But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”8 A leader chosen by what lies in his heart rather than what comes out of his mouth is a leader that would embody all of the traits needed in a good leader; honesty, integrity, and empathy. A leader chosen by God comes with other benefits as well, for a leader chosen by God and recognized by his people as having been appointed by God, is capable of truly uniting his people, for anyone who dares to oppose him is opposing God almighty. Due to the enormous powers that this leader would yield, the fear remains that a person not appointed by God manages to rise to such position. For that reason, God would have had to have a way of clearly appointing this individual. Indeed, there is a way to recognize and confirm the identity of this divinely appointed individual.
- The Will: In the beginning it was God who appoints Adam, and He states very clearly in the Qur’an: “Verily I am making a Caliph in the land.”9 God made it clear He is the one who chooses the leader, and He made it clear whom his choice was. The angels had to prostrate or obey Adam afterwards. Following the appointment of Adam (PBUH), God interacted with mankind through his divinely appointed Caliph or messenger, starting with Adam (PBUH). The narrations make it clear that Adam (PBUH) named in his will the names of his successors, up until the time of Noah (PBUH), thus relaying the Divine will of God and the names of the divinely appointed chain of rulers to mankind. Abi Abdullah (From Him is Peace) said: “Verily Cain approached Seth (PBUH) and said to him: “My father gave you from the knowledge that he had, and I was older than you and had more of a right to this knowledge than you, but because I murdered his son, he became angry with me and preferred you with this knowledge over me. I swear by God, if you mention anything from the knowledge which you have inherited from your father in order that you show off in front of me and act like you are better, I shall kill you as I killed your brother.” Seth then hid everything he had of the knowledge he earned until the state of Cain and his rule comes to an end. And for that reason we practice dissimulation (taqiyah), because we have an example in the son of Adam, and Seth told his son about the Covenant in secret, and since Seth passed the Will to his son, by God, the sunnah has been to pass down the Will, scholar to scholar, and they would open the Will every year on one particular day and they would talk about how their father gave them a prophecy and glad tidings concerning the coming of Noah (PBUH).”10 So God appointed Adam (PBUH) and Adam (PBUH) delivered the appointment of his successors from Seth to Noah (PBUT) to the people by writing their names in his Will. As such do we find the prophets, messengers and divinely appointed figures in the Hebrew Bible, Gospels, Qur’an and Hadiths, always appointing their successors in their wills. We found Moses (PBUH) in his last testament appointing Joshua son of Nun (PBUH) and giving glad tidings of Jesus (PBUH), we found Jesus (PBUH) being appointed on the tongues of the prophets such as Isaiah and John the Baptist (PBUT) and we find Jesus (PBUH) also appointing his own successor in his will, Simon Peter (PBUH). Jesus said to Simon Peter, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”11 We find Jesus (PBUH) giving glad tidings of the coming of Mohammed (PBUH & His Family), the promised second Paraclete or comforter, “I am the Messenger of Allâh unto you confirming the Taurât [(Torah) which came] before me, and giving glad tidings of a Messenger to come after me, whose name shall be Ahmed.”12 The Prophet Mohammed (PBUH & His Family) in turn also, before leaving this world and on his deathbed, dictated to Imam Ali (PBUH) his will, with which he gave a divine promise, and stated that whoever holds on to it would never go astray, “When the time of the death of the Prophet approached while there were some men in the house, and among them was ‘Umar Ibn Al-Khattab, the Prophet said: "Come near, let me write for you a writing after which you will never go astray.” ‘Umar said: "The Prophet is seriously ill, you have the Qur’an, so Allah’s Book is sufficient for us.”13 So then a few nights later, on the night of his passing, the Prophet said, “O Father of Al Hassan, bring me a pen and a paper’, so the Messenger of Allah (PBUH & His Family) dictated his Will until he came to this position where he said: ‘O Ali, there will be twelve Imams after me and after them there will be twelve Mahdis. So you, O Ali, are the first of the twelve Imams, Allah The Exalted has named you in His heavens Ali Al-Mortadha (Ali the Content), Amirul Mo’mineen (the Commander of the Believers), Al-Siddiq Al-Akbar (the Greater Truthful), Al Farouq Al-A’tham (the Greater Judge and Differentiator between truth and falsehood), Al-Ma’moun (the Trusted), and the Mahdi (the Rightly Guided). These names may not be attributed to other than you. O Ali, you are my Vicegerent/ Guardian over my family, their living and their dead, and upon my women: Whomever you affirm, she shall find me tomorrow, and whomever you divorce me from, I am innocent of her, I will not see her and she will not see me on the Day of Resurrection. And you are my Successor (Khalifa) on my nation after me. If death comes to you, hand it over to my son Al-Hassan, the Righteous and Benevolent. Then if death comes to him, let him hand it over to my son Al-Hussein, the Martyr, the Pure and Murdered. If death comes to him, let him hand it over to his son, the Master of Worshippers, Dhul Thafant (the one with hard skin on his knees) Ali. If death comes to him, let him hand it over to his son, Mohammed Al-Baqir (the Revealer of Knowledge). If death comes to him, let him hand it over to his son, Ja’far Al Sadiq (the Truthful). If death comes to him, let him hand it over to his son, Musa Al-Kadhim (the Patient). If death comes to him, let him hand it over to his son, Ali Al-Ridha. If death comes to him, let him hand it over to his son, Mohammed Al Thiqa Al-Taqqi (the Trustworthy, the God-Fearing). If death comes to him, let him hand it over to his son, Ali Al-Nasih (the Advisor). If death comes to him, let him hand it over to his son, Al-Hassan Al-Fadhil (the Meritorious). If death comes to him, let him hand it over to his son, Mohammed the Safeguarded of the Family of Mohammed, peace be upon them. Those are the twelve Imams. Then there will be twelve Mahdis after him, so if death comes to him, let him hand it over to his son, the first of the close ones, he has three names, one like mine and my father’s and it is Abdullah (Servant of God), and Ahmed (the Praised), and the third name is Al-Mahdi (the Guided) and he is the first of the believers.”14 So there you have it, the perfectly preserved method of appointing the divinely appointed leader, through their name being mentioned in the will of the prophets and messengers before. If a leader does not have proof that his name was mentioned before on the tongue of a divinely appointed prophet or messenger or Imam, he cannot be chosen as leader by the people because he simply was not appointed by God. That is the first test of qualification which he must pass, for all divinely appointed leaders have been mentioned by God on the tongues of their predecessors.
- Knowledge: The second criterion for a divinely appointed leader by God is that he has divine knowledge, knowledge that others do not have, God given knowledge and wisdom. Adam (PBUH), after having been appointed by God, was instructed to inform the angels of their names, and to name all things in the world of creation. “He taught Adam the names of all things, then He presented them to the angels and said, “Tell Me the names of these, if what you say is true?” They replied, “Glory be to You! We have no knowledge except what You have taught us. You are truly the All-Knowing, All-Wise.” Allah said, “O Adam! Inform them of their names.” Then when Adam did, Allah said, “Did I not tell you that I know the secrets of the heavens and the earth, and I know what you reveal and what you conceal?”15 And in the Torah it states, “And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field.”16 So clearly the person who is appointed by God is given knowledge by God and knows that which everyone else does not. Abi Abdullah (PBUH) was once asked, “By what is the companion of the matter known?” It was answered, “He is known by his tranquility, dignity, knowledge and the will.”17 The type of knowledge which this divinely appointed person must possess is not necessarily knowledge of worldly sciences, for example, he is not expected to be a jack of all trades, the best biologist, the best physicist, and the best architect, but rather the knowledge is knowledge of religion and the unseen, spiritual knowledge. “Imam Ali (PBUH) said, O people, ask me before you lose me. Behold! I know the paths of the heavens better than I know the paths of the earth.”18 Imam Ali (PBUH) was saying here that he is more versed in the spiritual sciences than in the material worldly sciences. Spiritual science includes the knowledge of God’s jurisprudence and laws, the knowledge of the prophets, messengers and angels; and part of spiritual knowledge is the knowledge of the souls, who is good and who is bad, who is weak and who is strong, who is right and who is wrong, who is guilty and who is innocent, who is appropriate for a particular job and who is not, who has faith and who conceals disbelief. Jesus (PBUH) was able to demonstrate knowledge of this kind, “But when Jesus felt [persistence in] disbelief from them, he said, "Who are my supporters for [the cause of] Allah ?" The disciples said," We are supporters for Allah. We have believed in Allah and testify that we are Muslims [submitting to Him].”19 So even though they declared faith, Jesus knew what was in their hearts. Prophets David and Solomon (PBUT) ruled by their divine knowledge and they judged amongst the people accordingly and the Qa’im rules as such, through his divine knowledge which is given to him by the Holy Spirit. Ammar As Saabati reported: “I asked Abu Abdullah [as] : “On what will you rule if you are made the rulers?” He replied: “By the rule of Allah and the rule of David. And if we are confronted by a situation which we cannot solve, Gabriel will reveal it to us.”20 Other narrations state that the Qa’im will judge without asking for proof or evidence in cases, but he will rule and judge based on what knowledge is placed in his heart from God. So thus, the knowledge which accompanies the companion of the Will, is divine knowledge, knowledge that allows for the divinely appointed individual to judge justly amongst the people and place the right people in the right positions much like the Philosopher King does in Plato’s Republic.
- The Banner: The third criterion by which the individual can rest assured that the person is truly divinely appointed after having heard that he is claiming his name to have been mentioned in the will of a former Prophet or Messenger or Imam, as well as having confirmed that this individual is indeed wise and holds knowledge like none other, is through the banner which he holds. Every leader or ruler or king raises a banner, every noble house has a house banner, every sports team or organization or company has a logo or banner or motto which they uphold. The same is true for the divinely appointed Caliph, his banner and slogan is ‘Allegiance is to Allah’. This means that he is calling towards the idea of the Supremacy of God, the idea that only God can appoint the leader, only God has the authority and ability to choose the ruler and every divinely appointed prophet, messenger, and imam was sent as a ruler or king, “And We did not send any messenger except to be obeyed by permission of Allāh.”21 And indeed, when one looks into the Torah, Bible, and the Qur’an, we see clearly that God always appointed the rulers, and his wrath came down upon man when they refused to obey the ruler and chose instead for themselves their own rulers and guides. God appointed Adam and gave him authority over the land, God appointed Noah and gave him the entire Earth, God appointed Abraham and granted him a land for him to rule over, God appointed Moses and made him break his people free from the grasps of the false leader, Pharaoh, and lead them to the promised land, God made Moses, Aaron, Joshua, and the judges who succeeded them rulers over the Israelites. God appointed Samuel, David, Solomon and Jesus over the Israelites. He sent Jesus as a King to be obeyed but the people chose to crucify him and reject their king instead. God appointed Mohammed and the Imams as rulers over this nation of Muslims, and yet the Muslims killed them and rejected them and took Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, the Umayyads, and the Abbassids as their rulers and kings. The divinely appointed Messenger or leader always returns people to the will and to the true meaning of Islam, or submission, to submit to the divinely appointed leader or ruler, just as the angels prostrated and submitted to Adam. The divinely appointed ruler or leader becomes a compass and distinguisher whereby people come to know who is good and who is bad, who is an angel and who is a devil, for all those who prostrate to and obey and take the divinely appointed leader as a guide is like the Angels who accepted Adam’s appointment; and everyone who rejects the divinely appointed leader, out of hatred and not out of ignorance, is like Satan who refused and thought himself better. So in short, if a man comes and claims the will, and displays knowledge and calls towards the supremacy of God, then he is telling the truth, but if a man came and claimed a different system of rule for the nation of believers, for example, he calls towards a system that allows the people to choose or appoint their own leader in any way, shape or form, whether it be democracy, communism, a monarchy system or any other system other than that, then this person is a Samiri, a false prophet, an Antichrist. And the narrations state that the banner of Mohammed and Ali (PBUT) goes to the Qa’im and the banner of the Qa’im has written on it, ‘Allegiance is to Allah’.
2 Sahih Al-Bukhari, Al-Bukhari, the Book of Trials (Kitab Al-Fitan), Hadith no. 7068
3 The Holy Bible, Book of 1 Samuel, Chapter 8, verses 4-7
4 The Holy Bible, Book of Matthew, Chapter 27, verses 16-17, 20
5 The Holy Qur’an, Chapter 6 (Al-An’am), verse 116
6 Bihar Al-Anwar, Al-Allamah Al-Majlisi, Vol. 67, p. 107
7 The Republic, Plato, Book IX
8 The Holy Bible, The Book of 1 Samuel, Chapter 16, Verse 7
9 The Holy Qur’an, Chapter 2 (Al-Baqarah), verse 30
10 Bihar Al-Anwar, Al-Allamah Al-Majlisi, Vol. 11, p. 241
11 The Holy Bible, Book of Matthew, Chapter 16, verse 19
12 The Holy Qur’an, Chapter 61 (As-Saf), verse 6
13 Sahih Al-Bukhari, Al-Bukhari, Book of Patients, Chapter 17, Hadith no. 5669
14 Ghaybat Al-Tusi, Al-Shaikh Al-Tusi, Vol. 1, p. 174
15 The Holy Qur’an, Chapter 2 (Al-Baqarah), verses 31-33
16 The Holy Bible, The Book of Genesis, Chapter 2, verse 20
17 Bihar Al-Anwar, Al-Allamah Al-Majlisi, Vol. 25, p. 138
18 Mizan Al-Hikma, Mohammed Al-Reyshahri, Vol. 2, p. 1218
19 The Holy Qur’an, Chapter 3 (Aal Imran), verse 52
20 Al-Kafi, Al-Shaikh Al-Kulayni, Vol. 1, p. 398
21 The Holy Qur’an, Chapter 4 (Al-Nisa) verse 64