What is the ruling on the pledge of allegiance in the absence of a general caliphate for the Muslims?

The questioner : Regarding another matter, which is the issue of the pledge of allegiance, given that there is currently no general caliphate for the Muslims. The hadiths regarding the pledge of allegiance obligate the Muslim to a specific pledge, and this matter has been taken up by those who are worthy and those who are not.

The Shaykh : No, my master, and you are truthful, as they say in our region of Sham, it has been taken up by those who are not worthy.

The questioner : There is no one who is worthy.

The Shaykh : Never.

The questioner : The important point is that, for example, a group of people or one person who has taken up this matter takes the pledge of allegiance from some people regarding religious affairs, meaning they agree to maintain a specific reading, which is, for example, an individual methodology. As an example, one must read so much of the Qur'an per day, one must pray so much, one must study so much of the tafsir, and so on. They consider this a pledge of allegiance and consider any breach of it a breach of the pledge. This involves great sin. And... I do not know, I mean, has it been established after the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) that anyone pledged allegiance to a caliph regarding prayer, fasting, and reading the Qur'an, or was this pledge of allegiance only for the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)? And is such a pledge of allegiance permissible or not permissible in this era?

The Shaykh : I thought you were going to ask whether it is established that anyone other than the caliph was pledged allegiance to. I am answering regarding what has come and what will come. Nothing of that has come; nothing of that has ever been mentioned. The caliph is the caliph of the Muslims...

The questioner : It is not permissible. For example, suppose a person makes himself out to be a great scholar and says, "Come, pledge allegiance to me regarding reading the Qur'an, dhikr, and obedience." Does this exist?

The Shaykh : This is an innovation in the religion and a restriction imposed on the Muslims. What does it mean that you pledged allegiance to me, so I impose on you acts of obedience and worship that the Lord of the Worlds did not impose through the Master of the Messengers?

The questioner : You tell the Muslims, according to the individual methodology or the divine methodology, that in the year they must read so much of the Qur'an, in the year they must read so much of the hadith, in the year they must read so much of the tafsir. And even those who are far from the methods of the Sufis, meaning they have no connection to the Sufis.

The Shaykh : My master, this is Sufism, but with a new face. I was asked repeatedly about the Tabligh Jama'ah, and I said a word that became a branded feather for me: modern Sufism.

The questioner : They have no connection to the Tabligh Jama'ah.

The Shaykh : The Tabligh Jama'ah has no connection to the Sufis, but this is a Sufi methodology. The causes are many, but the death is one.