Continuation of the discussion on the method of appointing the Imam.

The Shaykh : He appointed him as the leader of the people for the Hajj in the ninth year of the Hijrah, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) had not performed the Hajj, so he left Abu Bakr in his place. This is a greater leadership than the first one and broader, because it is the leadership of all the Muslims, everyone who performs the Hajj, and it is known that those who perform the Hajj are more numerous than those who pray in the Prophet's (peace and blessings be upon him) mosque. This is an indication that he is the successor after him. Thirdly, he said during his illness of death: Why? This is an indication that he is the successor after him, so that his house would be close to the mosque, which is the gathering place of the people. Fourthly, a woman came to him with a need of hers, and he said: She said, "If I do not find you," he said: This is like an explicit text that he is the successor after him. Fifthly, he said: This is a text, or nearly a text, that there will be consensus upon him. And based on this, we say that the caliphate of Abu Bakr was established by an explicit or clear text, as understood by the scholars from these texts. If someone were to say, "All these texts are demolished by one text, which is that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) left Ali ibn Abi Talib in charge of his family when he went on the expedition to Tabuk, and he said, 'O Messenger of Allah, do you leave me with the women and children?' He said to him: And the position of Harun (Aaron) with Musa (Moses), Musa said to him: This indicates that the successor after the Messenger (may Allah's prayer and peace be upon him) is Ali ibn Abi Talib, and that Abu Bakr is not the successor, because he said: And Harun was Musa, he said to him, "Succeed me in my people." The answer to this is that we say this is one of the ambiguous texts, and the evidences we mentioned for Abu Bakr are from the clear texts. The scholars who are firmly grounded in knowledge return the ambiguous to the clear, so that all the texts are clear, and one does not follow the ambiguous and excuse it from the clear except one whose heart is distorted, or one who has distortion in his heart, due to the saying of Allah the Exalted: If someone were to say, "How do we remove the doubt from this hadith?" The answer is that the Messenger (may Allah's prayer and peace be upon him) did not explicitly state that Ali is the successor after him, but he said: when he left him in charge of his family, just as Musa left Harun in charge of his people during his lifetime. This is like a delegation or agency, meaning, as if a person goes to a country and says to another person, "Succeed me in my family, take care of their needs." This does not mean that he is his testamentary successor. Yes, it indicates that he is his deputy during his lifetime for a limited period, for a limited period. As for the caliphate, it is after the death of the first one, finally and his departure from this world, and he cannot dismiss the successor after him because he is dead. But in this case, he can dismiss him, or he can send him and say, "I have lifted your authority over my family." This does not mean the general caliphate. And if the caliphate of Abu Bakr is established, the caliphate of 'Umar is established, and if the caliphate of 'Umar is established, the caliphate of 'Uthman is established. And therefore, the Rafidah do not accept the caliphate of Abu Bakr in order to demolish his caliphate and the caliphate of 'Umar and the caliphate of 'Uthman, and end up with a successor who was not appointed, to a successor who himself pledged allegiance, may Allah be pleased with him, he pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr, and to 'Umar, and to 'Uthman as well. And he himself used to say: "The best of this Ummah after its Prophet is Abu Bakr, then 'Umar" Yes, good. If the caliphate is established, by what? By the text, meaning the text of the first caliph that the successor after him is so-and-so.
Second: The gathering of the people of authority and judgment. This has two forms. The first form is that the previous caliph appoints the people of authority and judgment, he appoints them and says, for example, so-and-so, so-and-so, so-and-so, and so-and-so, they consult regarding the caliph, as 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) did. For 'Umar selected from the six Companions whom the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) died while he was pleased with them, and he made the caliphate circulate among them, on the condition that they choose for themselves whom they choose from these. The second form is that the caliph leaves the testament of the caliphate to no one, meaning he does not bequeath the caliphate to anyone, but the people after him gather and appoint a caliph. And this is permissible, because the matter returns to the people. If they choose someone from among them, he becomes their caliph, and his caliphate is completed.
Third: Compulsion. If a person compels a caliph, seizes him, and kills him or imprisons him, and his caliphate is finally removed, and this person seizes the caliphate, he becomes the caliph, and it becomes obligatory for the people to pledge allegiance to him and obey him, because if they opposed him in this situation, there would result from that evil, corruption, shedding of blood, and violation of honor more than pledging allegiance to this man. So the appointment of the Imam is by three ways.
The Imam or the Caliph, yes, he has great responsibilities, because he is responsible for everyone whom Allah has placed him over, everyone whom Allah has placed him over, he is responsible for them in all their conditions, in all their public conditions. As for the private conditions, these are not for him to handle, except if they are matters that must be looked into, such as enjoining good and forbidding evil.