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sin in their refusal to elect him
though each one of them
was well aware of the qualifications of the Imam and his
outstanding record in Islam.
The Imam himself refused to elect Abu Bakr and continued his refusal for six months. Had the wars of Faith-
deserters not started during the time of the First Caliph
the Imam would have continued his negative attitude
and
he did not see any sin in taking such an attitude.
This is what the free nations in this century follow.
When a president of a nation is elected by a majority and
his rival is elected by a minority
the majority does not try
to force the minority to change its negative attitude into a
positive one. The minority continues its opposition
without trying to obstruct the administration of the winner.
If a contemporary of the First Caliph had the right to
refuse to elect him
the following generations would have
the right to believe or to disbelieve in his qualifications
and the soundness of his succession. Thus
the mutual incrimination of the Muslims for their negative or positive
attitude towards particular caliphs who died centuries ago
would not be of reJigion. It would be
rather
an addition
to the religion and has no justification.
2. An elected caliph with a limited knowledge would
not be more than a righteous "mujtahid" (scholar that has
the right to form an independent opinion about some
unclear details in the Islamic rules). It would be permissible for a person who is not a scholar to follow a scholar
other than the caliph. The opinion of the caliph would not
be an Islamic Law because he is not immune from error.
Election by the majority does not change his personality.
He would not become immune from error if he were not so
before his election: nor would it make him extremely
knowledgeable if his knowledge were limited.
A caliph that was appointed by the Prophet would not
have these two negative aspects. The nation has to accept
his leadership and no one would be permitted to oppose
him or to refrain from his election because refusal to elect
him would be a violation of the command of the
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