[66paptroump]

In one book I have found this term " Khalifatul-Allah " which means the vicegerent of Allah on earth.

I need proper clarification of this term. How and when a man can be a representative from Allah ?
Can anyone explain this term in detail ?

[bromgeksan]

In one book I have found this term " Khalifatul-Allah " which means the vicegerent of Allah on earth.

I need proper clarification of this term. How and when a man can be a representative from Allah ?
Can anyone explain this term in detail ?

Since, we are representative of Allah (swt), so we must use all the wealth and resources on this earth, the way, Allah (swt) wants us to use.

For example, Allah (swt) is generous, so Allah (swt) wants us to represent Him with generosity and help others with our time and wealth.

Allah (swt) is loving and caring, so Allah (swt) wants us to represent Him with love and care for others.

Allah (swt) is merciful, so He (swt) wants us to represent Him with mercy and forgiveness for others.

Allah (swt) is truthful, so He (swt) wants us to represent Him with truth in all matters of life.

Allah (swt) is pure from all faults, so He (swt) wants us to represent Him by keeping sins away from our souls.

The list goes on

[Roneyslelry]

In one book I have found this term " Khalifatul-Allah " which means the vicegerent of Allah on earth.

I need proper clarification of this term. How and when a man can be a representative from Allah ?
Can anyone explain this term in detail ?

When a CALIPH rules(/is going to rule) soley in accordance to Quran and sunnah and Shariah...Then that caliph is called Khalifatul Allah.

Note: I bolded caliph , because even if a king rules in accordance to Quran and sunnah he will not be called caliph.

[sam]

Since, we are representative of Allah (swt), so we must use all the wealth and resources on this earth, the way, Allah (swt) wants us to use.

For example, Allah (swt) is generous, so Allah (swt) wants us to represent Him with generosity and help others with our time and wealth.

Allah (swt) is loving and caring, so Allah (swt) wants us to represent Him with love and care for others.

Allah (swt) is merciful, so He (swt) wants us to represent Him with mercy and forgiveness for others.

Allah (swt) is truthful, so He (swt) wants us to represent Him with truth in all matters of life.

Allah (swt) is pure from all faults, so He (swt) wants us to represent Him by keeping sins away from our souls.

The list goes on

Exactly! The late Lisaanul-Tableegh Maulana 'Umar Palanpuri explained it wonderfully in a Bayan, what it means to be the Khalifah (representative) of Allah ta'ala on earth. If you understand Urdu you should listen to it, unless you were asking for a more fiqhi definition.

[Abaanto]

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

And [mention, O Muhammad], when your Lord said to the angels, "Indeed, I will make upon the earth a successive authority(Khalifah)." They said, "Will You place upon it one who causes corruption therein and sheds blood, while we declare Your praise and sanctify You?" Allah said, "Indeed, I know that which you do not know." (2:30)

[We said], "O David, indeed We have made you a successor(Khalifatan) upon the earth, so judge between the people in truth and do not follow [your own] desire, as it will lead you astray from the way of Allah." Indeed, those who go astray from the way of Allah will have a severe punishment for having forgotten the Day of Account. (38:26)

[Roneyslelry]

Akhee Kaliph means successor , whose successor was Adam(as) ?

[Depolit]

http://www.sacredlearning.org/audio/...esentative.mp3

[Abaanto]

When the angels said: "Will You place upon it one who causes corruption therein and sheds blood", this kind of gives a hint that there were beings before Adam PBUH that walked this earth, we do not know them Allah knows them and Adam SAWS came to succeed them... not necessarily humans, it could be Jinn even.

There are probably other explanations.

Salam Aleykum,

[Kthzltje]

As brother TripoliSunni has raised, where does it say in the Quran "khalifatullah"?

Ibn Abbas (ra) and others in tafsir of 2:30 indicate that insaan was created as a khalif to the jinn, as the Malaikat who questioned Allah SWT were aware of the result of a being spreading corruption and shedding blood. And the commentary is that the jinn preceded insaan on earth. So Man is the successor to the jinn, which is consistent with other ayat of the Quran.

However, there is NO consistency with the Quran that MAN is a khalifatullah.

And the Quran is the BEST commentary of the Quran.
And the Prophet (saaw) is the next best, and where did the Prophet (saaw) ever say this term "khalifatullah"?

He called himself 'abdullah', not khalifatullah, and he (saw) is the most qualified to ever use this term.

Shaykh al Mawardi (rha) addressed this matter in his work Ahkam Sultaniyah.

He said:
'He is called khalifah (successor) as he stands in for the Messenger of Allah (saw) at the head of his Ummah and so it is permitted for someone to say: "Oh khalifah of the messenger of Allah (saaw)" or for someone to say "khalifah" on its own. There is a difference of opinion as to whether it is permitted to say: "Oh Khalifah of Allah!" Some have permitted this based on the the fact that he fulfills Allah's rights over His creation and because of His saying: "And He it is Who has made you the khualafa of the earth and has raised some of you over others by degrees" [Quran 6:165 trans.]. The majority of the ulama, however, do not permit this and treat those who do say this as corrupt, arguning that the khalifah succeeds someone who is absent or dead and Allah is not absent and does not die.

When Abu Bakr as Siddiq was addressed: "Oh Khalifah of Allah" he replied: "I am not Khalifah of Allah, rather the the Khalifah of the Messenger of Allah, may peace and blessings of Allah be upon him." [p27 Ahkam Sultaniyah]
In the book Ahkam al Quran [vol1p187] imam al Qurtubi (rha) said the use of the term khalifah was for the replacement and/or representation of previous peoples.


While there may be some who are merely misinterpretting the Quran in this matter, there are more sinister intentions behind some who project the cause of this term "khaliftullah". They want to project the humanist idea of Man by defining his relationship with creation without using revelation and without Allah and His Messenger (saaw).

And Allah knows best.

[66paptroump]

Shaykh al Mawardi (rha) addressed this matter in his work Ahkam Sultaniyah.

Who is this scholar ? Any biography available on the net ?
I would like to know what is written in famous Tafseer like Tafsser -e-Ibne Kathir about those verses mentioned by Tripollysunni.

[Abaanto]

Who is this scholar ? Any biography available on the net ?
I would like to know what is written in famous Tafseer like Tafsser -e-Ibne Kathir about those verses mentioned by Tripollysunni.

Salam,

al-Mawardi is well important, one of the biggest judges of the Abbasi Caliphate and al-Hafiz one of the biggest Shafi'i scholars:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Mawardi

[AK47rulz]

And (remember) when your Lord said to the angels: "Verily, I am going to place (mankind) generations after generations on earth.'' They said: "Will You place therein those who will make mischief therein and shed blood, ـ while we glorify You with praises and thanks and sanctify You.'' He (Allah) said: "I know that which you do not know." (2:30)

Adam and His Children inhabited the Earth, Generation after Generation

Allah reiterated His favor on the Children of Adam when He stated that He mentioned them in the highest of heights before He created them. Allah said,

﴿وَإِذْ قَالَ رَبُّكَ لِلْمَلَـئِكَةِ﴾

(And (remember) when your Lord said to the angels.)

This Ayah means, "O Muhammad ! Mention to your people what Allah said to the angels,

﴿إِنِّي جَاعِلٌ فِى الأَرْضِ خَلِيفَةً﴾

(Verily, I am going to place a Khalifah on earth).

Meaning people reproducing generation after generation, century after century, just as Allah said,

﴿وَهُوَ الَّذِى جَعَلَكُمْ خَلَـئِفَ الاٌّرْضِ﴾

(And it is He Who has made you (Khala'if) generations coming after generations, replacing each other on the earth) (6:165),

﴿وَيَجْعَلُكُمْ حُلَفَآءَ الاٌّرْضِ﴾

(And makes you (Khulafa') inheritors of the earth) (27:62),

﴿وَلَوْ نَشَآءُ لَجَعَلْنَا مِنكُمْ مَّلَـئِكَةً فِى الاٌّرْضِ يَخْلُفُونَ ﴾

(And if it were Our will, We would have (destroyed you (mankind all, and) made angels to replace you (Yakhlufun) on the earth.) (43: 60) and,

﴿فَخَلَفَ مِن بَعْدِهِمْ خَلْفٌ﴾

(Then after them succeeded an (evil) generation (Khalf)) (7:169). It appears that Allah was not refering to Adam specifically as Khalifah, otherwise he would not have allowed the angels' statement,

﴿أَتَجْعَلُ فِيهَا مَن يُفْسِدُ فِيهَا وَيَسْفِكُ الدِّمَآءَ﴾

(Will You place therein those who will make mischief therein and shed blood).

The angels meant that this type of creature usually commits the atrocities they mentioned. The angels knew of this fact, according to their understanding of human nature, for Allah stated that He would create man from clay. Or, the angels understood this fact from the word Khalifah, which also means the person who judges disputes that occur between people, forbidding them from injustice and sin, as Al-Qurtubi said.

The statement the angels uttered was not a form of disputing with Allah's, nor out of envy for the Children of Adam, as some mistakenly thought. Allah has described them as those who do not precede Him in speaking, meaning that they do not ask Allah anything without His permission. When Allah informed them that He was going to create a creation on the earth, and they had knowledge that this creation would commit mischief on it, as Qatadah mentioned, they said,

﴿أَتَجْعَلُ فِيهَا مَن يُفْسِدُ فِيهَا وَيَسْفِكُ الدِّمَآءَ﴾

(Will You place therein those who will make mischief therein and shed blood)

This is only a question for the sake of learning about the wisdom of that, as if they said, Our Lord! What is the wisdom of creating such creatures since they will cause trouble in the earth and spill blood "If the wisdom behind this action is that You be worshipped, we praise and glorify You (meaning we pray to You) we never indulge in mischief, so why create other creatures''

Allah said to the angels in answer to their inquiry,

﴿إِنِّي أَعْلَمُ مَا لاَ تَعْلَمُونَ﴾

(I know that which you do not know.) meaning, "I know that the benefit of creating this type of creature outweighs the harm that you mentioned, that which you have no knowledge of. I will create among them Prophets and send Messengers. I will also create among them truthful, martyrs, righteous believers, worshippers, the modest, the pious, the scholars who implement their knowledge, humble people and those who love Allah and follow His Messengers.''

The Sahih recorded that when the angels ascend to Allah with the records of the servant's deeds, Allah asks them, while having better knowledge, "How did you leave My servants'' They will say, "We came to them while they were praying and left them while they were praying.'' This is because the angels work in shifts with mankind, and they change shifts during the Fajr and `Asr prayers. The angels who descended will remain with us, while the angels who have remained with us ascend with our deeds. The Messenger of Allah said,

«يُرْفَعُ إِلَيْهِ عَمَلُ اللَّيْلِ قَبْلَ النَّهَارِ وَعَمَلُ النَّهَارِ قَبْلَ اللَّيْل»

(The deeds of the night are elevated to Allah before the morning, and the deeds of the morning before the night falls. )

Hence, the angels' statement, "We came to them while they were praying and left them while they were praying,'' explains Allah's statement,

﴿إِنِّي أَعْلَمُ مَا لاَ تَعْلَمُونَ﴾

(I know that which you do not know.)

It was said that the meaning of Allah's statement,

﴿إِنِّي أَعْلَمُ مَا لاَ تَعْلَمُونَ﴾

(I know that which you do not know.) is, "I have a specific wisdom in creating them, which you do not have knowledge of.'' It was also said that it is in answer to,

﴿وَنَحْنُ نُسَبِّحُ بِحَمْدِكَ وَنُقَدِّسُ لَكَ﴾

(While we glorify You with praises and thanks and sanctify You) after which Allah said,

﴿إِنِّي أَعْلَمُ مَا لاَ تَعْلَمُونَ﴾

(I know that which you do not know). Meaning, "I know that Iblis is not as you are, although he is among you.'' Others said,

﴿أَتَجْعَلُ فِيهَا مَن يُفْسِدُ فِيهَا وَيَسْفِكُ الدِّمَآءَ وَنَحْنُ نُسَبِّحُ بِحَمْدِكَ وَنُقَدِّسُ لَكَ﴾

"(Will You place therein those who will make mischief therein and shed blood, ـ while we glorify you with praises and thanks and sanctify You.) is their request that they should be allowed to inhabit the earth, instead of the Children of Adam. So Allah said to them,

﴿إِنِّي أَعْلَمُ مَا لاَ تَعْلَمُونَ﴾

(I know that which you do not know) if your inhabiting the heavens is better, or worse for you.'' Ar-Razi as well as others said this. Allah knows best.

The Obligation of appointing a Khalifah and some related Issues

Al-Qurtubi, as well as other scholars, said that this Ayah (2:30) proves the obligation of appointing a Khalifah to pass judgements on matters of dispute between people, to aid the oppressed against the oppressor, to implement the Islamic penal code and to forbid evil. There are many other tasks that can only be fulfilled by appointing the Imam, and what is necessary in performing an obligation, is an obligation itself. We should state here that Imamah occurs by either naming a successor, as a group among Ahl As-Sunnah scholars said occurred - by the Prophet - in the case of Abu Bakr, or hinting to a successor. Or, the current Khalifah names a certain person as Khalifah after him, as Abu Bakr did with `Umar. Or, the Khalifah might leave the matter in the hands of the Muslim consultative council, or a group of righteous men, just as `Umar did. Or, the people of authority could gather around a certain person to whom they give the pledge of allegiance, or they could select one among them to choose the candidate, according to the majority of the scholars.

The Khalifah must be a responsible adult Muslim male, able to perform Ijtihad (independent legal judgments), bodily able, righteous, with knowledge of warfare, politics. He also must be from the tribe of Quraysh, according to the correct view, but it is not necessary that he be from the tribe of Bani Hashim, or that he be immune from error, as the Rafidah (Shiites) falsely claim.

When the Khalifah becomes an immoral person (Fasiq), should he be impeached There is disagreement over this matter, but the correct view is that he is not to be removed, because the Messenger of Allah said,

«إِلَّا أَنْ تَرَوْا كُفْرًا بَوَاحًا عِنْدَكُمْ مِنَ اللهِ فِيهِ بُرْهَان»

(Unless you witness a clear Kufr regarding which you have clear proof from Allah. )

Does the Khalifah have the right to resign from his post There is a difference on this issue. It is a fact that Al-Hasan bin `Ali removed himself from the position of Khalifah and surrendered it to Mu`awiyah. However, this occurred because of a necessity, and Al-Hasan was praised for this action.

It is not permissible to appoint two Imams for the world or more at the same time. This is not allowed because the Messenger of Allah said,

«مَنْ جَاءَكُمْ وَأَمْرُكُمْ جَمِيعٌ يُرِيدُ أَنْ يُفَرِّقَ بَيْنَكُمْ فَاقْتُلُوهُ كَائِنًا مَنْ كَان»

(Whoever came to you while you are united and tried to divide you, then execute him, no matter who he is.)

This is the view of the majority of scholars. Imam Al-Haramayn stated that Abu Ishaq allowed the appointment of two or more Imams when the various provinces are far away from each other. However, Imam Al-Haramayn himself was indecisive about this view.

Tafsir ibn Kathir.

[AK47rulz]

O Dawud! Verily, We have placed you as a successor on the earth; so judge you between men in truth (and justice) and follow not your desire -- for it will mislead you from the path of Allah. Verily, those who wander astray from the path of Allah (shall) have a severe torment, because they forgot the Day of Reckoning. 38:26

Advice to Rulers and Leaders
This is advice from Allah, may He be exalted, to those who are in positions of authority. They should rule according to the truth and justice revealed from Him, they should not turn away from it and be led astray from the path of Allah. Allah has issued a stern warning of a severe punishment to those who go astray from His path and forget the Day of Resurrection. Ibn Abi Hatim recorded that Ibrahim Abu Zur`ah, who read the Scripture, reported that Al-Walid bin `Abd Al-Malik said to him: "Does anyone have the right to question the Khalifah You have read the first Scripture and the Qur'an, and you have understood them.'' He replied, "May I speak, O Commander of the faithful'' He said, "Speak, for you are under the protection of Allah.'' I said, "O Commander of the faithful, are you more dear to Allah, or Dawud, peace be upon him For Allah gave him both prophethood and rulership, then He warned him in His Book:

﴿يدَاوُودُ إِنَّا جَعَلْنَـكَ خَلِيفَةً فِى الاٌّرْضِ فَاحْكُمْ بَيْنَ النَّاسِ بِالْحَقِّ وَلاَ تَتَّبِعِ الْهَوَى فَيُضِلَّكَ عَن سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ﴾

(O Dawud ! Verily, We have placed you as a successor on the earth; so judge you between men in truth (and justice) and follow not your desire -- for it will mislead you from the path of Allah).'' `Ikrimah said:

﴿لَهُمْ عَذَابٌ شَدِيدُ بِمَا نَسُواْ يَوْمَ الْحِسَابِ﴾

((Those shall) have a severe torment, because they forgot the Day of Reckoning.) "They will have a severe punishment on the Day of Reckoning because of what they forgot. '' As-Suddi said, "They will have a severe punishment because of what they neglected to do for the sake of the Day of Reckoning.'' This interpretation is more in accordance with the apparent meaning of the Ayah. And Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, is the Guide to the Truth.

tafsir ibn kathir