Although the Ummah is the one who appoints the Khaleefah and gives him the Bay’ah, yet once the Bay’ah has been convened according to Shar’, the Ummah does not have the right to remove him (from office).

This is because of the Sahih Ahadith which order the Muslims to obey the Khaleefah even if He committed Munkar (mischief), committed an act of oppression or even withheld people’s rights, so long as He did not order them of an act of disobedience (Ma’asiyah), nor show flagrant disbelief. Al-Bukhari narrated from Ibnu ‘Abbas who said that the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said:

“If anyone sees in his Ameer (Ameerihi) something that displeases him let him remain patient: For behold! He who separates himself from the Sultan (authority) by even so much as a hand span and dies thereupon, He has died the death of Jahiliyyah.” The phrase Ameerihi is general in this Hadith, so it includes the Khaleefah because He is the Ameer of the believers. Muslim narrated from Abu Hurayra who said that the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said:

“‘The Prophets ruled over the children of Israel. Whenever a Prophet died, another Prophet succeeded him, but there will be no Prophet after me. There will be Khulafaa’, and they will number many.’ They asked: ‘What then do you order us?’ He (pbuh) said, ‘Fulfill allegiance to them one after the other, and give them their dues. Verily Allah will ask them about what He entrusted them with.’” Muslim reported that Salama ibn Yazid Al-Ja’afi asked the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) : “‘O Prophet of Allah, if we were to be ruled by Ameers who ask us for their dues and deny us our dues, what do you order us to do then?’ The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) turned his face away; He asked him again and Allah’s Messenger (pbuh) avoided him; then He asked for the second or the third time and He (pbuh) was pulled by Al-Ash’aath ibn Qays, so the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said:

‘Hear and obey, for they shall be accountable for their actions and you shall be accountable for yours.’” Muslim reported from ‘Auf ibn Malik who reported; “I heard the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) say,

‘The best of your Imams are those whom you love and they love you and you pray for them and they pray for you; and the worst of your Imams are those whom you hate and they hate you and you curse them and they curse you.’ We asked, ‘O Messenger of Allah, shall we not then declare war on them?’ He (pbuh) said: ‘No, as long as they establish prayer among you. Behold, if anyone was ruled by a Wali and saw him committing a sin, let him hate the sin committed against Allah, but let him not withdraw his hand from obedience.’” Muslim narrated from Huzayfah ibn al-Yamaan that the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said:

“‘There will be Imams after me who will not be guided by my guidance, nor will they act according to my Sunnah; some men will rise amongst you with satans’ hearts in human bodies.’ Huzayfah asked, ‘What shall I do, if I were to reach that time?’ He (pbuh) said, ‘You should hear and obey the Ameer even if He whipped your back and took your money; do hear and obey.’” Ahmad and Abu Dawood reported that the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said:

“‘O Abu Dharr, what would you do if some Wulah possessed the booty and deprived you of it?’ He said, ‘By He Who sent you with the Truth, I would raise my sword and fight until I join you.’ Upon this He (pbuh) said, ‘Let me tell you something that would be better for you than that. Remain patient and bear it until you join me.’”

All these Ahadith demonstrate that the Khaleefah could act against the Shar’a rules. Yet despite this, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) ordered us to obey him (the Khaleefah), to be patient towards his injustice and to persevere. This clearly proves that the Ummah does not reserve the right to remove the Khaleefah. Besides, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) refused on one occasion, to relieve a Bedouin from his Bay’ah. Al-Bukhari narrated from Jabir ibn ‘Abdullah who reported that; “… a Bedouin gave his Bay’ah of Islam to the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) . Soon after He felt a malaise, so He said to the Messenger of Allah (pbuh), ‘Would you relieve me of my Bay’ah!’ The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) refused; He then came back and said, ‘Relieve me of my Bay’ah!’ He (pbuh) refused, so the man left. Upon this the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said:

‘Al-Madina is like the bellows, she banishes her bad odours and manifests her sweet scent.’” This proves that once the Bay’ah has been taken, those who gave it must be committed to it. This means that they have no right to remove the Khaleefah, because they have no right to take back the Bay’ah they gave to him. It would be wrong to claim that the Bedouin wanted to leave Islam by seeking relief from his Bay’ah rather than the obedience to the Head of State. This is because if this had been the case, his act would have been considered as apostasy, and the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) would most certainly have killed him, since the punishment for the apostate is killing. The Bay’ah itself is not a Bay’ah for embracing Islam but for obedience. Therefore, the Bedouin wanted to rid himself from his oath of obedience, not to apostasise. Muslims have thus no right to renounce their Bay’ah and they do not reserve the right to remove the Khaleefah. Shar’a has defined and demonstrated when the Khaleefah must be removed automatically and when his removal becomes necessary. This does not however, imply that the Ummah reserves the right of removing him.