When the Khaleefah of the Muslims retires, dies or is displaced for any reason, there is no concept of automatic succession or ‘Royal Family.’ Rather, leadership in Islam is a contract between the Muslims and the Khaleefah. His authority depends entirely on the acceptance of the Ummah, which is represented by their giving him the bay‘ah (pledge of allegiance). You are involved in appointing the new Khaleefah. These are the steps taken :

Any candidates who wish to take the post make an application to the Majlis al-Ummah (Council of the Ummah). You may propose any candidate yourself, if you know someone suitable for the post. The members of the Majlis will consider all the applicants, and evaluate whether they meet the conditions required by Islam for the Khaleefah. The Khaleefah must be :

1. Muslim.

2. Male.

3. Free.

4. Sane.

5. Mature.

6. Just.

7. Able to rule.

Islam also recommends other conditions, such as that he should be a mujtahid (scholar), experienced in politics, brave, pious etc.

You would probably hear about the candidates once the Majlis has assessed them all and publicly announced who they are, along with a résumé of their respective achievements or abilities.

After this, you would go to the nearest polling station, one of which will be available in every locality. Here you may cast a vote for the candidate whom you prefer.

The State will order counting of the votes as quickly as possible so that the new Khaleefah may be appointed within 3 days - the maximum time that Islam allows the Ummah to be without an Amir.

The candidate who has received the largest proportion of the vote will be the winner, regardless of whether he had the vote of more than half of the citizens of the State or not. Thus, if you had chosen someone who had the vote of 20% of the Ummah, he will win as long as no other candidates superceded this figure.

Once the successor to the leadership of the Khilafah has thus been nominated by the Muslims, the members of the Majlis al-Ummah, along with the other candidates and those who hold key positions, such as the army officials and governors, will publicly give their bay‘ah. These are the people who are the representatives of the Ummah, and they are collectively known as the ahl al halli wal ‘aqd (people of influence and authority). This stage is the bay‘ah of in‘iqad (pledge of selection).

You will be well informed about this selection from the media and other channels of government communication, such as the juma‘khutbah.

Remember : the sovereignty lies with Allah (swt) alone, but the authority is held by the Muslim Ummah. Thus, the Ummah must give their consent to the new Khaleefah for his rule to be valid, and this consent is manifested by the agreement of the people of influence and authority, who are the natural representatives of the Ummah.

The newly appointed Khaleefah will then present himself to the Ummah and invite them to give their bay‘ah. This second pledge is the bay‘ah al-ta‘aa (pledge of obedience). Obedience to the Khaleefah is a duty upon all Muslims, and you become sinful if you neglect it.

You may give this pledge in person to the new Khaleefah, but as this is often impractical, you can represent your bay‘ah by other means such as telegram or fax. It is recommended for you to do this, but the principle of ‘silence is consent’, means that if you took no action after hearing of the invitation for your bay‘ah, you would not be sinful and would be regarded as having given it and accepted the Khaleefah.

Once you have given this pledge, you have entered a contract to obey the Khaleefah for as long as he implements Allah’s Law, whether you are in public or in the privacy of your home.

Abu Hurayrah narrated that the Messenger of Allah (saw) said, “Whoever obeyed me he obeyed Allah; whoever disobeyed me he disobeyed Allah; whoever obeyed the Amir, he obeyed me, and whoever disobeyed him he disobeyed me.” Bukhari and Muslim.

In Britain for example, it is well known that as soon as the new Prime Minister is elected, he and his party throw most of the election promises they made to you in the bin, and proceed with the personal agenda they never told you about before. Now that you have appointed the Khaleefah, how can you make sure that he does not renege on his promise to obey Allah’s Law?