(3) Nomination.—Sult̤ān Salīm, as has been already said, obtained from Mutawakkil, a descendant of the Abbasides, and himself titularly K͟halīfah, a full cession of all the K͟halīfah rights of that family. The fact, as far as it goes, is historical, and the only flaw in the argument would seem to be that Mutawakkil had no right thus to dispose of a title to an alien, which was his own only in virtue of his birth. As a precedent for nomination, they cite the act of Abū Bakr, who on his death-bed recommended ʿUmar as his successor in the K͟halīfate.
(4) The Guardianship of the Two Shrines (Ḥaramān), that is to say, of Makkah and Jerusalem, but especially of Makkah. It has been asserted by some of the ʿUlamāʾ, and it is certainly a common opinion at the present day, that the sovereignty of al-Ḥijāz is in itself sufficient title to the K͟halīfate. It seems certainly to have been so considered in the first age of Islām, and many a bloody war was then fought for the right of protecting the Baitu ʾllāh, but the connection of al-Ḥijāz with the empire of the K͟halīfahs has been too often broken to make this a very tenable argument. In the tenth century, Makkah was held by the Karmathian heretics, in the thirteenth by the Imāms of Ṣanʿāʾ, and for seven years in the present century by the Wahhābīs. Still the de facto sovereignty of the Ḥaramān, or two shrines, was one of Salīm’s pleas; and it is one which has reappeared in modern arguments respecting the K͟halīfal rights of his descendants.
(5) Possession of the Amānāt, or sacred relics. This last is a plea addressed to the vulgar rather than to the learned; but it is one which cannot be passed by unnoticed here, for it exercises a powerful influence at the present day over the ignorant mass of Muslims. It was asserted, and is still a pious belief, that from the sack of Bag͟hdād in A.D. 1258, certain relicts of the Prophet and his Companions were saved and brought to Cairo, and thence transferred by Salīm to Constantinople. These were represented as constituting the imperial insignia of office, and their possession as giving a title to the succession. They consisted of the cloak of the Prophet, borne by his soldiers as a standard, of some hairs of the Prophet’s beard, and of the sword of ʿUmar. The vulgar still believe them to be preserved in the mosque of Aiyūb at Constantinople. (See The Future of Islām, by Wilfrid Scawen Blunt, London, 1882, p. 66.)
On the general question as to whether or not an Imām, or K͟halīfah, is necessary for Islām, the author of the Sharḥu ʾl-Muwāqif says, “The appointment of an Imām (i.e. K͟halīfah) is incumbent upon the united body of Muslims, according to the orthodox law of the Sunnīs, although the Muʿtazilahs and Zaidīyahs say it is merely expedient, but not ordered by the law, whilst the Ishmailīyahs and the Imāmīyahs say God will Himself appoint an Imām for the establishment of sound doctrine. Some say the appointment of an Imām is only necessary when Muslims are at peace amongst themselves and united, and not when they are in a state of rebellion.
The arguments in favour of the absolute necessity of an Imām, or K͟halīfah, being appointed, are that in the time of Abū Bakr, the first K͟halīfah, it was established by general consent; and Abū Bakr, in his first k͟hut̤bah after the death of Muḥammad, said: “Beware! Muḥammad is certainly dead, and it is necessary for this religion that some one should be appointed for its protection.” And all the Muslims at that time consented to this saying of Abū Bakr, and consequently in all ages Muslims have had an Imām. And it is well known that without such an officer Islām cannot be protected from evil, for without him it is impossible to maintain the orders of the Muslim law, such as marriage, Jihād, punishment, and the various ordinances of Islām. (Sharḥu ʾl-Muwāqif, p. 603.)
The following are some of the injunctions of Muḥammad regarding the Imām or K͟halīfah:—
“When two K͟halīfahs have been set up, put the last of them to death and preserve the other, for the second is a rebel.”
“He who acknowledges an Imām must obey him as far as he can, and if a pretender comes, kill him.”
“Whomever God appoints as Imām, and he does not protect his people, shall never smell the smells of paradise.”
“It is indispensable for every Muslim to listen to, and approve the orders of the Imām, whether he likes or dislikes, so long as he is not ordered to sin and act contrary to law; then when he is ordered to sin, he must neither attend to it nor obey it.”