The series "The Caliphate and Imamate in Islamic Thought"
By the writer and thinker Thaer Salama - Abu Malek
Seventeenth Episode: Until They Made It the Most Important of Obligations!
The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, died in the late morning of Monday, the twelfth of Rabi’ al-Awwal, in the eleventh year of the Hijra, on a day that was the darkest in the history of Islam. Anas bin Malik, may God be pleased with him, said: I have never seen a day that was better or brighter than the day the Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, entered upon us, and I have never seen a day that was uglier or darker than the day the Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, died.1
When the Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, passed away to the Most High Companion, the following duties were before the Companions:
First: Burying the Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him. Imam Ahmad narrated in his Musnad from Ali, may God be pleased with him, that the Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, said: "Three things, O Ali, do not delay them: Prayer when its time comes, the funeral when it is present, and the unmarried woman when she finds a suitable match." And in the two Sahihs, the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: "Hurry with the funeral procession, for if it is righteous, it is a good that you are advancing it, and if it is otherwise, it is an evil that you are putting off your necks." So the command is not to delay the funeral, and the principle is that the Companions' righteousness to the Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, is to present his funeral to present the good to him, peace and blessings be upon him, in what he will receive from his Lord, may He be blessed and exalted. However, they prioritized the Caliphate over this good - despite its greatness and the greatness of their love for the Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, and their righteousness to him - and that was only in accordance with his Sunnah. Ibn Kathir said [Al-Bidayah (5/237)]: "The well-known view of the majority is what we mentioned earlier, that he, peace and blessings be upon him, died on Monday and was buried on Wednesday night." That is, the period between his death and burial was the entire day of Monday and Tuesday. It is true that his family members were busy shrouding and washing him, and the Muslims prayed over him individually throughout these two days, but shrouding and washing the deceased does not take two days and a night, which indicates that the Companions were indeed preoccupied with the burial until they were done with the matter of the Caliphate!.
Second: Enforcing the mission of Usama (Jihad). The Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, had ordered in his death sickness that the Muslims should carry out his mission: Ibn Ishaq said: "Muhammad bin Jaafar bin Al-Zubayr narrated to me, from Urwa bin Al-Zubayr and other scholars, that the Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, found the people slow in dispatching the mission of Usama bin Zaid, while he was in his pain, so he came out with his head bandaged until he sat on the pulpit. The people had said about the leadership of Usama: He appointed a young man over the elite of the Muhajireen and Ansar." "So he praised God and extolled Him as He deserves, then he said: O people, carry out the mission of Usama." So here is an order from the Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, to quickly carry out the mission of Usama, but they delayed it until they pledged allegiance to the Caliph. The nature of Usama's mission is special, as it is a jihad of preventive war, and a jihad of initiation!.
Third: Fighting the apostates, and restoring some parts of the state after they had turned into lands of disbelief. That is because the news of apostasy had reached the Companions, due to the claim of some liars to prophethood before the death of the Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him. For example, the Bani Hanifa, the people of Musaylima the liar, apostatized and followed him before the death of the Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, and also what happened with Al-Aswad Al-Ansi. Consequently, there was Islamic land that the Muslims had conquered and then apostatized from the reality of the land of Islam to the land of disbelief, and it was ruled by the Taghut after it had been ruled by the Book and the Sunnah, shortly before the death of the Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him. That is, it was among the things that the Companions, may God be pleased with them, faced in the matters that they had to resolve of what we mention here, and the Muslims did not rush to fight them until they appointed the Caliph.
They undoubtedly realize the seriousness of the situation from the moment of the death of the Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, and the tribes are waiting for his death to do their thing!!
Fourth: Choosing a Caliph for the Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, to take care of the affairs of the Muslims,
The noble Companions prioritized the choice of the Caliph over those dangerous duties, and made it the most important of obligations.
1- Narrated by Al-Darimi and Al-Baghawi