who cannot be easily overcome; they therefore constitute an army.

His statement, “against the imam”: this is the one whom the Muslims have appointed as their imam—that is, the caliph or the Commander of the Believers.

Here, the jurists, may Allah have mercy on them, discussed the conditions of the imamate and how it is established. The imamate is established in several ways:

First: by explicit designation—that is, when the preceding imam appoints him. This is the covenant of succession, as occurred when Abu Bakr appointed Umar, may Allah be pleased with them both. (1)

Second: by the agreement of those qualified to decide and appoint—that is, the leading figures, nobles, and distinguished persons of the land. They gather around a particular man and appoint him imam. An example of this in a more limited form is the arrangement chosen by Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him. Umar did not appoint a particular individual, nor did he leave the matter open to all the Muslims; rather, he confined it to six individuals whom he selected. He explained his selection of them by saying that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, died while pleased with them. (2) Thus, he placed the matter among them. This was a form of selection by those qualified to decide and appoint, and also a form of designating the caliphate from among specified individuals, since the caliph could not come from outside this narrow circle of only six. That is, if these six were to choose a man from outside the six, then it would not be valid