3 – By confining the matter to a limited consultative council (shūrā) so that those entitled to pledge allegiance agree upon one of their number and then unite behind him; this was the manner in which ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān, may Allah be pleased with him, was chosen and installed.

4 – By gaining control over the people through force and power until they submit to him and call him Imam; once that occurs, the imamate is established and obedience becomes obligatory for the subjects, as in the caliphate of ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān.