As for those qualified for the imamate, four conditions are required of them. The first is that they be genuinely Qurashī. This means being descended from Quraysh ibn Badr ibn al-Naḍr, the guide of Banū Kinānah. Aḥmad said, according to the report of Mihnā: “No caliph may be from other than Quraysh.”

The second is that they possess the qualifications of one fit to serve as a judge: being free, having reached puberty, soundness of mind, knowledge, and justice. The third is that they be capable of managing warfare and political affairs, enforcing the prescribed penalties, and defending the Muslim community, without being overcome by pity in such matters. The fourth is that they be the best of them in knowledge and religion.

Statements have been transmitted from Imam Aḥmad, may Allah have mercy on him, which appear to set aside the requirement of justice, knowledge, and virtue. He said, according to the report of ʿAbdūs ibn Mālik al-Qaṭṭān: “Whoever overpowers them by the sword until he becomes caliph and is called the Commander of the Believers, it is not lawful for anyone who believes in Allah and the Last Day to go to sleep without recognizing him as his imam, whether he is upright or sinful. He is the Commander of the Believers.”

He also said, according to the report of al-Marwazī: “If he is a ruler known to drink intoxicants and misappropriate war booty, one campaigns alongside him; that affects only him personally.” It is also related from him in the account of the Inquisition that he used to address al-Muʿtaṣim as the Commander of the Believers on more than one occasion. Al-Muʿtaṣim had summoned him to affirm that the Quran was created and had him beaten for it. Likewise, he used to address al-Mutawakkil as the Commander of the Believers, even though al-Mutawakkil was not a man of knowledge, nor was he the most virtuous of his time.

Another report from him appears to contradict this. He said, according to the report of Ḥanbal: “What affliction was greater than what the enemy of Allah and the enemy of Islam had introduced—putting the Sunnah to death?” That is, what had been introduced before al-Mutawakkil, after which al-Mutawakkil revived the Sunnah. He also said, in a statement that I saw written on the back of a section of one of my brother’s books, may Allah have mercy on him: “Abū al-Fatḥ ibn Manīʿ narrated to us: I heard my grandfather say: Whenever Aḥmad mentioned al-Maʾmūn, he would say, ‘He was anything but trustworthy.’”

According to the report of al-Athram, when asked about a woman who had no guardian, he said: “The sultan.” He was then asked: “You say, ‘the sultan,’ when our circumstances are as you see them today?” This took place during a period when the judges were being subjected to the Inquisition. He replied: “I did not say that with reference to what we see today; I only said, ‘the sultan.’”

This statement entails censuring and impugning them, and it would not have this implication unless it amounted to impugning the validity of their authority. What he said, according to the report of ʿAbdūs and others, may therefore be understood as applying when there is an obstacle preventing the appointment of a just, learned, and virtuous ruler—namely, that the people have grown accustomed to them and are united in their allegiance to them, while turning away from them would lead to widespread turmoil.

If these qualities are present when the imamate contract is concluded and are then lost afterward, the matter must be examined. If the loss is a defect in his justice, namely sinful immorality, it does not prevent the continued exercise of the imamate—whether it concerns outward conduct, such as committing forbidden acts and engaging in reprehensible deeds in pursuit of his desires, or matters of belief, such as adopting an interpretation on the basis of a doubt that arises and thereby taking a position contrary to the truth. This is apparent from his statement, according to the report of al-Marwazī, concerning a ruler who drinks intoxicants and misappropriates war booty: one campaigns alongside him. He used to address al-Muʿtaṣim as the Commander of the Believers, even though al-Muʿtaṣim had summoned him to affirm that the Quran was created.