one leader from us and one from you.” Umar argued with them and said to Abu Bakr, “Extend your hand; I pledge allegiance to you.” Thus, he did not regard dominance as decisive; rather, he regarded the contract as decisive despite the disagreement.

The basis of the second report is what Ahmad related from Ibn Umar, together with his statement, “We are with the one who prevails.” For had the imamate depended upon a contract, it would be valid to remove and dissolve it by their declaration and his, just as with a sale and other contracts. Yet since it is established that if he were to remove himself or they were to remove him, he would not thereby be removed, this indicates that it does not require a contract.

The pronouncement of the group of people of authority and influence that he is the imam is considered only because it is obligatory to refer to him, and it is not permissible to oppose or turn away from him, as with consensus. Since it is established that consensus is considered to have been formed only through the participation of all the people of authority and influence, the same applies to the contract of the imamate. If they delay, they sin. It is a contract that is not completed without a contracting party, as with judgeship: a person does not become a judge until he is appointed, nor does he become a judge merely by possessing the qualifications for the office. The same applies to the imamate.

When the people of authority and influence unanimously choose, they examine the qualifications of those among them who meet the conditions of the imamate, and put forward for the pledge of allegiance the one who has the greatest merit and most complete qualifications. Once they have identified, from among the group, the person whom their independent legal reasoning has led them to choose, they present the office to him. If he accepts it, they pledge allegiance to him, and the imamate is established for him through their pledge. The entire community is then obliged to enter into his pledge of allegiance and submit to obeying him.

If he declines the imamate and does not accept it, he is not compelled to assume it. Instead, they turn to another of those qualified for it and pledge allegiance to him. If everyone refuses to assume it, do they sin by doing so, and does it become incumbent upon them?

He said, in a report transmitted by al-Marwadhi, “Muslims must have a ruler. Are the people’s rights to be lost?” And in a report transmitted by Muhammad ibn Musa—concerning a witness who refuses to testify: “Does he sin?”—he said, “If this harms the people of the village and someone like him is needed, he must not do so.”

The apparent meaning of his words is that he regarded judgeship and giving testimony as communal obligations, despite what has been narrated from the Prophet in condemnation of judgeship. The major imamate is even more deserving of being regarded in this way, since seeking it or assuming it is not disliked.

The people of consultation disputed over it; no one who sought it was turned away, nor was anyone who desired it prevented from assuming it. Moreover, people need it to protect the community, defend its territory, enforce the prescribed penalties, and secure rights. It therefore falls under the same category as their need to wash and carry the dead, command what is right, and forbid what is wrong.

If two candidates are equal in the conditions of the imamate, the older of them is given precedence. Although age is not itself a condition, if the younger of them is given the pledge, that is valid. If one is more learned and the other braver, the circumstances must be considered. If the need for courage is greater because the frontiers are exposed and rebels have arisen, then the braver is more entitled to the office. But if the need for knowledge is greater because the masses need calming and the people of innovation have emerged, then the more learned is more entitled.

If the selection comes down to one of two candidates and they contend for the office, that is not a defect that disqualifies either of them from it, since we have explained that