obedience to him when he commands what Allah has commanded, and he is correct in punishing those who disobey Allah and honouring those who obey Him. If by calling himself a deputy he means one who conveys, delivers, and carries out Allah’s commands, this is correct. But if he means, “I act on His behalf in matters that He neither does nor has the power to do,” this is a lie. Such a claim may be made by a Qadarī who thinks that he acts independently and that Allah has not created his actions; in this he is mistaken.

If, however, he were to call himself the deputy of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, or his successor, this would be correct. Thus, when people addressed Abū Bakr al-Siddīq as “Allah’s vicegerent,” he replied, “I am not Allah’s vicegerent; rather, I am the successor of the Messenger of Allah, and that is enough for me.” No one, then, should ever be called Allah’s deputy or His vicegerent. The Messenger is different in this respect: it has been reported that the successors of the Messengers are those who revive their sunnah and teach it to people. This is why obedience to them is obligatory, as narrated in the two Sahīh collections from the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, who said:

“Whoever obeys me has obeyed Allah; whoever obeys my appointed commander has obeyed me; and whoever disobeys me has disobeyed Allah.