(1) by His words:

“There is nothing like Him.” (2)

[Surah al-Shūrā: 11]

—and they made other claims of this kind, involving such distortion of the transmitted texts (3) and corruption of reason that this is not the place to discuss them at length (4).

The point here is that no one can be Allah’s successor, for a successor only takes the place of someone who is absent. He—Glorified is He—is ever present and directs His creation, needing no one else to direct them. He is [Glorified is He] (5) the Creator of all causes and effects. Rather, He—Glorified is He—watches over the family of His believing servant when that servant is away from them.

It is narrated (6) that someone said to Abū Bakr, “O successor of Allah!”

He replied, “Rather, I am the successor of the Messenger of Allah, and that is sufficient for me.”

[Hadiths Demonstrating the Establishment of Abū Bakr’s Caliphate]

One group said:

“Rather, it was established by the explicit designation mentioned in the hadiths that had previously…”