THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE CALIPHATE AND WILL IN THE OPINIONS OF THE SPEECH DOCTRINES

Abstract

      The present paper includes an introduction, a topic with three sections and the most important results.

I have mentioned in the entry chapter that I am clarifying an important issue, which is  the meaning of the terms imam, caliph, regent, deputy, prince, and other related terms that all have one meaning, which is to take over the religious and political affairs of the state after the departure of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon Him).

The meaning of the word wasee ‘’trustee’’ is the saying of the testator “I made so-and-so a ‘’caliph’’ or ‘’imam’’ after my death’’ and there is no difference between the two terms.

Some of them may sometimes delude themselves that the Imamate and the Caliphate are two different terms; and that belief in the Imamate is only specific to the Shiites while the belief in the Caliphate is specific to the Sunnis. But in reality, there is no basis for this illusion, and there is no dispute between the Shiites and the Sunnis in this regard. Rather, the source of the dispute is in the qualifications of the imam or the caliph and the methods of appointing them. Most of the speech schools agree on the necessity that the Islamic community needs an imam or caliph to manage the religious and political affairs of the state after the departure of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon Him).

The study will focus on three main issues:

• The first issue is the verses and hadiths about the caliphate, the imamate and the guardianship in the Holy Qur’an and the Sunnah of the Prophet (peace be upon him).
• The second issue is the views of Islamic sects on the issues of Caliphate and Will.
• The third issue is about the Caliphate of the Imami Shiites the Mu'tazila and the Ash'ari.