Is it a Requirement for a Caliph to be a Descendant of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ?

​In one of his sermons Prophet Muhammad said, “I admonish you to fear Allah, to listen and obey even if an Abyssinian slave is appointed as your leader. Because whosoever among you shall live after me, will see much discord. So hold fast to my Sunnah and the examples of the rightly guided caliphs who will come after me. Adhere to them and hold to it fast. Beware of new things (in religion) because every bidah (innovation) is a misguidance.”[1] In Islam there is no strict criteria that the leadership should only remain with prophet's descendants as taught by the Prophet ﷺ himself. However there is no doubt that the all Muslims would accept if the pious leader is also his descendant. We see that why the Prophet’s descendants who had more right to rule over Muslims than anyone else were not encouraged by the Prophet ﷺ to do so. He once mentioned how Allah ﷻ had chosen hereafter instead of the world for his descendants and that this worldly leadership is not for them as the leadership of the hereafter is already preserved for them: “Whilst we were with the Prophet ﷺ, some young men from Banu Hashim approached us. When the Prophet ﷺ saw them, his eyes filled with tears and the colour of his face changed. I said, 'We can see something has changed in your face, and it upsets us.' The Prophet ﷺ said, 'We the people of a Household for whom Allah has chosen the hereafter rather than this world. The people of my Household (ahl al-bayt) will suffer a great deal after my death….”[2] Because Allah ﷻ chose hereafter for the Prophet’s descendants is why the Prophet ﷺ gave good news of Imam Hassan and Imam Hussain’s leadership in paradise and said: “Al-Hasan and al-Husain are the chiefs (syeds) of the youth of Paradise.”[3] Imam Hassan (a.s) had received the worldly leadership however Allah ﷻ guided him to give up for the sake of uniting the Muslims. On the other hand Imam Hussain (a.s) fought against the tyrant Yazid ibn Muawiya who was not worthy to become a Muslim leader. Imam Hussain (a.s) sacrificed himself while protecting the honorable path of leadership in the footsteps of the Prophet ﷺ. Therefore due to their sacrifices they are blessed with eternal leadership in paradise.

Sheikh Al Nursi Bediuzzaman explains the prophetic statement – "we the people of a Household for whom Allah has chosen the hereafter rather than this world" – that the world is deceptive and the sovereignty of the world and its riches makes the hearts of those who rule deviate from the path of guidance therefore Allah ﷻ protected the descendants of the Prophet ﷺ from worldly influences so they may continue to fulfill the duty of what they were chosen for, which is spiritual leadership of the Muslims and continue to guide them by means of two sources of knowledge: Quran and Sunnah. This was the meaning of Prophet saying to hold two things after he departs from this physical existence: “I am leaving two things in your midst if you hold fast to it you will not go astray. They are The Book of Allah (Quran) and the Sunnah (example and words) of His Messenger.”[4] “I am leaving two important things in your midst which exceed each other in importance: One (is) Allah’s Book and the other (is) my progeny.”[5] The ignorant finds contradiction in these two pieces of advice to hold two different things and the wise would understand that by saying such Prophet ﷺ connected the path of guidance with his descendants who have been given this great burden of carrying over their shoulders to guide others through knowledge of Allah’s book and His Sunnah. Al Nursi also interestingly mentions that how the descendants of the Prophet ﷺ, if and whenever got the opportunity to gain political leadership were corrupted such as the case of the Fatimid Caliphate in Egypt, Safawi rulership in Iran and the Almohads (Hasani descendants) in North Africa. This corruption deprived the Muslims from having guides from within the Prophet’s descendants who would spread the light of prophetic guidance. While connecting the path of guidance with his descendants the Prophet ﷺ also made it clear that there was no relationship of his with such descendants who are unrighteous: “...there is the trial of As-Saraa (much wealth, safety, luxury and ease) caused by a man from the people of my ahlal bayt (household) who claims that he is my son (or direct descendent) but he is not from me; indeed my awliyaa (those who are near to me) are only those who are the muttaqoon (those who fear Allah and are righteous).”[6]

Nevertheless, many descendants continued this Prophet’s legacy and heeded his advice of not fighting for political power, they did so only when it was necessary like Imam Hussain (a.s) and gave up what was their own for the sake of Allah like Imam Hassan (a.s). To name a few of the descendants of the Prophet who spread the lights of Islam and history bears witness to up till today are: Imam Ahmed Ar-Rifai (Hassani descendant) Imam Ahmed Al Badawi (Hussaini decendant) Imam Ibrahim El Desouki (Hassani descendant) Imam Abdul Qadir Gilani (Hassani descendant). Similar descendants of Imam Hussain like Imam Zaynul Abideen and Imam Jafar and the later sufi saints heeded the Prophetic advice of keeping people’s hearts attached to the way of the Prophet and Allah blessed and assisted them. Therefore the Caliph is more of a worldly ruler and rules over people’s lives while the descendant of the Prophet are supposed to rule spiritually over the hearts.

For more info please read my post: The descendants of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ.

References:
[1] Sunan ibn Majah Vol. 1, Book 1, Hadith 42 – Sunnah.com
[2] Dimashqi, Al-Hafiz ibn Katheer. 2006. Al Nihaya Fi al Fitan Wa al Malahim (Book of the End: Great Trials and Tribulations). Riyadh: Maktaba Darussalam - (Dimashqi 2006)
[3] Jami Tirmidhi Vol. 1, Book 46, Hadith 3768 – Sunnah.com
[4] Muwatta Imam Malik – Narrated by Malik Ibn Anas (r.a), Chapter 46 Decree - Ahadith.co.uk.
[5] Sahih Muslim 2408 a – Sunnah.com
[6] Dimashqi, Al-Hafiz ibn Katheer. 2006. Al Nihaya Fi al Fitan Wa al Malahim (Book of the End: Great Trials and Tribulations). Riyadh: Maktaba Darussalam - (Dimashqi 2006)

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