وَالَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا بَعْضُهُمْ أَوْلِيَاءُ بَعْضٍ ۚ إِلَّا تَفْعَلُوهُ تَكُن فِتْنَةٌ فِي الْأَرْضِ وَفَسَادٌ كَبِيرٌ (73)
73. And those who disbelieve are
allies of one another, (and) if you (Muslims
of the whole world collectively) do not do so [i.e. become allies, as one
united block under one Khalifah (a chief Muslim ruler for the whole Muslim
world) to make victorious Allāh’s religion of Islāmic
Monotheism], there will be Fitnah (wars, battles, polytheism) and oppression on
the earth, a great mischief and corruption (appearance of polytheism).[1]
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[1] (V.8:73) It has been mentioned in Tafsir At-Tabarī, that the best
interpretation of this Verse: - [“And those who disbelieve are
allies of one another, (and) if you
(Muslims of the whole world collectively) do not do so [i.e. become
allies, as one united block – V.8:73).”] is “That if you do not do what We (Allāh) have ordered you to do, [i.e. all of you (Muslims of the
whole world) do not become allies as one united block to make Allāh’s religion (Islām) victorious, there will be a
great Fitnah (polytheism, wars, battles, killing, robbing, a great mischief,
corruption and oppression.) And it is Fitnah to have many Khalifahs (Muslim
rulers), as it has been mentioned in Sahīh Muslim by ‘Arfajah, who said: I heard
Allāh’s Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم saying: “When you all (Muslims) are
united (as one block) under a single Khalifah (chief Muslim ruler), a man comes
up to disintegrate you and separate you into different groups, then kill that
man.”
Also
there is another narration in Sahih Muslim: Narrated by Abu Sa’id Al-Khudri رضي الله عنه: Allāh’s Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم said: “If the Muslim world gave the
Bai’a (pledge) to two Khalifahs (chief Muslim rulers), the first one who has
given the Bai’a (pledge) first will remain as the Khalifah, then kill the
latter (the second) one.”
So it is a legal obligation, from the above-mentioned evident proofs (from the Qur’ān and the Prophet’s statement), that there shall not be more than one Khalifah (a chief Muslim ruler) for the whole muslim world or otherwise there will be a great Fitnah (mischief and evil.) amongst the Muslims, the ultimate results of which will not be worthy of praise.
For Arabic please refer to
https://quran.ksu.edu.sa/
For English translation of the
Surah Al-Anfāl Ayah (73)
please refer to Translation of The Noble Qur’ān in the English Language by Dr.
Muhammad Taqî-ud-Dîn al-Hilâlî and Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khân, Part 10 page. 242.
Published by King Fahd Complex For The Printing Of The Holy Qur'ân, Madinah
K.S.A.
