Article 33

A temporary leader is appointed to take charge of the affairs of the Muslims, and to prepare for the election of the new *Khalifah* after the vacation of the position of the *Khilafah* according to the following process:

a. When the previous *Khalifah* feels that his life is coming to an end, or is committed to resigning, he has the right to appoint the temporary leader.

b. If the *Khalifah* dies or resigns before appointing the temporary leader, or the position of the *Khilafah* becomes vacant due to another reason, then the eldest of the assistants becomes the temporary leader unless

he intended to be a candidate for the *Khilafah* in which case the next senior assistant is to be given the position and so on.

c. If all of the assistants intend to be candidates, then the eldest of the executive ministers will become the temporary leader or the one after him in seniority if he intends to be a candidate, and so on.

d. If all of the executive ministers intend to be candidates for the *Khilafah*, then the position of the temporary leader is given to the youngest executive minister.

e. The temporary leader does not have the right to adopt rules.

f. The temporary leader makes all effort to complete the appointment of a new *Khalifah* within three days, and it is not permitted for this to be extended except due to overwhelming circumstances approved by the *Madhalim* court.

When the *Khalifah* feels that his death is close, close to the time that the *Khilafah* would become vacant, he may appoint a temporary leader to be responsible for the Muslims’ affairs during the period of steps being taken to appoint the new *Khalifah*. He would undertake his work after the death of the *Khalifah* and his main work would be to complete the appointment of the new *Khalifah* within three days.

It is not permitted for the temporary leader to adopt rules, since this is the right of the *Khalifah* who has been given a pledge by the *Ummah*. In the same manner, it is not permitted for him to be nominated for the *Khilafah* or to support the nominees, since Umar (ra) appointed someone other than those who were nominated for the *Khilafah*.

The responsibility of this leader ends with the appointment of the new *Khalifah* since his task was time-constrained to this goal.

The evidence for this is what Umar (ra) did when he was stabbed and this was done without any opposition from the companions and so is considered to be an *Ijma’*.

Umar (ra) said to the six candidates

«وليصَلَّ بكم صهيب هذه الأيام الثلاثة التي تتشاورون فيها»

*“Let Suhayb lead you in prayers during the three days of your consultation”* and then he said to Suhaib, as mentioned in *Tarikh Al-Tabari*,

«صل بالناس ثلاثة أيام، إلى أن قال: فإن اجتمع خمسة، ورضوا رجلاً، وأبى واحد، فاشدخ رأسه بالسيف»

*“lead the people in prayer for three days ..until he said: if five of them agree upon a man while one disagreed, then strike his head with a sword..”. This means that Suhaib was appointed as a leader over them – he was appointed as a leader for the prayer and leadership of the prayer meant leadership over the people. Also, he was given the right to apply the punishment (strike his head) and the only one who can establish punishment by death is the leader.

This issue took place in front of the companions without any dissenters and so it is an *Ijma’* that the *Khalifah* can appoint a temporary leader who undertakes the steps to appoint the new *Khalifah*. In the same manner based upon this it is permitted for the *Khalifah* during his lifetime to adopt an article which would state that if he died without appointing a temporary leader to oversee the appointment of a new *Khalifah*, someone is to be the temporary leader.

Based upon this, it is adopted that if the *Khalifah* did not appoint a temporary leader during his terminal illness, then the temporary leader would be the eldest of his assistants as long as they are not a candidate, in which case it would be the next senior in age from his assistants, and so on, and then the executive ministers in the same manner.

This is applied in the event of the removal of the *Khalifah*, so the temporary leader would be the eldest assistant as long as he is not a candidate, and if he is a candidate then the next one in seniority and so on until all the assistants are considered, in which case it would then fall to the eldest executive minister and so on. If all of them want to be candidates then the youngest of the executive ministers is compelled to become the temporary leader.

This leader is different from the one the *Khalifah* appoints in his place when he goes out for *Jihad* or a journey, as the Prophet ﷺ used to do when he went out for *Jihad* or the final *Hajj*, or similar. In this situation the one who is delegated in his stead has the powers that the *Khalifah* defines for him to take care of the affairs necessitated by the delegation.

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