In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Intensely Merciful.
Definitions:
-Supremacy of Allah: Allah appoints leaders and guiders of the world
-Shura/cosultation: a group of people gather on choosing someone as leader and guider
The supremacy of God means that the legislative and executive authority is in the hands of God. He is the one entitled to set the laws and appoints the executor of those laws, whether the executor is a prophet, successor, Imam or even a king like Saul [pbuh], the Holy Quran [2:247] states:{And their prophet said to them, “Indeed, Allah has sent to you Saul as a king.”}.
Thus, the Supremacy of God on His land is achieved by its two aspects;
• The legislative.
• The executive.
The legislative aspect is through the Divine Law and the executive aspect is through the ruler. Hence, this ruler should be infallible from committing faults or else his faults at ruling would be ascribed to Allah because it is Allah’s Supremacy.
Thus, everyone agrees on the first aspect of the Supremacy [i.e. the legislation] that it is from God and men aren’t allowed to intervene or to place laws according to their own desires. But the disagreement is in the execution, and more precisely, the executor. If it had not been for the takeover of Abu Bakr and Omar over the seats of execution, disagreement would not have occurred between the Muslims on this part because the Quran is crystal clear is showing that Allah is the one to appoint His successor in His land, the Quran states [2:30] {I am placing a successor in the Land}.
And those who said that the execution or the executor can be chosen by people and do not require the infallibility of the executor, was forced to add another condition for this one, which is that the executor is obeyed in obedience of God and disobeyed in the disobedience of God. However, this drops into the corner of “disregarding minds” because how can we know whether the ruler (the executor) has violated the Law or not in order to be disobeyed or obeyed? Does every human being have the right to determine and obey and disobey, according to his own determinants? Or people would refer to scholars for example? Even though each scholar has a verdict which opposes the verdicts of others, as some of them permits and other prohibits in the same issue.
The best example of those verdicts in our current time are: breastfeeding the adults [a Wahabi Sheikh issued this Fatwa that a woman can breastfeed an adult man to make him her son and thus she doesn’t have to wear scarf in front of him!], Misyar marriage, singing are other examples too. So if breastfeeding the adults was legislated in Saudia by virtue of the verdict issued by the Royal Family Advisor, Obeikan, and at the same time another one issued a verdict that breastfeeding the adults is prohibited, will the Muslims in Saudia consider the ruler to be obedient to Allah in the verdict of breastfeeding the adults in order to obey him or he would be disobedient to Allah in order to disobey him?
Hence, the one who determines the Law for people and that this is obedience and that is disobedience is more appropriate to be the ruler because he is more knowledgeable regarding the law. So nothing is left except to admit that the legislation [Law] and its executor [ruler] to be both determined by God.
As for the saying of the Most High in the Quran [42:38]: “And those who have responded to their lord and established prayer and whose affair is [determined by] consultation among themselves, and from what We have provided them, they spend”. The question here, is the succession of Allah in His land from their affair or from the affair of Allah?
Of course the succession of Allah is His land is from His affair; not from the affair of people. As Allah is the one to appoint His successor on land. And even if people rejected this successor and chose another one; their choice would be worthless, intrusive and illegal in all conventions and laws. As God appointed His first successor on land which was Adam and He didn’t give the permission to the angels to choose anyone of them or any other than them. So if God didn’t allow the infallible pure angels to choose His successor on land, how would He allow fallible sinners and who would probably make mistakes in the simplest situations to choose?
The Most High said in the Quran [2:30]: “And when your Lord said to the angels, “Indeed, I will make upon the earth a successor”. God mentions that the successor is appointed by Him. Some people would say that the successor here means that all people are the successors of God in His land in respect of succeeding Him in construction and building the earth and planting the trees, but do we say that God is a builder or a famer? Or He is the Creator of all creations, their possessor and actual King?
Thus, the successor of God is the possessor and ruler in the Earth as God said to David (pbuh) : {“O David, indeed We have made you a successor upon the earth, so rule between the people in truth and do not follow [your own] desire, as it will lead you astray from the way of Allah.” Indeed, those who go astray from the way of Allah will have a severe punishment for having forgotten the Day of Account} –Holy Quran [38:26].
Hence, if the succession of God in His land was to all people, then David is from the people as well. There will be no reason for Allah to address him again and say: {“O David, indeed We have made you a successor upon the earth, so rule between the people in truth}. Therefore, the verse clarified that this succession includes the reign and rule between people {so rule between the people in truth}.
In conclusion, the legislative and executive authority is due to God as he is the King of the World and to whomever he has chosen to be his successor such as the prophets, messengers and especially the Mahdi at this current time!