Inheritance of prophethood (by deeds, not by blood)

In his commentary on the verse about the covenant of leadership (Al Baqara 124), Sha'rawi asks who inherits religious leadership: is it passed by descent and offspring, or by applying the law? He holds that the inheritance here is an inheritance of deeds ¹.

Sha'rawi says Abraham fulfilled his duty completely, and God made him a leader for the people. Abraham then asked that leadership remain among his offspring. The answer was that the covenant does not reach the wrongdoers among them, because leadership is not inherited the way property is. It passes to whoever applies the law completely ².

Sha'rawi cites the Prophet ﷺ's saying to Salman al-Farisi (may God be pleased with him) that Salman is "of us, the household". He reads it as the Prophet placing Salman within the inheritance of prophethood, which is the application of the law, rather than within a nation or lineage ²³. He says the report appears in al-Hakim's Mustadrak and al-Tabarani's Mu'jam al-Kabir; those references have not yet been checked against the originals (needs_source).

Sha'rawi notes that Noah asked for his son to be saved, and was told that the son was not of his family because his deeds were not righteous. God did not say that he was not a righteous doer, but attributed the matter to deeds. From this he concludes that belonging to a prophet is by following his law ³.

This is Sha'rawi's reading alone, taken from a scanned copy whose edition is not yet verified, and it is presented under his name. Views that tie leadership to lineage, and academic readings of leadership in early Islam, have not been added and need named sources (needs_source). See also Abraham and Noah.