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Wilayat al-'ahd (designation of a successor, fiqh)

وِلاية العهد

The designation of a successor (wilayat al-'ahd) in the technical sense is the imam's appointment, during his life, of one person to be imam of the Muslims after him. It is one of the ways in which the imamate is established. It is done by the imam naming a person and saying 'I have entrusted him to you' ('ahidtu ilayhi'), as Abu Bakr named 'Umar in a letter. 12

Its conditions: the imam must have the qualities of the imamate; the designated person must accept during the imam's life; acceptance must be later than the designation; and the imam must seek the most suitable person. 2

The succession may pass to more than one, in order. If the first dies during the imam's life, the second succeeds; if the imam dies while three are living and the first has taken the office, he may designate someone other than the last two. If the imam designates no one, the electors may not choose anyone but the second. Consent of the people who bind and loose is not required. If the imam makes the matter a consultation among a group, as 'Umar did among six Companions, the effect is like designation; the consultative group may not name a successor before the imam dies unless he permits it. 23

The imam may bequeath the succession to one he sees as suitable, and if the designee asks to be excused after accepting, he is not removed until he is excused and another is found. The designation of an absent person is valid if his life is known. The imam may change the designated successor, since the office has come to him, but the successor may not transfer it to another, nor remove himself except by agreement with the imam. 34

Depth

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Era
The Early Abbasid Caliphate
Region
Global / Diaspora
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Law and courts

People and things also explored

Ahliyya (legal capacity: to have rights and duties, and to act; its stages from the womb to full maturity, and what impairs it)· Democracy and the Sharia — compatibility and conflict· Fatwa on the satellite channels — its benefit and harm· Secularism and Islam — conflict or concord· Stoning (rajm) as a penalty for zina· Allusion to a proposal during the waiting period· Aman (safe-conduct granted to enemies in war)· Amana (trust, deposit and what is entrusted)

Sources

  1. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.17897
  2. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.17898
  3. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.17899
  4. al-Mawsu'a al-Fiqhiyya al-Kuwaitiyya, Noor-Book copy (file named v3) , p.17900
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Wilayat al-'ahd (designation of a successor, fiqh)”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/concept/wilayat-al-ahd-fiqh/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-23.

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Ideas

Beliefs, concepts, sciences and schools, explained in plain words. Related

Ahliyya (legal capacity: to have rights and duties, and to act; its stages from the womb to full maturity, and what impairs it)

Ahliyya is lexically suitability, and it is of two kinds: capacity to have rights and duties, the capacity of liability; and capacity to act, that is to perform acts recognised by the law. Its bearer passes through the stages of the foetus, childhood, discernment, puberty and maturity. Liability is complete from birth and incomplete for the foetus; the capacity to act is partial at discernment and full with puberty and reason. It is affected by heavenly impediments such as madness, imbecility, sleep, fainting, illness, slavery, menstruation, childbirth and death, and by acquired ones such as ignorance, drunkenness, jest, folly, travel, error and coercion.