The bay’a is a contract and so it’s permitted to add additional conditions to the contract, as long as these conditions do not contradict the sharia. If the khaleefah agrees to these conditions then he cannot break them without agreement from those who contracted the bay’a to him from the Ahlul hali wal-aqd (people’s electoral representatives) on behalf of the ummah. Allah (Most High) says,يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓا۟ أَوْفُوا۟ بِٱلْعُقُودِ “O you who believe, fulfil your contracts.”[1] The shar’a daleel (legal evidence) for adding additional conditions to the bay’a, and binding the khaleefah to them is taken from the ijma’ as-sahaba (consensus of the companions) regarding the bay’a to the third khaleefah Uthman bin Affan (ra). After Umar ibn al-Khattab (ra) was stabbed, the sahaba, asked him to nominate the next khaleefah as Abu Bakr (ra) had done with him. Umar couldn’t decide on a candidate so he selected six companions from the Ashara Mubashara (ten promised jannah in this life), and ordered them to appoint one from among them. He also set a time limit … Continue reading Uthman bin Affan’s bay’a: Binding the Caliph to a constitution