There are clear verses pointing to Imamah but its different thing when people interpret the clear verses according to their desires.
Very well said! Every verse that Shias present to support Imamah is a verse they have interpreted according to their desires. You have recognized the symptom of the problem; if you could only fix it now.
My question is: Prophethood ended with Prophet Mohammed (s.a.w.w) being the Seal of Prophets but did the Imamah also end with Prophethood or continue to exist after Prophethood?
- If you believe that Imamah ended with Prophethood... can you provide any evidence of this belief?
- If you believe that Imamah did not end with Prophethood... then were the Aimmah (a.s) coming after Prophethood ended similar to Aimmah (a.s) during the period of Prophethood?
I do not believe in Imamah (the way Shias believe in it) so your question is invalid (whether I believe Imamah ended with Prophethood or continued after it). This is a strawman!
What I believe is that Ibrahim (asws) was made an Imam over mankind as our role model which is why we are asked in the Qur'an to follow his religion. Our Hajj rituals, for example, are replete of deeds that commemorate Ibrahim (asws) or replicate what he did.
My question to you is this: if Imamah was to stay with the 12 "infallible" Shi'i Imams (ra), why are we asked in the Qur'an to supplicate to Allah (swt) to make Imams from among us? If Allah (swt) appoints Imams, as per the Shi'i narrative, why are we then reciting this du'a?
"And those who pray, 'Our Lord! Grant unto us wives and offspring who will be the comfort of our eyes, and give us (the grace) to lead the righteous.' " (Surah Al-Furqan verse 74)
Transliteration: Wa Al-Ladhīna Yaqūlūna Rabbanā Hab Lanā Min 'Azwājinā Wa Dhurrīyātinā Qurrata 'A`yunin
Wa Aj`alnā Lilmuttaqīna 'ImāmāanEscape route? I came over here to learn the viewpoints of Ahlul Sunnah.
Ahlul Sunnah believes the legitimacy of Caliphate through the process of Shura. All I did was ask if the Caliph is chosen without the process of Shura then according to Ahlul Sunnah would his Caliphate be deemed illegitimate?
You asked who was the righteous Caliph from between Ibn Zubayr, Yazeed, I don't know who else! So I directed your attention to a hadith you quoted yourself. In it, the Prophet (saw) clearly says that the one to whom allegiance was pledged first has superiority. Pledged, not forced to pledge, by the way!
Wasn't Yazeed nominated by Muawiya like Umar was nominated by Abu Bakr? Muawiya followed the Sunnah of Abu Bakr in appointing his son as Caliph.
Abu Bakr (ra) did not appoint Umar (ra) haphazardly. He consulted the major Sahaba (ra) so there was consultation before Umar (ra) was suggested as the successor. No one opposed and after pledging allegiance to him, Umar (ra) became the second Caliph.
In Abdullah ibn Umar's view Yazid was pledged allegiance in accordance with the conditions enjoined by Allah and His Apostle (s.a.w.) and the pledge wasn't taken by force.
Narrated Nafi`:
When the people of Medina dethroned Yazid bin Muawiya, Ibn `Umar gathered his special friends and children and said, "I heard the Prophet (ﷺ) saying, 'A flag will be fixed for every betrayer on the Day of Resurrection,' and we have given the oath of allegiance to this person (Yazid) in accordance with the conditions enjoined by Allah and His Apostle and I do not know of anything more faithless than fighting a person who has been given the oath of allegiance in accordance with the conditions enjoined by Allah and His Apostle , and if ever I learn that any person among you has agreed to dethrone Yazid, by giving the oath of allegiance (to somebody else) then there will be separation between him and me."
Reference: Sahih al-Bukhari 7111
In-book reference: Book 92, Hadith 58
USC-MSA web (English) reference: Vol. 9, Book 88, Hadith 227
Abdullah ibn Umar (ra) also didn't fight against Imam Ali (ra). He didn't fight Muawiyah either. He was what you would call an "isolationist". In this report, he is urging his family and friends not to withdraw the bayah. That does not mean he was supportive of Yazeed. This might be hard for you to stomach but people at the time when Yazeed was declared Caliph did not know that his army would kill Imam Hussain (ra). There were many people who accepted him as their leader. Ibn Umar (ra) was only preventing his friends and family to compound upon the mistake of pledging allegiance to Yazeed by withdrawing it.