The Order of Caliphate-An excellent inference from the Qur'an

Hazrat Sayyid Mehr Ali Shah (May Allah shower mercy on him) once made the following fine derivation about the sequential order of caliphate of the Four Righteous Caliphs (i.e., Sayyiduna Abu Bakr, Sayyiduna Umar, Sayyiduna Usman and Sayyiduna Ali) from the Qur'anic ayah, "Muhammad (May Allah send peace and blessings upon him) is the Messenger of Allah. And 'those with him' are 'hard against disbelievers' and 'merciful among themselves'. Thou (O Muhammad) seest them 'bowing and falling prostrate in worship' (XLVIII, 29).

The words “those with him”, he said, referred to Sayyiduna Abu Bakr (R.A) “ hard against disbelievers” to referred to Sayyiduna Umar (R.A), “merciful among themselves” to Sayyiduna Usman (R.A), and “bowing and falling prostrate” to Sayyiduna Ali (R.A).

Walhamdulillah.