From this, it is understood that Allah is One in sovereignty over people; as He has said: ﴿وَلَمْ يَكُنْ لَهُ شَرِيكٌ فِي الْمُلْكِ﴾[1]; “And there is no partner for Him in dominion.” Accordingly, people have no choice but to accept His sovereignty over themselves, since their lives would be disrupted without sovereignty—and His sovereignty is the only reasonable and acceptable one. Likewise, their attainment of perfection is contingent upon the realization of justice; and justice cannot be realized except through Allah’s sovereignty; and—like any other sovereignty—Allah’s sovereignty cannot be established without the acceptance of people. Therefore, acceptance of Allah’s sovereignty is obligatory for people, and this is done through accepting the rule of someone who governs on Allah’s behalf. This is because, like any other ruler, Allah delegates His sovereignty over people to whomever among them He wills, so that this person applies His rulings among them on His behalf; as He has said: ﴿وَاللَّهُ يُؤْتِي مُلْكَهُ مَنْ يَشَاءُ﴾[2]; “And Allah gives His dominion to whomever He wills.” Such a person, by virtue of his rule on Allah’s behalf, is considered His caliph on the Earth; as He has said: ﴿إِنِّي جَاعِلٌ فِي الْأَرْضِ خَلِيفَةً﴾[3]; “Indeed, I am the Appointer of a caliph on the Earth.” For example, He gave sovereignty to Dawud on His behalf, saying: ﴿وَقَتَلَ دَاوُودُ جَالُوتَ وَآتَاهُ اللَّهُ الْمُلْكَ﴾[4]; “And Dawud killed Jalut, and Allah gave him dominion”—and on this basis, He considered him His caliph on the Earth, saying: ﴿يَا دَاوُودُ إِنَّا جَعَلْنَاكَ خَلِيفَةً فِي الْأَرْضِ فَاحْكُمْ بَيْنَ النَّاسِ بِالْحَقِّ وَلَا تَتَّبِعِ الْهَوَى فَيُضِلَّكَ عَنْ سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ﴾[5]; “O Dawud! We appointed you as a caliph on the Earth, so judge justly among people and do not follow your desires, for they will mislead you from the path of Allah.” Therefore, “allegiance”[6], meaning the acceptance of sovereignty, is not permissible except to someone whom Allah has appointed as His caliph on the Earth, such as Dawud . Pledging allegiance to such a person is regarded as pledging allegiance to Allah, since Allah has commanded pledging allegiance to him—just as, on this basis, He regarded pledging allegiance to His Prophet as pledging allegiance to Himself, saying: ﴿إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يُبَايِعُونَكَ إِنَّمَا يُبَايِعُونَ اللَّهَ يَدُ اللَّهِ فَوْقَ أَيْدِيهِمْ﴾[7]; “Indeed, those who pledge allegiance to you are only pledging allegiance to Allah; the hand of Allah is over their hands.”