Our brothers from the Ahl aI-Sunnah resolutely submit that the Prophet never appointed a khalifah. Rather, he – according to them – died without any designated heir to his command, and gave no indication whatsoever as to the method of appointing future commanders of the Ummah. Therefore, any Sunni Muslim can become the Sunni caliph by inheritance, or through a popular vote, an electoral college, a coup, or an armed rebellion.

However, there are authentic ahaadees in the Sunni sources which firmly establish that the Prophet (s.a.w.a.) — by the Command of Allah – did appoint twelve khaleefahs from his bloodline, with the first of them really being Imam Ali (a.s.)! This then is exactly where the supreme problem lies for the Sunni claims, and – of course the entirety of Sunni Islam as a whole.

In line with the Shia doctrine, the first of these khalifahs was Ameer al-Momineen Ali b. Abi Taalib (a.s.) followed by Imam al-Hasan (a.s.) then Imam al-Husain (a.s.) and then nine others from the progeny of al-Husain (a.s.). The twelfth of them, according to Shia, is Imam al-Mandi (a.t.f.s.).