I have been reading about Islam.

[Shia Islam]

That is my understanding of Khilafat, chosen by Allah (swt). I think people have misunderstood Khilafat to be Caliphate. So my actual question now focuses on passing Imamate directly through bloodline. This is actually also shared in concept of Caliphate where children of the "King" become successors as "head of state".

Imamate is a matter decided by Allah, based on the characterstics of the imam and not based on the bloodline. In this matter immamate and prophethood are the same.

سورة البقرة - سورة 2 - آية 124

واذ ابتلى ابراهيم ربه بكلمات فاتمهن قال اني جاعلك للناس اماما...

And (remember) when his Lord tried Abraham with (His) commands, and he fulfilled them, He said: Lo! I have appointed thee an Imam for mankind..

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If Imamate is decided by bloodline then after the death of Imam Hasan a.s. his son would have became an Imam. but this was not the case. the son of his younger brother became the Imam.

Yes, Allah preferred some families because of their good deeds.

سورة 3 - آية-34- 33

ان الله اصطفى ادم ونوحا وال ابراهيم وال عمران على العالمين
ذُرِّيَّةً بَعْضُهَا مِن بَعْضٍ وَاللَّهُ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ

Lo! Allah preferred Adam and Noah and the Family of Abraham and the Family of 'Imran above (all His) creatures.
They were descendants one of another. Allah is Hearer, Knower.

However, Seeing that Joseph was the son of Jacob, and Jacob was the son of Issac, who was the son of Abraham, seeing this does not mean that prophethood is based on bloodline. The same is true with the Immamate.

 

[Rational_Mind]

Imamate is a matter decided by Allah, based on the characterstics of the imam and not based on the bloodline. In this matter immamate and prophethood are the same.

.

If Imamate is decided by bloodline then after the death of Imam Hasan a.s. his son would have became an Imam. but this was not the case. the son of his younger brother became the Imam.

Yes, Allah preferred some families because of their good deeds.



However, Seeing that Joseph was the son of Jacob, and Jacob was the son of Issac, who was the son of Abraham, seeing this does not mean that prophethood is based on bloodline. The same is true with the Immamate.

I think we are pretty much on the same page. As Khalifa is an Imam in the same sense you hold.

Although, I am not sure if you hold any view on difference between Prophethood and Khilafat. Here is something you may find interesting read:

"Rahman" And "Rahim"
A question may arise here: If Allah is the One Who appoints the Khalifa, why then He does not appoint him directly as He appoints the prophets? Nobody elects a prophet and God does not use man as an instrument in appointing the prophets so why He does not do the same in appointing the Khalifa? In order to understand the answer to this question we have to understand how Allah manifests Himself through His two attributes: "Ar-Rahman" (The Gracious) and "Ar-Rahim" (The Merciful).

Ar-Rahman is the attribute through which God manifests His blessings for man irrespective of his actions. In other words, if man is a believer or disbeliever, whether he worships God or denys His existence, whether he is worthy or unworthy of that blessing, God will provide for him through His Rahman attribute. Take, for example, the air which Allah provides equally for the righteous and the wicked, for the believer and the non-believer alike. Man did not create the air and did not do any good work to deserve this blessing, but Allah provided it even before man existed. Thus such a blessing is provided through the Rahman attribute.

Rahim attribute is not as general. It is not for everyone. It is confined only to the believers. The Holy Quran says:

"He again turned to them (the believers) with mercy. Surely, He is to them Compassionate, Merciful." (9:117)
If one is not a believer, then Allah does not manifest Himself to him through the Rahim attribute, he has to become a believer first. There are many divine attributes emanating from the Rahim attribute and all require certain actions from man. If man does not do the actions required, he becomes unworthy to benefit from these attributes.
Appointing a Prophet is done through the Rahman attribute. The question is: When does Allah appoint a Prophet? He appoints a Prophet when evil and wickedness spread in the earth. When all have gone astray and true guidance has disappeared. Thus no one deserves to receive any blessings from Allah. But out of His Grace, i.e., His Rahman attribute, Allah appoints a Prophet. He appoints a Prophet directly.

But after the Prophet has completed his mission and gathered the believers to the right path,then Allah manifests Himself through His Rahim attribute and appoints the Khalifa. For whom? For the believers who believe and do good works. These are the two conditions required by God to appoint the Khalifa. It is mentioned in the Holy Quran:

"Allah has promised to those among you who believe and do good works" (24:56)
These are the two prerequisites: To believe and to do good works. Believing alone is not enough and doing good works without believing is useless. "Good works" here is explained in the context of the verses preceding and following this verse known as Ayatul Istikhlaf or the verse containing the promise of appointing Successors.

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