First, thanks for your kind messages.

Omer Sipra started a new discussion on thi

s thread and I have been reading all the messages with a lot of interest and res
pect. Also, you playing the role of a mediator or an arbitrator is extremely nic
e and kind. So Omer in his earlier note makes his case from the Sunni viewpoint
when he stated and I quote, However, after Nabi Pak SAWS Allah has bestowed this
responsibility of guidance to Ulema e Haq and Aulia e Haq. Omer then cites his o
bservations and concludes by stating and I quote, So those ulema who stick to Qur
an and Sunnah and don't mess up with the agreed upon interpretation are to be li
stened to and followed. This is the conclusion I have reached and my heart is co
ntent on this conclusion.
I would like to present my case from a pluralistic Islamic point of view, which
I will present in approximately 4 or 5 Parts and that will take some time (days) b
ecause a lot of research goes into providing a logical and convincing response.
As my viewpoints are based from the Koran, historical facts and commentaries by
scholars, I have to be extra careful that I provide true and accurate informatio
n or else face the severe penalties on the Day of Judgment.
Allah swt says in Koran, Surah/Ayat: 39-60:- And on the day of resurrection you s
hall see those who lied against Allah; their faces shall be blackened. Is there
not in hell an abode for the proud?
Thats the other reason for my delayed piecemeal response. I would appreciate that
you hang on for any questions until the end of all the parts of my response are
released which may take some time. Ill start off with the 1st part and at the en
d of the last part perhaps the holistic response will make some sense (I hope).
Part 1 - Initial Commentary:
The Prophet Mohammed [pbuh] had two sources of authority, one religious which wa
s the essential one of his life, and the other secular which, by the circumstanc
es and accidents of his career, became joined to his essential and Divinely insp
ired authority in religion. According to the Sunni school -- the majority of Mus
lims -- the Prophet s religious authority came to an end at his death, and he ap
pointed no successor to his secular authority. According to Sunni teaching, the
faithful, the companions of the Prophet, the believers, elected Abu Bakr as his
successor and his Khalif; but Abu Bakr assumed only the civil and secular power.
No one had the authority to succeed to the religious supremacy, which depended
on direct Divine inspiration, because the Prophet Mohammed and the Koran declare
d definitely that he was the final messenger of God, the Absolute. Thus, say the
Sunnis, it was impossible to constitute an authority similar to that of the Pap
acy; it remained for the Faithful to interpret the Koran, the example and the sa
yings of the Prophet, not only in order to understand Islam but to ensure its de
velopment throughout the centuries. Fortunately the Koran has itself made this t
ask easy, for it contains a number of verses which declare that Allah speaks to
man in allegory and parable. Thus the Koran leaves the door open for all kinds o
f possibilities of interpretation so that no one interpreter can accuse another
of being non-Muslim. A felicitous effect of this fundamental principle of Islam
that the Koran is constantly open to allegorical interpretation has been that ou
r Holy Book has been able to guide and illuminate the thought of believers, cent
ury after century, in accordance with the conditions and limitations of intellec
tual apperception imposed by external influences in the world. It leads also to
a greater charity among Muslims, for since there can be no cut-and-dried interpr
etation, all schools of thought can unite in the prayer that the Almighty in His
infinite mercy may forgive any mistaken interpretation of the Faith whose cause
is ignorance or misunderstanding.