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O you who have believed, obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you. And if you disagree over anything, refer it to Allah and the Messenger, if you should believe in Allah and the Last Day. That is the best [way] and best in the result. (Qur’an 4:59)
1) In this clear verse, we find that in matters of disagreement between those in authority and those under authority, we need to refer back to Allah and the Messenger.
Had it been that those in authority were infallible or divinely appointed then, Allah wouldn’t have given any scope to disagree with them.
The fact that there is disagreement proves that “those in authority, aka the Ulil Amr”, are neither an absolute nor an infallible authority.
It means that Ali Ibn Abu Talib and Ibn Abbas can disagree with one another. Yet, if they have a disagreement, they would refer the matter back to Allah (swt) and his Blessed Messenger.
2) If their authority was infallible, Allah(swt) wouldn’t have put authority above them. (.i.e) Allah and His Prophet.
3) If “those in authority, aka the Ulil Amr” were divinely appointed, then Allah would have asked the believers to refer them along with Allah and the Prophet in matters of disagreement.
But Allah(swt), giving the possibility of disagreement with those in authority, asked us to refer back to Allah (swt) and the Blessed Messenger; which is clear evidence that “those in authority aka the Ulil Amr” were not divinely appointed.
The huge advantage that the Sunni have over the Imami Shi’i’ is as follows:
Since in Sunni Islam they do not believe that their Imams are infallible or above reproach, a mistake in jurisprudence, reasoning, deduction or logic does not entail disaster for Sunni Islam. However, just one mistake in jurisprudence, reasoning, deduction or logic would be absolutely disastrous for the Imami Shi’i’.
“You see, then the Imamate goes from the Imam to his first cousin, and when the first cousin dies, then the Imamate goes to his first cousin and so on. Because that is the Sunnah of the Prophet (saw).”
Huh?
The battle of Siffin and practical implications of the above verse.
O you who have believed, obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you. And if you disagree over anything, refer it to Allah and the Messenger, if you should believe in Allah and the Last Day. That is the best [way] and best in the result. (Qur’an 4:59)
The battle of Siffin gives us a demonstration of how some of the companions understood the above verse. If we are to believe the historical narrative as told by Shi’i and Sunni sources.
If we are to believe the Shi’i narrative.
Ali agreed to arbitration with Muaviya on the basis that they would judge by the Qur’an. If Ali understood that he was of the same authority as the Qur’an and the Messenger (saw) he would not have submitted to arbitration. He would have been on the same page as those in his army who wanted to continue the fight. However, if he did think he was of the same authority as the Qur’an and the Messenger (saw), then he would be a hypocrite for going against what he himself believed. Or he was not sincere in submitting to the authority of the Qur’an.
If we are to believe the Sunni narrative.
If those in Muaviya’s camp believed that the Shi’i held any of the views about Ali that Imami Shi’i held, namely that he (Ali) was maʿṣūm (معصوم) and he (Ali) held ʿiṣmah (عصمة) they themselves would have never asked for arbitration as it too would have simply been a ruse. This becomes very clear that these concepts were not among the followers of Ali because Muaviya’s camp would have known this and would have never cooked up the idea of raising the Mushafs as it would have easily backfired
May Allah (swt) guide us all to what is beloved to Allah (swt).
May Allah Forgive the Ummah.
May Allah Guide the Ummah.
Prima Quran 
{O you who believe, obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those possessing authority from yourselves; then if you dispute regarding anything, then refer it to Allah and the Messenger if you believe in Allah and the Last Day.}
1) Allah commands the audience addressed by {O you who believe} to {obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those possessing authority (Uli al-Amr) from yourselves; then if you dispute over anything refer it to Allah and the Messenger}.
Obviously, Uli al-Amr are not being commanded to obey themselves, hence they are excluded from the address {O you who believe}. Hence, the address {if you dispute over anything refer it to Allah and the Messenger} is directed towards the believers excluding Uli al-Amr. Hence, disputes described are between the believers themselves, not between the believers and Uli al-Amr. The verse commands the generality of the believers to obey Allah, the Messenger and Uli al-Amr, and to direct their disputes among themselves to Allah and the Messenger.
This is apparent from just reading the verse – {O you who believe obey Allah and obey the Messenger and Uli al-Amr from *yourselves* (min*kum*); then if *you* dispute (tanaza’*tum*)…}
This is further made clear from simply reading the passage, which is about obeying Allah and the Messenger and referring to them for arbitration, rather than false authorities – {Have you not seen those who claim to have believed in what was revealed to you [O Muhammad ص] and what was revealed before you? They wish to refer to the judgement of the Taghut (false authorities), while they were commanded to reject it; and Satan wishes to lead them far astray. And when it is said to them, “Come to what Allah has revealed and to the Messenger,” you see the hypocrites turn away from you stubbornly.} (Q4:50-51)
2) What objection is being made here exactly? The obedience owed to the Messenger ص is absolute, yet Allah is an authority over him. Likewise, the authority of Uli al-Amr is absolute, yet Allah and the Messenger are authorities over them. The Messenger ص does not command in contradiction to the commands of Allah, and likewise Uli al-Amr do not command in contradiction to Allah and the Messenger ص.
3) The command {refer it to Allah and the Messenger} may be argued to be literally refer it to Allah and the Messenger, or to refer it to the Shari’ah (that is the Qur’an and the Sunnah). It is impossible to refer literally to Allah, and referral to the Messenger is not possible after his passing. Therefore, the meaning of this command is to refer disputes to the Shari’ah.
Moreover, if it were the case that Allah and the Messenger ص could only be literally referred to, then the Messenger of Allah ص would be the only person to whom matters are referred and the only person who has the right judge between the issues of the people in the nation. However we find in the verse immediately prior, that there are people among the believers who may judge – {Indeed, Allah commands you to refer the rights to their owners, and when you judge between the people to judge with justice. Indeed, Allah advises you excellently by it. Indeed, Allah is seeing and hearing} (Q4:58). Every matter must be judged based on the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of Muhammad ص.
4) The obligation to obey Uli al-Amr is not restricted nor conditioned in any other verse. Allah placed conditions when commanding al-Salah (Q4:101), al-Wudu (Q5:6), al-Hajj (Q2:196, Q3:97) and al-Sawm (Q2:183,184), and He restricted obedience to one’s parents twice – when merely enjoining goodness towards them (Q29:8, Q31:15). Yet, when commanding obedience to Uli al-Amr – whose authority extends over the whole nation – He placed no restriction. The plain reading then is that the obedience to Uli al-Amr is absolute and unrestricted. To argue otherwise based on the Qur’an alone would be arbitrary and baseless, and would undermine the absoluteness of the obedience due to Allah and His Messenger.
Furthermore, the obedience to the Messenger and Uli al-Amr are conjoined by Waw al-Atf. Given that there is no restriction on the obedience to Uli al-Amr, the plain reading is that their obedience is one – further emphasising the absoluteness of the obedience due to Uli al-Amr. Thus, the obligation to obey Ulil Amr is absolute, and akin to the obedience due to the Messenger.
Allah must be obeyed absolutely and never disobeyed, and Allah has commanded absolute obedience to Uli al-Amr. If Uli al-Amr would command contrary to the laws of Allah and the Messenger, then this would result in a contradiction. Thus, Uli al-Amr will never command contrary to the commands of Allah.
The [legal] hukm (judgement/verdict/ruling) of Uli al-Amr must always be obeyed, so their ḥukm will always conform with the Shari’ah. Hence, the command {if you dispute regarding anything refer it to Allah and the Messenger} follows consequently from the obligation to {obey Allah and obey the Messenger and Uli al-Amr}, for Uli al-Amr judge {between the people} based on the Shari’ah. Thus, Allah has legitimised their authority, commanded the believers to obey them and directed them to refer their matters to them – {and had they referred it to the Messenger and Uli al-Amr from themselves} – yet has forbidden referral to the Taghut for judgement, for they do not judge based on the hukm of Allah and the Messenger.
Therefore, Q4:59 establishes that there are people from the believers who hold authority, whose authority extends over the whole nation, who must be obeyed absolutely and whose hukm must be obeyed.
4) Hence, the Messenger of Allah ص said in his sermon on the day of the pond of Khumm:
“O people, it is as if I have been called [to die], and so I have responded. I am leaving among you the two heavyweights – the first of them is greater than the other. [They are] the Book of Allah and my ‘Itrah (kindred), my Ahl al-Bayt (people of my household). Indeed, the two shall never separate until they return to me at the heavenly-pool.”
Then he said, “Do I not have greater right to the believers than their selves?” He may have said this multiple times. Each time his companions responded in affirmation.
Then he took the hand of ‘Ali, raised it, and said, “Whomsoever I am his mawla, then ‘Ali is his mawla. O Allah, support whoever supports him and oppose whosoever opposes him.”
First of all I appreciate your comment and that you have at least given some thought
and consideration to how you would reply to this text. This allows for fruitful engagement. Before I give my full response may I kindly know which community you represent?
Are you from what is commonly known as the 12er Shi’a, the Ismaili Nizari or the Ismaili Musta’li?
great article , I would add some Shia narrations to it like the one that youpuncturedtheark made https://youpuncturedtheark.wordpress.com/2018/05/12/the-noble-quranic-verse-which-doomed-shiite-concept-of-imamate/
You can see an Imami Shi’i that had an exchange with me on these verses here: