An Azhari scholar, Al Shaḥāt ʿAzāzī, said that participation in the presidential, parliamentary, or any other kind of election, is considered to be an urgent priority as well as a duty from the perspective of sharīʿa. He stated that voting is concerned with the welfare of the nation, and pointed out that when the prophet Muḥammad had wanted to entrust his ruling to Abū Bakr al Ṣadīq, he said that, “God and the believers may refuse anyone, but Abū Bakr al Ṣadīq.”