Enlightened rants...

[pocaracas]

So what you're saying is that it's a post-hoc rationalization to keep power in that particular family.
Not really what you mentioned earlier that it was a divinely chosen family.

Either way, it's a self-serving notion to perpetuate power in a few people... A notion clearly reminiscent of the kingdoms where families stay in power for centuries.
If copying human hierarchical structures is the best this god can do, I am not impressed.

Responses:

1. The probability way of the past Quran shows the family that inherits the divine leadership of Mohammad would most likely face oppression.
2. It is a very limited amount of people, few is an understatement, it is limited always to Twelve Successors. Always. Lest it does seem like a monarchy or giving power to his offspring over others.
3. God negating power all but from Twelve Successors is a wise way in the people of Moses, because, we see if they had any chance, it would be to sticking to the chosen leaders as opposed to power hungry people like the clergy you guys all hate so much (and rightly so).
4. The wisdom of the Twelve in its last mention emphasizes on the corruption of priests and rabbis and scholars of religion in general, warning believers, how they make people go to extreme regarding chosen ones only as a means of corrupt control and how they hoard people's money and don't spend in God's way.   One of the wisdom of putting leadership in a chosen family and offspring, is to negate it from every power hungry person not worthy of leadership.
5. Leadership in religion is God's role, he guides and sufficient as a guide and helper, so necessarily, he will make it harder for humans to claim religious leadership whether they claim they are Prophets or in contact with Angels or hidden beings (Jinn gods) or claim to be successors, that is why he has emphasized a lot on look for proofs...and there is various proofs...limiting the number to twelve, and emphasizing on the number of successors and being consistent with it through all places and times, is of the wisdoms Quran emphasizes on though people may try to do away with the wisdom.  He knows our enemies won't cease to try to deceive humans.   So this makes it easy to distinguish the truth from falsehood.
6. Messengerhood of Mohammad is making people already claiming he did to heighten his name, so God told him to say, yes he does seek a reward, but it is not towards remembering him and glorifying him, but loving his family instead, so while the remembrance of Mohammad is heightened, it was all so people love the Twelve Successors and his holy daughter, and that was in Quran through so much emphasis - was for our own sake. It's for our own benefit.  And the benefit is something the whole Quran elaborates on.

So... you're saying it's more like the military than the monarchy?