Imamate in Twelver doctrine
Imāmah (Arabic: إِمَامَة) means "leadership" and is a concept in Twelver theology. The Twelve Imams are the spiritual and political successors to Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam, in the Twelver branch of Shia Islam.[1] According to Twelver theology, the successors to Muhammad are infallible human beings, who rule justly over the community and maintain and interpret sharia and undertake the esoteric interpretation of the Quran. The words and deeds of Muhammad and the Imams guide the community. For this, the Imams must be free from error and sin and chosen by divine decree—nass—through the Prophet.[2][3]
This is a sub-article to Imamah (Shia doctrine) and is specifically about the Twelver Shia concept of the term.
Shi'a believe that divine wisdom—'Aql—is the source of the souls of the Prophets and Imams and gives them esoteric knowledge—hikmah—and that their suffering is a means by which their devotees may acquire divine grace.[1][4][5] The Imam is not the recipient of divine revelation, but has a close relationship with God, who guides him, allowing the Imam in turn to guide others. The Imamat, or belief in the divine guide, is a fundamental belief in Shia Islam and is based on the concept that God would not leave humanity without access to divine guidance.[6]
According to the Twelvers, an Imam of the Age is always the divinely appointed authority on all matters of faith and law. Ali was the first Imam in this line and in the view of Twelvers the rightful successor to Muhammad, followed by the male descendants of Muhammad through his daughter Fatimah. Each Imam was the son of the previous Imam, with the exception of Husayn ibn Ali, who was the brother of Hasan ibn Ali.[1] The twelfth and final Imam is Muhammad al-Mahdi, who is believed by the Twelvers to be alive and in hiding.[6]
Imamah[edit]
According to al-Mofid and Allamah Hilli, Imamate is a universal authority over the religious and secular matters of the community as the successor of the prophet[7][8] and in Shia theology it means the legitimate successor to the Islamic community who are just the family of the prophet (ahl al-Bayt).[9] not because they are the prophet's family, but because they have the prerequisites of religious and political leadership.[10] Allamah Tabatabaei states that Imamate is under investigation from three perspectives: Islamic government, Islamic sciences and spiritual guidance.The Motahhari states that the term Imamate reflects spiritual and sociopolitical leadership.[7] Shia theology, philosophy and mysticism, politics as well as historical progression derives from the doctrine of Imamah.[11]
The necessity of recognizing Imams[edit]
According to Ja'far al-Sadiq: " We are the ones to whom Allah has made obedience obligatory. The people will not prosper unless they recognize us and the people will not be excused if they are ignorant of us. He who has recognised us is a believer (Momin) and he who has denied us is an unbeliever (Kafir)"...[72] Al-Riza remarks that "....whoever tends not to be separated from Allah, he love the household of Mohammad ...and follow his Imam, whoever does this is under the mercy of Allah..."[83] Kulaini, Na'mani attributed a tradition to al-Baqir that those who worship Allah without recognizing his righteous Imam are not accepted.[83]
Imamate and revelation (Wahy)[edit]
As Muhammad was the last person to receive revelation, the Imams receive divine inspiration (elham) and, as such, are in contact with the holy source of knowledge.[94] A hadith narrates that "Imam hears the voice of the Angel, but does not have his vision, either in sleep or in waking".[18][19] Imams get Revelation but not like the prophets. They are called Muhaddatht and are spoken to by angels via sounds through their ears and are supported by the Holy Spirit. They receive additional information on the Night of Power Laylat al-Qadr. They make Spiritual Ascension to the Divine Throne on Friday to add their knowledge.[95] Regarding this matter, Shaykh al-Muzaffar explains: "We maintain that the powers of the Imams to receive inspiration have reached the highest degree of excellence and we say that it is a Divinely given power. By this means the Imam is able to understand information about anything, anywhere and at any time and he understands by means of this Divinely-given power at once, without recourse to methodological reasoning or guidance from a teacher. When he desires to know about some matter, it is reflected in his pure mind as if in a polished mirror. It is clear from the histories of their lives that like the Prophet, the Imams were not trained or taught by anyone at all, not even in reading and writing, from their childhoods to the maturing of their minds. No author or teacher was seen to instruct one of them, but they were incomparable masters of knowledge so that they never asked about any problem without being able to answer it immediately and they never said that they did not know. They never required time to consider a question before replying."[7]
Arguments[edit]
Shia view of Quran[edit]
Shias claim the verse of Light (24:35) is attributed to The Fourteen Infallible.[74] According to Shia sources on the nature and basis of Imamate, H al-Baqir emphasizes that verse 5:55 refers to Ali.[96] According to al-Baqir's interpretation of verse 35:32, Imams are "Then we caused to inherit the Book those We have chosen of Our servants".[97] Shias mind verse 4:59, which signifies a perfect love and obedience to divine guides.[49]
Other Shia sources claim that Imams are expressed in Quran as: "the Supreme Sign" (al-Ayat al-Kobra) (79:20), "the August Symbol" (al-Mathal al-a'la) (16:60), "the Most Solid Handle" (al-Urwat al-Wuthqa) (2:256), (31:22).[17] According to al-Baqir Imams are the Light of Allah (64:8, 57:28).[98] These verses (28:68, 2:30, 38:26, 2:124, 21:73) state that Imamate is a divine appointment and a fallible person can not be an Imam.[99] Madelung, regarding the blood ties which is found in Quran, states the superiority of Ali for his succession.[100] Regarding verse 2:124, Tabatabaei states that Imamah is a divine status, Imam must be Ma'sum (infallible), the earth can not be without an Imam, Imam have the complete knowledge which is related to this world and the next of the people, Imam excels all people in all virtues.[101] However it is argued by many scholars that the 12 Shia Imams have not been mentioned in the Quran.
By reason[edit]
Al-Baqir states that while people need a guide for their journey to a strange place, their journey to heaven is stranger and more in need of a guide.[102] Al-Mufid states that an Imam is necessary for defining the exact laws that are obligatory upon the Muslims.[103] Many verses in Quran are ambiguous, revelation of Quran without further explanation is unlikely from Allah.[15] While Imamate brings the people nearer to obedience and away from disobedience, it is Grace (Lutf) that is incumbent of Allah.[104] Regarding rejecting the Imamah-doctrine, Allamah Al-Hilli, a 14th century Shi'a Twelver Islamic scholar, writes: "Imamah is a universal grace (lutf ‘amm) while Nubuwwah (prophethood) is a special grace (lutf khass), it is possible that a specific period in time can be void of a living Nabi while the same is not true for the Imam. To reject universal grace is worse than to reject any special grace.[105] The prophet founded an eternal Shari'ah for all the times and this eternal religion could not continue without a leader.[106]
In the period of Minor Occultation, theologians like Ibn Qube Razi, Newbakhtis, al-Shaykh al-Mufid, Seyyed Morteza and al-Shaykh al-Tusi rebuild the theological school of Imamiyah.[107] In the second and third century of Hijra, a Ma'sum (infallible) and divinely chosen leader of the religion was more focused than the political role of the Imams by the theologians.[108] Although Imamiyah believed that most of the works on the early Islamic centuries argue that Shi'ism began as a political movement rather than a religious group.[46] However this does not mean that religious sentiments were absent in the first century.[109]
Dakake believes that the doctrine of Imamate was established in the time of Ja'far al-Sadiq, while Kohlberg states that the Twelver Shi'ism dates back not much before the beginning of the "Major_Occultation".[110]
Muhammad is reported to have said that the Islamic leadership is in Quraysh (i.e., his tribe) and that 12 "Imams" shall succeed him. Sunni and Shiite sects differ as to whom Muhammad was referring. Muhammad stated (authenticated by Sunnis and Shiites), that "Whoever does not know the Imam of his Lifetime (Hadith of the Current Imam: i.e., recognizes same) has died the death of Ignorance".[85][111] The idea of a prophet appointing a successor is found in the Old Testament where Joshua son of Nun is declared Moses’ successor or manager of his affairs after his death.
Shias believe that just as Moses appointed Aaron as his successor on Bani-Israel, (Hadith of position), in accordance with God's order, Muhammad, the final prophet, appointed Ali ibn Abi Talib to be the leader of the believers.
The Shi'a Twelver denomination of Islam consider it to be the highest level of responsibility given by God to a human.