Imamah (Shi'a twelver doctrine)

Encyclopedia : I : IM : IMA : Imamah (Shi'a twelver doctrine)

''This article is specificly about the Shi'a twelver consept of Imamah.

Imāmah means "leadership" and it is a part of the Shi'a Roots of Religion: it is obligatory for all Shi'a twelver Muslims to believe in Imamah. They conclude that the Qur'an and the authentic collections of Hadith provide sufficient evidence that God has assigned certain people with the position of Imamah, or "leadership" to be custodian of the religion after his demise. Such a figure is referred to as an imam.

Contents

1 Introduction
2 Responsibilities

2.1 Definition

2.1.1 Ranks
2.1.2 Non-prophets

2.2 Qur'an

2.2.1 Abraham
2.2.2 Day of Judgement

2.3 Hadith
2.4 Imams

3 See also
4 External links

Introduction

Refer to Sahih Al-Bukari, Sahih Muslim (Books of Hadiths (or sayings of the prophet of Islam) of the Sunnis) etc. Muhammad is reported to have said that the Islamic leadership is in Koreish (i.e. his tribe) and that 12 "Imams" or "Princes" shall succeed him. There is a difference of opinion within Sunni and Shiite sects as to whom Muhammad was referring. It is also important to mention that Muhammad has stated, and this statement has been authenticated by Sunnis and Shiites alike, that "Whoever does not know the Imam of his Lifetime (i.e. recognizes the Leader of his time) has died the death of Ignorance". Again, this statement has different interpretations and consequences with different Sunni and Shiite sects (or Schools of thought). The idea of a prophet appointing a successor is also 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 God has appointed certain members of humankind to be the leaders of those who believe in God and practise God's religion. When God's prophet has taught the people the religion, he will then appoint a leader, in accordance with God's orders, to guide believers towards perfection.

Shias believe that just as Moses appointed Aaron as his successor, in accordance with God's order, Muhammad, the final prophet, appointed Ali ibn Abi Talib to be the leader of the believers.

Responsibilities

Shias believe that an imam has several responsibilites. An imam must lead Muslims in all aspects of life. In addition, they believe that because an imam was appointed by God, like prophets and messengers, they are infallible. Shias accept the imams as perfect human beings. Shi'ism teaches that imams must be obeyed. A prophet can also be an imam, but not all prophets are imams. Muhammad is considered by Muslims to be God's final prophet. Shias do not consider that the twelve imams are prophets. They believe that these twelve imams are greater in status than all of God's prophets except Muhammad.

Definition

The Shi'a Twelver denomination of Islam consider it to be the highest level of responsibility given by God to a human.

Ranks

Shi'a believe there are different ranks that people have achieved:

Ordinary people

Shi'a believe that people are able to receive revelations/inspiration/guidance (Arabic: Wahy) from God. In support of this, they quote verse 16: 68 of the Qur'an where even bees are said to receive Wahy.

Communicating with angels

Some people raise to the rank of communicating with angels. Shi'a honour Fatima Zahra with a nickname implying this.

Prophets

Prophets (Arabic: Nabi) are considered people having the responsibility of sharing the Divine Law (Arabic Shari'a) that was revealed to the latest Messenger. However, they may also privately receive new laws which they are not responsible for sharing. There are considered to have been over 124 000 prophets.

Messenger

"Messenger" (Arabic Rasul) are considered people receiving a new set of laws from God, in addition of being a prophet.

Shi'as and Sunnis believe there are different status among nabis and rasuls, supported by this Qur'anic verse:

We have made some of these Messenger (Rasul) to excel the others among them are they to whom Allah spoke, and some of them He exalted by (many degrees of) rank... [2.253]

Leader

"Leader" (Arabic: Imam) are considered people having the responsibility of implementing the Divine Law (Arabic Shari'a), by leading a group of people, besides being a Messenger and Prophet.

Shi'a Twelver believe that five Messengers achieved the rank of Leadership:

Shi'as and Sunnis also believe there are different status among these five, Muhammad having the highest.

Non-prophets

Shi'a believe that Muhammad perfected the Divine Law (Qur'an 5:3), hence making it impossible to improve it further. This belief results in the role of the prophets and messengers becoming obsolete, since there are no further sets of laws to be received. However, Shi'a believe that the need for guidance that Leaders give is still present. Hence, they believe that after Muhammad, there have been non-prophet leaders.

Shi'a believe that those are the rightful successors to Muhammad. They are regarded similar to the Caliph in Sunni Islam only with regards to the aspect of political leadership. In fact, the Shia Imam has many more characteristics and responsibilities than the Sunni concept of Caliph beyond mere political leadership. Unlike the Sunni Caliph, the Imam must be appointed by no one other than God. For details of the position held by a Shia Imam, see Imamah. The majority Shia belief is that the Imams are God appointed. After the prophet Muhammad, were Ali, and eleven of his descendants from his wife, Fatima Zahra. This belief is what led to the split between the Shi'a and Sunni, as the Shi'a felt that the descendants of Ali are the rightful successors to Muhammad, while the Sunni felt that it was any who could take the role of Caliph by the will of God and protect Islam. For details, see Succession to Muhammad.

Shi'a believe that non-prophet Leaders can have the same or even greater status than Leaders that also are prophet. For example, they believe that Ali held a higher status than Jesus, but lower than Muhammad. They base their conclusion on the Hadith of Jesus praying behind Mahdi.

Shi'as also believe that imams can perform miracles, intercede, and guide the faithful, including speaking in any language and in any accent, and present narrations as proof.

When Sunnis accuse Shi'a of giving too much merit to the Shi'a Imams, Shi'a point to Sunni hadith giving similar honour to the Sunni Caliphs:

Qur'an

Abraham

In verse 2.124 of the Qur'an, it describes how Abraham was "promoted" from being a Messenger to an Leader. Shi'a Muslims believe this is a clear proof of the distinct status and responsibility of an Leadership (Arabic imamate).

Day of Judgement

In verse 17.71, the Qur'an describes that on the Day of Judgement, every person will be asked whom their imam is, to be judged as nations. Shi'a Muslims conclude therefore that the status of imamate is very important. They conclude that this proves that everyone does have an imam, whether he recognizes it or not.

Hadith

Some of the Hadith Shi'a base their arguments on include:

Imams

According to the majority of Shi'a, namely the Ithna Ashariya, or Twelvers, the following is a listing of the rightful successors to Muhammad. Each Imam was the son of the previous Imam, except for Husayn ibn Ali who was the brother of Hasan ibn Ali.

Ali ibn Abu Talib (600 CE-661 CE)
Hasan ibn Ali (625-669)
Husayn ibn Ali (626-680)
Ali ibn Husayn (658-713), also known as Zayn al-Abidin
Muhammad al-Baqir (676-743)
Jafar al-Sadiq (703-765)
Musa al-Kazim (745-799)
Ali al-Rida (765-818) also known as Ali al-Reza
Muhammad al-Taqi (810-835)
Ali al-Hadi (827-868) also known as Ali al-Naqi
Hasan al-Askari (846-874)
Muhammad al-Mahdi (b. 868)

External links

http://www.answering-ansar.org/answers/creed_of_shia_explained/en/chap6.php

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.