فصلنامه قبسات
پیاپی 45 (پاییز 1386)

Although Islamic sects do not have a lot of disagreements on the matter of prophecy itself, they do have an extensive conflict on the issue of Imamate. Some have totally denied Imamate but mostly have accepted its necessity. They are two groups: one group believes that it is not essential for God to appoint an Imam and for this reason they don’t believe that it’s necessary for Imam to be infallible and complete in all dimensions. Shi’ites believe that Imam must be infallible and appointed by God. In this writing we will become familiar with the views of intellectuals such as Ibn-Sina, Sohrevardi, Molla-Sadra, Ibn-Arabi, Molavi, Seyyed Heidar Amoli, and Imam Fakhr Razi. He says that Shi’ite count the very centre of the world of contingency – which Sufis believe his existence in all times is necessary – to be the infallible Imam and the twelfth and absent Imam and also the origin of miracles and behaviors contrary to nature. At the end of this writing we will review some traditions that inspire the views of the discussed scholars.

Who are Ahl-ul-Beit in the language of Quran, traditions, and in the common convention of Muslims? And what is their role in the eternal life of Quran? Although a research in this field requires an extensive opportunity, the present article will try to find a brief answer in a condensed form and by referring to authentic sources. There is no doubt that from the beginning of appearance of interpretational and theological discussions in the world of Islam, the present discussion has always been noticed by the scholars of these fields, but its importance in Islamic thought and especially in the present time is somehow that the course of research in this field can never be stopped. It will be clarified in this article, that Ahl-ul-Beit is only used for a certain group of Prophet Mohammad’s family (peace be upon Him) which according to an unambiguous tradition of Hazrat, there is a permanent tie between them and the Quran. This eternal tie has created a special position for Ahl-ul-Beit beside Quran which if precisely studied and researched, it will have a worthy outcome regarding the eternal life of Quran. The author tries to study the tie between Quran and Ahl-ul-Beit from this perspective and make the result available for the learned.

In the present writing the rational reasons of the necessity of Imam’s infallibility is explained and analyzed. The summary of these reasons is as follows:The main criterion of the Muslim’s need to Imam is that they are not infallible. Once this criterion is not present in Imam as well, another Imam will be needed and this will result in impossible sequence. After Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon Him), Islam should be saved and elaborated for the obliged. This goal will not be obtained without Imam’s infallibility. In the religion of Islam, obedience of Imam is obligatory just like obedience of Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon Him), without any limitation and condition. The necessity of obedience of such a person depends on his infallibility. The complete fulfillment of Imamate’s goals depends on the complete and full-scale trust of people to Imam. Such a trust is not achievable without infallibility. From Islam’s perspective Imam has a special scientific and spiritual position which is higher than usual people. If Imam was not infallible, he would perhaps commit a sin and consequently find a lower position than usual people.

Imamate and the different approaches to this subject have a long record in the history of Islamic thought. Investigation of Tabataba’i’s approach to this subject which is documented with Quran’s verses, traditions, and rational principles, seems very important. According to his view Imamate means saintship of guidance and conveying people towards perfection and prosperity and it has the dignity of headship and leadership of worldly and religious matters of people. Then we will consider the foundations and presupposition of his approach about this subject.

The present article will try to answer this question that why do Sunnis eliminate the great honor of Ali (peace be upon Him) from the position of Imamate and caliphate while there are various texts that show his Imamate. Using induction in the Sunni works and also some contemporary works, the writer has collected ten rationalizations and has analyzed and investigated each one.

This article will study the relation between Imamate from Shi’ite’s perspective and secularism. First the reasons for the necessity of prophecy and the Divine prophets’ teachings for prosperity of human is investigated and presenting some reasons, it is demonstrated that Islam is comprehensive such that it has design and program for all human needs and all his existential aspects. Islam is not restricted to personal aspects, because the consequence of exercising religious injunctions including justice is to form a government and manage human’s worldly matters. Then the literal and terminological meaning of Imamate from Shi’ite’s perspective is investigated which indicates that Imamate means continuity of the Divine prophets’ missions. In fact after Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon Him), the infallible Imams are responsible for explaining the revelation and managing people’s worldly matters; and during the absence of the twelfth Imam (God hasten his glad advent), the fully qualified jurisprudent who are aware of Islamic laws and are just, expert, manager and judicious undertake the common deputyship of Hazrat. Then the meaning of secularism and the ground of its appearance is mentioned; such an ideology is basically a western phenomenon and its origin is the western society and Christianity. Then the principles of secularism which is rationalism and scientism is criticized: scientism is in reality a kind of materialism and rationalism is a kind of unjustified restriction for the range of reason’s activity. At the end it will be proved that the doctrine of Imamate in Shi’ite is not consistent with secularism.

Imamate is the fundamental base of the political thought of Shi’ite and all theorizations regarding the Shi’ite’s political system during the absence period will become meaningful in relation with it. On this basis, analyzing the concept of democracy and explaining its essential and contextual elements, I will try to compare Imamate with the mentioned elements. From the perspective of the present article, Imamate is consistent with the essential elements of democracy but isn’t consistent with its contextual elements. Therefore I will explain in two separate parts what I mean from essential and contextual elements and on the basis of conceptual analysis of democracy I will do the mentioned comparison.

Paying attention to the historical path of intellectual-belief thoughts is necessary. On the one hand neglecting and forgetting it and on the other hand lack and unavailability of some of the most important theological works of Shi’ite scholars and theologians in the second century and the beginning of the fourth century – from Hesham Ibn-Hakam (179 AH) to Aboo-Sahl Nobakhti (311 AH) and Ibn-Ghebeh Razi (after 319 AH) –, has made the judgment in this regard somewhat problematic; and perhaps it has resulted in misunderstanding and incorrect interpretation and even wrong attribution of some views and thoughts to people or schools. Yet the attention and notice of Sh’ite Imams (peace be upon Them) in presenting views and then the attempts of narrators and theologians in maintenance and protection, writing and recording, collecting and compiling the valuable inheritance, especially in the third and fourth centuries, has transformed the intellectual-theoretical principles and foundations of Shi’ism, especially in the subject of Imamate, to the next generation. By analyzing the chain of narrators and the content, explaining the conditions and the historical and geographical situations of these traditions, they can be used to judge about the proof of Shi’ite’s right beliefs or the criticism and rejection of its distorted beliefs.