Criticisms of Ibn Taymiyyah's View in Minhaj al-Sunnah about the Verse of Wilayah with Emphasis on Sunni Sources

One of the most important Shi'i concepts is the concept of Imamate which enjoys tremendous sacredness among Shi'a and is considered to be next to prophethood. The Shiites, based on the divine verses and the definite Prophetic tradition, consider the issue of Imamate as the principle of religion and, thus, embark on proving it using proofs and evidence including the verse 55 of Chapter al-Maedah which, according to Shia, makes reference to Imam Ali's succession to the Prophet (S), something frankly refuted by the opponents. One of them is Ahmad bin Taymiyyah al-Harani who has played a prominent role in projecting controversial topics against Shia beliefs as well as in promoting such controversies. In his Minhaj al-Sunnah written in opposition to Allamah Hilli's Minhaj al-Karamah, Ibn Taymiyyah casts doubts on the entire Shia claims including those concerning the significations of the said verse as well as the occasion in which the verse was revealed.  The nature of his spurious arguments and the answers which can be given to them are issues that this article seeks to address in an analytical – descriptive way with reliance on main Sunni sources. The findings indicate that his allegations concerning the incorrectness of the narrations and Shia's analysis concerning the aforementioned verse, is irrelevant and runs counter to the relative consensus of the two major branches of faith.