Ayn al-Quzzāt Hamedānī and the Accusation of Promoting Ismā īlism

One of The charges against ‘Ayn al-Quzzāt Hamedānī was propagation of Ismā‘īlī doctrines, especially the doctrine of infallible Imam. His idea about the necessity of master’s guidance for aspirants provided the pretext for his opponents to accuse him. In fact, there are close similarities between these two concepts, i.e. Imam in Shi’ism and Master in Sufism, because both Sufis and Shiites believe that there is an esoteric knowledge beyond the external world which could be acquired only by a few men. Consequently, as they say, people need Imam/Master as the successor of the prophet to teach them the secret truths and to uncover the esoteric meanings of Holy Quran. Since Imam/Master’s knowledge is inspired by God Shiites/aspirants should obey him without questioning. However, this doctrine is completely rejected by the majority of Sunnis.