Shahid Sadr and the Rational Analysis of Imamate

In spite of the fact that Imamate is one of the fundamental issues of Shiism, Shahid Sadr did not consider it seriously; however, he may be excused on the ground that he had been concerned with equally serious issues. As regards the issues associated with Imamate, his approach was non traditionalist; and as he kept pointing out, he had been concerned to consider Imamate in a way which was acceptable to those, who wanted Imamate to be considered from the perspectives other than that of tradition. Thus, he occupied himself with the issues which had been overlooked or only a limited number of scholars had taken into account. In common with such theorists as Shahid Motahari and Imam Khomeini, he distinguished between Imamate and political leadership, and Imamate and intellectual leadership on the one hand and religious authority on the other. This writing is concerned with Shahid Sadr's views on Imamate; it ends with a set of questions posed in the light of the distinction which is made between the aspects of Imamate by Shahid Sadr and some other Muslim thinkers; and these questions seem worth considering.