The View of the Shia Exaggerators on the Imamate and Its Effects on the Sufi Worldview

Despite the extinction of most of the Ghali (exaggerating) Shia sects after the lifetime of the Infallible Imams (AS), the influence of their worldview, which was based on the interpretation of Sharia and creation, remained as invisible and poisonous veins on the body of Islam in general, and in particular on some sects of Islam, such as Shiism and Sufism. In addition, their worldview distorted or rejected some doctrines, the effects that we call invisible due to reasons such as the neglect of Muslims on the one hand, and on the other hand, their examination is necessary because of the onslaught of orientalist studies in this field in recent centuries. Therefore, in the present article, with a comparative analytical method, we examine Imamate, the most central theological perspective of Gholat (exaggerators) for the first time in terms of influencing the Sufi worldview, such as the defense of Satan or the interpretation of resurrection. The purpose of this paper is to reject some accusations against Shia by distinguishing Shiites from Shia Gholat, which are caused by confusing the meaning of Shiites with Shia Gholat and also to explain the reason for the ambiguity and strangeness of some Sufi teachings, which are rooted in the worldview of Shia Gholat and the lack of familiarity with them.