Sublime

The word Imam has multiple connotations. In Sunni Islam, the imam is merely the person who stands at the head of the mosque and leads the congregation in prayer. While the Shi‘ah sometimes employ this definition for their religious leaders as well, they also recognize a “fixed” number of Imams—the number of whom depends on the sect of Shi‘ism—who,

Unlike the Caliph, who is a political leader designated, at least theoretically, by the consensus of the Muslim community, the Imam represents the spiritual authority of the Prophet Muhammad and is designated by God through the fact of his birth.

As was the case with all tribal Shaykhs, Muhammad’s primary function as head of the Ummah was to ensure the protection of every member in his community. This he did through the chief means at his disposal: the Law of Retribution. But while retribution was maintained as a legitimate response to injury, Muhammad urged believers toward forgiveness: “T

The first of the “fixed” Imams to succeed Muhammad was obviously Ali, followed by his sons Hasan and Husayn, respectively. The fourth Imam was the only son of Husayn to have survived Karbala, Ali (also known as Zayn al-Abadin), who was eventually allowed to return to Medina after spending some years in captivity in Damascus. Ali Zayn al-Abadin was

the prophet transmits the Message of God, while the Imam translates it for human beings.

Khomeini argued that in the absence of the Mahdi, divine guidance could come only from the Hidden Imam’s representatives on…

Some highlights have been hidden or truncated due to export limits.

Added to this group is the Shi‘ite school of law founded by Ja‘far as-Sadiq (d. 765), which will be dealt with in the following chapter. The

Mais ils reconnaissent une valeur quasi égale à leur propre corpus de hadiths attribués, non pas au seul Prophète, mais aux quatorze Impeccables, c’est-à-dire les douze imams (dans le cas des chiites duodécimains), le prophète Mohamed et sa fille Fatima, épouse

Islam preaches the continual self-revelation of God from Adam down to all the prophets who have ever existed in all religions. These prophets are called nabis in Arabic, and they have been chosen to relay God’s divine message to all humanity. But sometimes a nabi is given the extra burden of handing down sacred texts: Moses, who revealed the Torah;