Religious Authority and Political Thought in Twelver Shi Ism

Religious Authority and Political
Thought in Twelver Shi‘ism

Downloaded by [International Islamic University Malaysia] at 19:46 01 June 2017
Ranging from the time of the infallible Imams to the contemporary era, this
book provides a comprehensive overview of Shi‘i religious and political
authority, focusing on Iran and Lebanon, without limiting the discourse to
Khomeini’s version of an Islamic state.
Utilizing untapped Arabic and Persian sources, Hamid Mavani provides a
detailed, nuanced, and diverse theoretical discussion on the doctrine of lea-
dership (Imamate) in Shi‘ism from traditional, theological, philosophical, and
mystical perspectives. This theoretical discussion becomes the foundation for
an analysis of the transmission of the Twelfth Imam’s religious and political
authority vis-á-vis the jurists during his Greater Occultation.
Bringing the often overlooked diversity within the Shi‘i tradition into sharp
focus, Religious Authority and Political Thought in Twelver Shi‘ism discusses
what constitutes an Islamic state, if there is such a notion as an Islamic state.
Hamid Mavani further explores the possibility of creating a space for secu-
larity, facilitating a separation between religion and state, and ensuring equal
rights for all. This book argues that such a development is only possible if
there is a rehabilitation of ijtihad. If this were to materialize, modern religious,
social, economic, political, and cultural challenges could be addressed more
successfully. This book will be of use to scholars and students with interests
ranging from Politics, to Religion, to Middle East Studies.
Hamid Mavani is Assistant Professor of Islamic Studies at Claremont

Graduate University, Department of Religion. Professor Mavani has spent
time at the University of Alberta, the University of Toronto, and McGill
University, as well as undertaking specialized, theological training at the
traditional seminaries in the Muslim world, such as Egypt, Iran, Iraq,
Bahrain, Syria, and Jordan. His primary fields of interest include Islamic
legal reform, women and Shi‘i law, Islamic theology and political thought,
transnational Islam in Asia, Islam and secularity, intra-Muslim discourse, and
Muslims in North America.
“Hamid Mavani’s Religious Authority and Political Thought in Twelver
Shi‘ism is a timely, judicious, impeccably researched, and vastly learned con-
tribution to our evolving understanding of the thorny issue of ‘authority’ in
Islamic political thought. More than thirty years after Ayatollah Khomeini
made his specific reading of political authority in Shi‘ism the cornerstone of
an Islamic state, and at the world-historic moment when Arab revolutions
have once again brought that issue to the forefront of our critical attention,
Professor Mavani’s learned book takes a clear and critical angle that will
clarify and enrich our encounter with political Islam.”
Hamid Dabashi, Hagop Kevorkian Professor of Iranian Studies and
Comparative Literature, Columbia University, USA
“The major contribution of the study is in the field of contemporary Shi’ite
politics. Through a meticulous examination of the classical theological and
traditional sources Dr Hamid Mavani has demonstrated that Shi’ite religious
leadership in Iran and Lebanon is engaged in setting the course of Shi’ite
history in modern times. Contemporary Shi’ite history, as Dr. Mavani has
shown, is an intricate of amalgam of pragmatics and multidimensional
response to the Shi’ite futuristic thought about its role in the unfolding of the
partnership between religion and politics. More pertinently, the study opens a
fresh window of assessing Shi’ite political thought in the context of modern
nation-state. No student of comparative politics and religious leadership
can afford to ignore this stimulating contribution to the study of Shi’ism in
Iran and Lebanon.”
Abdulaziz Sachedina, Professor and Endowed IIIT Chair in
Islamic Studies, George Mason University, USA
“Hamid Mavani examines Twelver Shi‘i views on political activity and lea-
dership during the continued absence of the Hidden Imam from the very
earliest years of the faith to the present. While he addresses the rise of wilayat
al-faqih, the doctrine that underpins the Islamic Republic’s present political
paradigm, he is also careful to detail alternative contemporary views on
authority offered by both Arabs and Iranians, a number of whom are not as
well known to western readers as they might be. Mavani’s contribution is an
excellent, most welcome and very timely reminder of the complexity of past
and, especially, contemporary Twelver Shi‘i discourse in general and Twelver
discourse on political authority in particular.”
Andrew J Newman, Reader in Islamic Studies and Persian,
University of Edinburgh, UK
Routledge Studies in Political Islam
1. The Flourishing of Islamic Reformism in Iran

Political Islamic groups in Iran (1941–61)
Seyed Mohammad Ali Taghavi
2. The Political Thought of Sayyid Qutb

The Theory of Jahiliyyah
Sayed Khatab
3. The Power of Sovereignty

The Political and Ideological Philosophy of Sayyid Qutb
Sayed Khatab
4. Islam and Political Reform in Saudi Arabia

The Quest for Political Change and Reform
Mansoor Jassem Alshamsi
5. Democracy in Islam
Sayed Khatab and Gary D. Bouma
6. The Muslim Brotherhood

Hasan al-Hudaybi and Ideology
Barbara Zollner
7. Islamic Revivalism in Syria

The Rise and Fall of Ba’thist Secularism
Line Khatib
8. The Essence of Islamist Extremism

Recognition through Violence, Freedom through Death
Irm Haleem
9. Religious Authority and Political Thought in Twelver Shi‘ism

From Ali to Post-Khomeini
Hamid Mavani
Religious Authority and Political
Thought in Twelver Shi‘ism
From Ali to Post-Khomeini
Hamid Mavani
First published 2013
by Routledge
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by Routledge
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Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2013 Hamid Mavani
The right of Hamid Mavani to be identified as author of this work has been
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Mavani, Hamid.
Religious authority and political thought in Twelver Shi‘ism : from Ali to
post-Khomeini / Hamid Mavani.
p. cm. – (Routledge studies in political Islam; 9)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Imamate. 2. Shi‘ah – Doctrines. I. Title.
BP166.94.M28 2013
297.6’1 – dc23
2012047972
ISBN13: 978-1-138-93373-6 (pbk)

ISBN13: 978-0-415-62440-4 (hbk)
Typeset in Times
by Taylor & Francis Books
Contents
Acknowledgments viii
Preface x
Introduction 1
1 The Ethos of Shi‘ism 33
2 Approaches to the Imamate: Traditional, Theological,

Philosophical, and Mystical 66
3 Mode of Succession and Imam’s Policy vis-à-vis the Rulers 106
4 Shi‘i State Models during the Major Occultation 135
5 Khomeini’s Concept of Governance and its Critique 178
6 The Case for Secularity in Islam: Traditional and Foundational

Ijtihad 211
Conclusion 240
Bibliography 247
Index 267
Acknowledgments
It gives me great pleasure to acknowledge those of my friends, mentors, and

colleagues who have helped me over the years and were instrumental in
enhancing the quality of this work. At McGill University, I benefited greatly
from Professors Herman Landolt, Robert Wisnovsky, Rula Abisaab, and
Mehdi Mohaghegh. I am also grateful to Dr. Mahmoud Ayoub, Professor
Emeritus at Temple University and Faculty Associate at Hartford Seminary, and
Professor Lynda Clarke at Concordia University for their encouragement and
guidance. My profound thanks are due to Professor Abdulaziz A. Sachedina at
George Mason University for his guidance and incisive comments through
various stages of this work. Professor Zayn Kassam at Pomona College has
been a source of great strength and a role model for intellectual humility. I have
truly enjoyed the intellectual conversations with her from which I benefited
greatly. She applied her incisive and sharp intellect when reading different
versions of my work with care and speed, in spite of her many other com-
mitments, and offered valuable and priceless suggestions on enhancing the
quality of my work. I remain infinitely indebted to her.
During my studies and many research trips to Iran, I benefited greatly from
a number of eminent scholars, especially Shaykh Ahmad Amini-Najafi, who
provided me with invaluable advice and guidance at every step. His formid-
able erudition was co-joined with impeccable hospitality and kindness. I am
greatly indebted to him. Other scholars include Ayatollahs Ali al-Hosein
al-Milani, Muhyi al-Din al-Mamakani, Muhammad Rida al-Mamakani,
Abd al-Aziz Tabataba’i (d. 1996), Murteza Farajpor, Ahmad Ishkawari,
Muhammad Reza Ja‘fari (d. 2010), and last, but certainly not least, Ahmad
Madadi. To all of them, I extend my deep appreciation and gratitude.
Special thanks are due to Dr. Ali al-Oraibi, who was generous with both
his time and expertise. He read parts of this work and offered valuable sug-
gestions for its improvement. Dr. Mohammed Amini-Najafi improved my
understanding of certain aspects of the biographical (rijal) literature. I extend
my thanks to both of them. I am immensely grateful to Sayyed Mohsen
Mousawi for graciously and promptly providing me with relevant sources on
different subjects and to Sayyed Ali Tabataba’i for his help in gaining access
to various libraries in Iran.
Acknowledgments ix
I take this opportunity to acknowledge the contributions of my research
assistants: Ms. Chase Knowles for gathering the relevant research material for
the last chapter and Mr. Jeremiah Bowden for proofreading the entire manu-
script with care and diligence. Chapter 6 relies upon an article titled “The
Case for Secularity in Islam,” which appeared in the Journal of Islamic Law
and Culture.1 I also received a great deal of support and cooperation from
Kathryn Rylance and Sarah Douglas at Routledge and from Jaya Dalal, the
copyeditor who read the manuscript with great care and precision. I am very
grateful to all of them. I convey my thanks to the two blind reviewers for
their insightful remarks and useful critique, which I have tried to incorporate
to the best of my ability. However, I alone am responsible for any flaws and
errors.
I have used M. A. S. Abdel Haleem’s translation of the Qur’an throughout
this work with minor modifications, if warranted. The upper case “I” in the word
“Imam” is used to refer to the infallible Imam in Shi‘ism, whereas the smaller
case “i” is employed in its lexical meaning of a leader (imam) in some minor
or major capacity. Finally, all the dates are given in the Common Era (CE).
My son Ehsaan (12) and daughter Sarah (9) helped me by reading the text
aloud so I could compare it with the copy-edited version to detect any
remaining spelling and/or grammatical errors. I thank them for this and for
their love. My parents have been a constant source of support and encour-
agement in my studies and research from the inception and remain so today,
for which I am grateful. I dedicate this work to the one who has consistently
stood by me during many challenges and heartaches of life and sacrificed
much to see this book come to fruition: my wife Mahbubeh Etehadi.
Note
1 “The Case for Secularity in Islam,” Journal of Islamic Law and Culture, 13/1
(April 2011): 34–46.
Preface
Shi‘i political thought has witnessed a spectrum of opinions on governance

ranging from complete avoidance and disavowal during the Twelfth Imam’s
occultation to mandatory participation and adoption of political models from
monarchy to democracy. All of them are extrapolated from the doctrine of
Imamate, since the jurist’s charismatic authority is inextricably bound to that
of the Twelfth Imam (a.k.a. the Mahdi) as his indirect deputy during the lat-
ter’s occultation. This reality underlines the doctrine’s importance in for-
mulating the Shi‘i worldview and its implications for the concepts of temporal
and sacred authority. There is no comprehensive analytical work on the dif-
ferent methodologies and approaches used to study the Imamate and the
various state models put forward by Shi‘i scholars, derived from the doctrine
of Imamate, on the form of an Islamic state during the messianic Imam’s
absence. The present study will attempt to redress this shortcoming by ela-
borating upon the approaches employed by scholars to deal with the Imamate
and wilaya/walaya according to the traditional, theological, philosophical,
and mystical understandings that shaped their particular conceptions of poli-
tics and Islamic state. These categories are, of course, not totally independent
nor mutually exclusive. The approaches and terminologies should not distract
the reader from realizing that the Shi‘i scholars’ primary purpose, regardless
of when they wrote, was to underline the Imam’s central and pivotal role, for
without his presence Earth would be annihilated (la-sakhat al-ard).1
The messianic Imam’s prolonged concealment created a leadership vacuum
that prompted the jurists to question to whom his religious and political
authority had been delegated. Although the ulama gradually developed the
concept of the jurists’ general deputyship (al-niyabat al-‘amma) to collectively
regard themselves as his indirect deputies, there has always been serious dis-
agreement and dissent on the nature and scope of this authority. The majority
of Shi‘i jurists argue that their activity is limited to expounding Islamic ordi-
nances and adjudicating personal and religious matters. As for public and
political affairs, these were considered to be the sole prerogative of the
Twelfth divine guide, who would restore peace and justice before the end of
terrestrial life. In all probability, the discussion and formulation of different
state models and the scope of the jurisconsult’s political authority would have
Preface xi
remained theoretical had it not been for Shah Isma‘il’s proclamation of
Twelver Shi‘ism as his new empire’s religion in 1501, for this forced the ulama
to address political realities. This, along with the Usuli school’s triumph over
the Akhbari school, which allowed the former to expand the role of reason
and rationality in religious discourse and expand their scope of authority,
gradually culminated in Ayatollah Khomeini’s (d. 1989) concept of the jur-
isconsult’s full-fledged and absolute authority, which is embedded in the Shi‘i
conception of Imamate. He contends that the jurisconsult has been charged

with leading an Islamic state based upon rational and textual evidence.
Khomeini’s proposed model of governance has received a disproportionate
amount of attention in the post-1979 period. This sometimes obscures the
fact that his theory was simply one among many others that have been
advanced by Shi‘i scholars. Thus, it cannot be considered the accepted or the
authoritative model of governance in Shi‘ism and moreover it represents a
sharp break with tradition. Other paradigms exist, such as those presented by
Ayatollahs Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr (d. 1980), Muhammad Husayn Fadlalla
(d. 2010), Hosein Ali Montazeri (d. 2010), Salehi Najafabadi (d. 2006),
Muhammad Mahdi Shamsuddin (d. 2001), Mehdi Haeri Yazdi (d. 1999),
Mohsen Kadivar, Muhammad Mojtahed Shabestari, Muhaqqiq Damad,
Dr. Abdolkarim Soroush, and other eminent Shi‘i jurists and scholars. All of
these merit serious consideration due to their nuanced understanding of the
range of opinions on this issue and for playing a pioneering role in proposing
different political paradigms which constitute an integral part of the Shi‘i
political thought. Not only have they provided a methodical and innovative
understanding of governance during the messianic Imam’s occultation, but
they have also put forth creative ideas to reform Islamic legal theory (usul
al-fiqh) in order to expand the nature and scope of intellectual deduction
(ijtihad) in Shi‘i Islam. They do so by incorporating other fields of knowledge
so as to provide appropriate responses to modern exigencies. These responses
take into account the complexity and sophistication of the issues impinging
on social, economic, and political aspects of human relations while remaining
fully aware that ethics permeates the entirety of Islamic legal injunctions.2 For
example, Soroush has had a substantial influence on the political discourse of
Iran’s reform movement, which is seeking a state model compatible with
secularity. To that end, he has advocated the reform and rethinking of the
philosophy of law in order to produce a new approach and methodology,
rather than confining the discourse to the extant Islamic jurisprudence, which
allows only minor changes via invoking various legal tools and devices.3
Dr. Tariq Ramadan has reached the same conclusion regarding Sunni legal
theory: it requires a transition from “adaptation reform” to “transformation
reform.”4 He is convinced that following the former path will result only in
cosmetic changes while preserving the fossilized edifice:
Contemporary fiqh literature frequently refers to maslahah (common and

public interest), hajah (need), and darurah (imperative necessity) to
xii Preface
explain how the new challenges of our time should be faced. The point is
to adapt to the new realities of the world while taking into account the
common interest and necessities and imperatives of the time.5 (emphasis
added)
Many prominent scholars have all rigorously and methodically studied

Khomeini’s concept of governance.6 What is lacking, however, is a methodical
exposition of the Imamate as put forth in the traditional disciplines of Qur’an

and hadith along with in theology, philosophy, and mysticism; the develop-
ment of Shi‘i political thought during the occultation, the justificatory basis
of which is derived from the doctrine of Imamate; the crystallization of
alternative political models offered by eminent Shi‘i jurists and philosophers;
and the interplay of the foundational principles of ijtihad, theology, ethics,
intellect, hermeneutics, epistemology, history, modern sciences, anthropology,
linguistics, and egalitarian justice in an attempt to reconstruct Islamic thought
and Islamic legal theory to provide a basis for a civil society that accom-
modates pluralism with a separation between church and state, and to address
the contemporary challenges associated with governing a modern state.
To this end, this book consists of six main chapters that can be divided into
two parts. The first three focus on the pivotal doctrine of Imamate along with
the mode of succession of the divine guides and indirect deputization of the
jurists during the Mahdi’s occultation. This represents its foundational and
justificatory basis of their claim to have been entrusted with certain powers
formerly vested in the Imam. Some jurists view themselves as having been
endowed with divine legitimacy and enjoying the same scope of authority as
the infallible Imam in setting up and governing an Islamic state, since they
are the occulted Imam’s logical substitutes. The other group, which is in the
majority, uses the same data but arrives at a very different conclusion: while
jurists do have a role to play during this period, their authority is limited to
judgeship and issuing of legal rulings. In other words, they have no direct
involvement with the state apparatus.
The latter three chapters offer a systematic and sustained treatment of
applying this mandate in the form of different models proposed in terms of
the relationship between religion and state. The ensuing analysis, which is not
limited to Khomeini’s paradigm of wilayat al-faqih, covers various innovative
and creative formulas offered to carve out a space for secularity and rehabi-
litate ijtihad so that modern challenges in the social, economic, political,
and cultural domains can be addressed.
Chapter 1 deals with the concepts of wilaya/walaya, which consist of the
legislative guardianship (al-wilayat al-tashri‘iyya) and creative authority or
cosmic guardianship (al-wilayat al-takwiniyya) enjoyed by the Imams. The
love and affinity to which they are entitled, as well as their status as the pos-
sessors of esoteric (batin) and hidden (ghayb) knowledge and as exclusive
authoritative interpreters of the Qur’an “firmly grounded in knowledge” (Q. 3:7),
are also discussed. Chapter 2 examines the systematized, evolved, and
Preface xiii
institutionalized disciplinary approaches (traditional, theological, philosophi-
cal, and mystical) used by scholars in their study of the fundamental doctrine
of Imamate. The approaches have a direct impact in defining the extent and
scope of power and authority enjoyed by the jurisconsult. An exponent of a
mystical reading of Imamate, such as Ayatollah Khomeini, would be inclined
to expand the jurisconsult’s scope of power and authority due to the mystical
cosmic vision, in contrast to one who espouses a primarily traditional or
theological perspective such as Ayatollah Abu al-Qasim al-Khu’i (d. 1992).

Since the intellectual trends and currents that crystallized these approaches
did not occur in a vacuum, it is necessary to inquire into those methods of
inquiry that evolved within a particular socio-historical and political milieu
that had an obvious influence on the doctrine. This must be borne in mind to
avoid presenting it as ahistorical and no more than an essentialized, mono-
lithic, homogenous, and static phenomenon instead of portraying it as the
dynamic process of refinement and consolidation that it is. Chapter 3 tackles
the issue of succession after the Prophet’s death and the manner in which the
Imams conducted themselves vis-à-vis the temporal rulers of their time to
calibrate the scope of public sovereignty during the Twelfth Imam’s absence.
On what basis did Ali assert that only he was entitled to be the Prophet’s
successor? If this was based on divine decree, was there any role for human
agency and free-will to accept or reject him as the caliph? The evidence seems
to suggest that Ali considered his caliphate valid only if the people gave him
their allegiance (bay‘a) voluntarily. In other words, the legitimacy of his cali-
phate, not Imamate, rests on public assent and, as such, constitutes a form of
a social contract (qarardad-e ijtima‘i). Thus it follows that the supreme jur-
isconsult (wali al-faqih) who claims his authority and legitimacy from the
infallible Imam is likewise subject to the will of the people in obtaining a
mandate to rule over them. Chapter 4 delineates the various state models
proposed by eminent Shi‘i scholars, ranging from models where there is no
privileged status for the jurists to one in which their legitimacy and authority
emanates from the divine source and therefore the individual or the public in
general has no choice and cannot offer any advice because the supreme jur-
isconsult is not accountable to them. The jurists and scholars base their
arguments from jurisprudential, theological, philosophical, and extra-religious
frameworks to present state models which allow for public sovereignty and
challenge the notion of divine sovereignty inhering in the jurisconsult. Chapter
5 is devoted to a detailed and critical examination of Khomeini’s concept
of wilayat al-faqih. Beginning with a circumscribed mandate and authority
with only a supervisory role, it gradually evolved into a full-fledged and
comprehensive authority in the political realm that could even transcend the
Shari‘a if it was deemed to be in public interest. Just what constitutes this
“general welfare” and how it is measured remains nebulous and vague. Finally,
Chapter 6 interrogates whether it is possible to carve out a space for secular-
ity based upon the Islamic tradition, one that does not compromise either its
integrity or its coherence. Is the oft-repeated claim that Islamic culture does
xiv Preface
not distinguish between religion and politics, and thus inherently lends itself
to an undemocratic and authoritarian system of governance, valid or not?
Ayatollahs Shamsuddin, Haeri, and Kadivar’s new, creative, and dynamic
models of ijtihad and the relationship between religion and state will be
explored and tested to see if they open up a space for secularity such that all
citizens, especially women and minorities, would enjoy equal rights and
human dignity under an Islamic state, if there is such a notion of an Islamic
state:7 Wael Hallaq writes in his recently released book: “[T]he ‘Islamic state,’
judged by any standard definition of what the modern state represents, is both
an impossible and inherently self-contradictory concept.”8
Notes
1 The texts, depending upon the approach, use different appellations to refer to the
divine guide. Among them are hujja, ulu al-amr, al-haqiqat al-Muhammadiyya, al-
ta‘ayyun al-awwal, al-tajalli al-awwal, al-‘aql al-awwal, al-ruh al-awwal, al-adam
al-awwal, al-idafa al-ishraqiyya, amr Allah al-wahid, wajh Allah al-wahid, al-rahmat
al-wasi‘a, al-wujud al-munbasit, and al-kalima kun al-wujudiyya.
2 “The moral values are the crucial pivot of the entire overall system, and from
them flows the law. The law is therefore the last part in this chain and governs all
the ‘religious,’ social, political, and economic institutions of the society. Because
law is to be formulated on the basis of the moral values, it will necessarily be
organically related to the latter.” Fazlur Rahman, Islam and Modernity (Chicago:
The University of Chicago Press, 1982), 156.
3 Ali ‘Abedi Shahrudi, Naser Katouziyan, Sadeq Larijani, Muhammad Mojtahed
Shabestari, and Mostefa Malikiyan, Goft o guha-ye falsafe-ye feqh (Qum: Bostan,
2001); and Afshin Matin-asgari, “‘Abdolkarim Sorush and the Secularization of
Islamic Thought in Iran,” Iranian Studies, 30/1–2 (Winter-Spring 1997): 112–13.
4 Tariq Ramadan, Radical Reform: Islamic Ethics and Liberation (New York:
Oxford University Press, 2009), 30–38.
5 Ibid., 31.
6 Such as, Said Arjomand, David Menashri, Hamid Enayat, Nikkie Keddie, Abbas
Amanat, Shahrough Akhavi, Hamid Dabashi, Joseph Eliash, Juan Cole, Farhang
Rajaee, Sami Zubaida, Vanessa Martin, Arshin Adib-Moghaddam, Mohsen
Milani, Ervand Abrahamian, Daniel Brumberg, Homa Katouzian, and Amr
G. E. Sabet.
7 Abdullahi A. An-Na‘im argues that a society can be Islamic but not a state.
Abdullahi A. An-Na‘im, Islam and the Secular State: Negotiating the Future of
Shari‘a (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2008), 2.
8 Wael Hallaq, The Impossible State: Islam, Politics, and Modernities Moral
Predicament (Boston: Columbia University Press, 2012), book jacket.
Introduction
In 632, the Prophet made his first and only obligatory pilgrimage to Makka,
commonly known as the “Farewell Pilgrimage.” During it he informed the
public that his ministry had ended and he would soon be returning to His
Lord. Of great significance for the Shi‘is is his statement at Ghadir Khumm,
in which he introduced Ali as the wali of the Muslim community. The Shi‘is
regard this event and the employment of the term wali in reference to Ali as
incontrovertible proof, testament, and explicit evidence that he had desig-
nated Ali as his successor and trustee. It would be inconceivable, according to
them, for God, the possessor of Beneficence and Wisdom, to allow the Seal of
the Prophets to pass away without making any provision for a successor to
attend to the young community’s religious and temporal concerns. The Sunnis
do not dispute the veracity of this historical incident; however, they interpret
it as no more than an admonition to the assembled Muslims to show the
proper respect and honor due to Muhammad’s cousin and son-in-law, espe-
cially since there was some bickering going on regarding the formula of dis-
tribution of the war spoils adopted by Ali after the expedition to Yemen.
With the termination of prophethood and perfection of the Scripture, there
was no need for further divinely appointed persons. Thus, according to the
Sunnis, the Prophet had not designated a successor or provided a set of prin-
ciples or a method for identifying the community’s ideal leader because the
Qur’an had already invoked shura (consultation) in their affairs. This was
later supplemented with ijma‘ (consensus). These two divergent interpreta-
tions of succession were ultimately crystallized into two major expressions of
Islam: Sunnism and Shi‘ism.
The Crisis of Succession

The Muslim community was confronted with a major crisis of authority and
leadership upon the Prophet’s death: Who would succeed him as ruler?
Essentially, three groups asserted their right to rule: (a) the Muhajirun, who
claimed precedence because they belonged to the Prophet’s tribe and had
been among the earliest converts; (b) the Ansar, who based their claim on
having befriended Muhammad by offering him refuge and asylum when both
2 Introduction
his life and his mission had become endangered. Without them, they declared,
nascent Islam would have been terribly handicapped or even extinguished;
and (c) the Legitimists (ashab al-nass wa-l-ta‘yin), who believed that the Pro-
phet had explicitly appointed Ali due to his early conversion, outstanding
merits, strong defense of Islam, and their close kinship. After a protracted
discussion, Abu Bakr was chosen for this position for several reasons: He
was a close and elderly Companion, Muhammad’s father-in-law, and an
early convert whom Muhammad had chosen to accompany him during his
migration (hijra) from Makka to Madina.
‘Umar, a close confidant of Muhammad and second caliph, was well aware
of the problematic nature of this impromptu assembly. Nevertheless, he believed
that God had averted the evil consequences of not consulting the community
beforehand. Accordingly, he warned the Muslims not to use this format as the
norm when choosing a successor to himself, because any pledge (bay‘a)
offered in such a manner would have no legal validity. Moreover, those parties
who involved themselves in such an undertaking would be sentenced to death:
“It has reached me that one of you has said: By God, if ‘Umar b. al-Khattab
were to die, I would swear allegiance to so-and-so [fulan].1 Let no one be
seduced into saying: The oath of allegiance for Abu Bakr was a falta [hasty
affair], yet it succeeded. It was indeed so, but God has warded off its evil
(waqa sharraha).”2
The central and pivotal evidence advanced by the Shi‘is in favor of Ali’s
succession is the Prophet’s proclamation at Ghadir Khumm that Ali was the
mawla (patron, master, leader, and friend)3 of the community.4 The Shi‘is inter-
pret this word as explicit evidence of Ali’s official designation as the Prophet’s
successor in both the political and religious spheres, and even more so, as
Muhammad was commanded, according to the Shi‘is, to so designate him by
Q. 5:67. The Sunnis accept this incident’s veracity but interpret it as no more
than an attempt to defuse some of the Companion’s discontent and dis-
pleasure with Ali’s distribution of the spoils of war after having returned from
an expedition to Yemen. In their opinion, Muhammad was only reminding
them that his cousin and son-in-law was entitled to a certain amount of
respect and honor. Subsequent Sunni scholars argued that it was unimagin-
able that the overwhelming majority of the Companions could disregard such
a clear and explicit statement of succession: “How is it conceivable that it was
right for the Companions of the Messenger to agree on something unsound
and fail to act according to the statute which had come down to them?”5 The
Shi‘is have responded that numerical strength cannot become the criterion in
a tribal society, where decisions are made by tribal leaders rather than indi-
vidual Muslims. This is also attested to by the Qur’an, which deprecates the
majority’s opinion as a legitimizing tool.6 The Sunnis have asserted that
Muhammad’s directive for Abu Bakr to lead the congregational prayers
during his acute illness toward the end of his life was an implicit appointment
of his successor. The Shi‘is dispute this on the grounds that he had given
explicit instruction to his Companions, including Abu Bakr and ‘Umar, to set
Introduction 3
out on a military campaign against the Byzantines under the leadership of
Usama b. Zayd.
Dr. Ali Shariati (d. 1979), envisioned the issue of succession as one in
which inheres the entirety of Shi‘ism:
The Prophet Mohammad (P.B.U.H.), upon his last pilgrimage, appointed

Hazrat Ali as his successor. Why was he not elected later on? In my opi-
nion, this is a very fundamental question. The whole of Shi‘ism can be

found in the answer.7
The Doctrine of the Imamate

Mohammed A. Amir-Moezzi, a contemporary scholar at the Sorbonne, sug-
gests that the Imamate is the pivot around which all other fundamental Shi‘i
doctrinal issues revolve. He adds that Shi‘i political thought cannot be
understood without a profound comprehension of this crucial doctrine, for
such a knowledge gap only distorts our understanding of the weltanschauung
of early Imamism: “The true axis around which [the] Imamate doctrinal tra-
dition revolves is that of Imamology, without the knowledge of which no
other great chapter, as is the case with theology or prophetology, could be
adequately studied.”8
The classical Shi‘i theory of religious and political authority envisions the
Prophet’s charisma as having been transferred to the infallible divine guides
starting with Ali. Shi‘i scholars expounded, elaborated, and systematized the
doctrine of Imamate by using transmitted (al-dalil al-sam‘i) as well as rational
arguments (al-dalil al-‘aqli) that are independent of revelation to prove the
necessity of the Imam’s existence and God’s designation of him, along with
proofs of his personal characteristics, function, and scope of authority.
The doctrinal controversy surrounding the nature and extent of his authority
and the mode of succession have been the prime factors behind the pro-
liferation of Islamic sects and splinter groups. While there is general con-
sensus on the necessity of a leader (Imam)9 to provide guidance after the
Prophet’s demise, there is no consensus on his qualifications, the scope and
nature of his authority, and the mode of his selection. The Shi‘is insist that
the Imamate is one of Islam’s fundamentals and that, as such, it is just as
important as prophethood (nubuwwa) and a necessary continuation. Shi‘i
exegetes and traditionists argue that the Imams’ station is higher than that of
all prophets, except for the distinguished ones (ulu al-‘azm): Noah, Abraham,
Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad. This is based on Q. 2:124, in which Abraham
is given the title of imam after fulfilling the divine directive: “When Abra-
ham’s Lord tested him with certain commandments, which he fulfilled, He
said, ‘I will make you a leader [imam] of men.’ Abraham asked, ‘And will
You make leaders from my descendants too?’ God answered, ‘My pledge does
not hold for those who do evil.’” Abraham’s plea that a similar honor be
4 Introduction
vested in his descendants was confined by God to those who are just and
non-oppressive, suggesting that this post is granted on the basis of merit
and sound character as opposed to lineage. In their exposition of the creed,
Shi‘i scholars divide the principles of religion (usul al-din) into five tenets
and place the Imamate at the center; the others are divine unity (tawhid),
divine justice (‘adl), prophethood, and the Day of Resurrection (yawm al-
qiyama).10 In contrast, the Sunnis do not even consider Imamate to be a
principle (asl).11
The Imam’s unique position with respect to his cumulative, inherited
knowledge, as well as his role as the infallible, inerrant guide and leader, all
imply that he is the ultimate authority as regards expounding the religious
law, doctrine, and practice, as well as spiritual mentorship. His authority is
viewed as an extension of Muhammad’s prophetic authority in the sense that
he is the living embodiment of the Qur’an, its interpreter and its executor.
The only difference is that he does not receive revelation; however, they are
described as muhaddath (spoken to by the celestial being via sounds in their
ears [naqr fi-l-asma‘]) or mufahham (instructed by angels; caused to under-
stand) because they receive knowledge transmitted through ilham (inspira-
tion).12 Thus revelation continues but in a different form and, as such, blurs
the concept of finality and seal of prophethood.13 Both the Sunnis and Shi‘is
base their respective worldviews on Islam’s two primary sources: the Qur’an
and the hadith literature (sunna). For the former, the Prophet’s Companions
(Sahaba) constitute the chief medium through which the prophetic message
was preserved and transmitted; for the latter, the sole channel is the unerring
(ma‘sum) divine guides (the Imams), whose accounts of the prophetic message
and interpretations of the Qur’an are considered authoritative. In this sense,
they are extensions of the prophetic authority and personality such that their
authenticated sayings (qawl), actions (fi‘l), and unspoken or tacit approvals
(taqrir) are considered part of the sunna.14
The major differences and disputes within the community demonstrate the
Imamate’s doctrinal importance: “The greatest dispute, indeed, in the com-
munity has been that over the imamate; for no sword has ever been drawn in
Islam on a religious question as it has been drawn at all times on the question
of the imamate.”15 The contemporary scholar Wilferd Madelung writes: “No
event in history has divided Islam more profoundly and durably than the
succession of Muhammad.”16 ‘Abd al-Razzaq Lahiji (d. 1661) maintains that
‘Umar b. al-Khattab brought this difference into the open when he refused to
allow a pen and a piece of paper to be brought to the Prophet, as per the
latter’s request. At this time the Prophet was severely ill and close to death.
According to Lahiji, the Prophet knew that he would not recover and thus
wanted to write his last will and testament. ‘Umar, however, argued that he
had been overcome by pain and, thus, had become delirious and, moreover,
that the Qur’an was complete and that this ought to be sufficient for the
Muslims.17 Later Sunni attempts to feign that there was little or no dissent on
the matter of succession by presenting a picture of complete harmony and
Introduction 5
accord among the Companions, especially during the reign of the first two
caliphs, cannot be sustained and are tendentious.18
Numerous works by both Sunni and Shi‘i scholars have been written
in defense of or in opposition to this concept. As a case in point, al-Qadi
al-Baydawi (d. 1286) asserts that “imamate is one of the most crucial issues
dealing with the fundamentals of religion. Dispute or disagreement on this
matter would entail disbelief (kufr) and innovation (bid‘a).”19 Likewise, the
Hanafi scholar Muhammad b. Mahmud Asrushani (d. 1234 or 35) writes that
anyone who does not accept Abu Bakr’s imamate should be viewed as an
unbeliever (kafir).20 On the Shi‘i side, Shaykh Mufid (d. 1022) opined that the
Sunnis are unbelievers who have been misled (kafir dall) and deserve to dwell
in hellfire for eternity for failing to affirm the divine guides’ wilaya.21 In his
view, so great is the repugnance or revulsion for those who deny the explicit
designation of Ali’s succession that all Shi‘is are forbidden to provide funeral
rites to Sunnis. If, however, one is forced to do so on account of precau-
tionary dissimulation (taqiyya), then one should utter a curse (la‘n) on the
deceased after reciting the fourth glorification (takbir) in the prayer for the
dead (salat al-mayyit).22
The essence of the Imamate’s embryonic form, along with the leitmotifs of
being the Prophet’s legatee (wasi) and inheritor (warith) in spiritual and tem-
poral affairs,23 can be gleaned from Husayn b. Ali’s (the Third Imam) letters.
In response to the Kufans’ and Basrans’ persistent appeals, after Yazid’s
assumption of the caliphate in 680, that he lead and guide them toward the
truth (al-haqq wa-l-huda) and throw off the yoke of Syrian domination, he
writes:
… who is an imam (ma al-imam) except one who acts according to the
Book (al-hakim bi-l-Kitab), one who upholds justice (al-qa’im bi-l-qist),
one who professes the truth (al-da’in bi din al-haqq) and one who dedicates
himself to [the essence of] God (al-habis nafsa-hu ‘ala dhat Allah)?24
He forcefully attributes his exclusive entitlement to the rank of Imam to his

having inherited the Prophet’s charisma; however, he was not in favor of
rupturing the community over the issue of leadership:
We are his family (ahl), those who possess his authority (awliya’), those
who have been made his trustees (awsiya’) and his inheritors (wuratha’);
we are the ones who have more right to his position among the people
(ahaqq al-nas) than anyone else. Yet, our people selfishly laid claim to this
exclusive right of ours and we consented [to what they did] since we hated
disunion and desired the well-being [of the community]. However, we
know that we have a greater claim to that right, which was our entitlement
(mustahaqq ‘alay-na), than those who have seized it.25
6 Introduction
Shi‘i doctrine considers the Imam as one endowed with both religious and
political authority. Yet his religious leadership is not contingent upon his
being accepted as the community’s ruler. As such, his wilaya is independent of
his political office, which means that he is entitled to demand obedience on
the basis of this spiritual authority. This distinction is important to keep in
mind so as not to reduce the Imam’s role to no more than being the com-
munity’s leader, a person whose mandate is primarily political (establishing a
just and an ethical order) or to view his Imamate as dependent upon being
empowered with the capacity to actualize this political vision.
Definition of Imam
Both Sunnis and Shi‘is employ the word imam in its common ordinary
meaning: the man who leads the congregational prayer or an eminent scholar
(e.g., Sunnis refer to al-imam Fakhr al-Din al-Razi and Shi‘is refer to Shaykh
al-Mufid as al-imam al-faqih al-muhaqqiq). Among the Shi‘is, however, this
term has a specific technical meaning that is not found in Sunni Islam, one
that confers an element of divine grace on the leader and considers him to
be designated by a divine decree.26 For example, ‘Allama Hilli proclaims:
“Imamate is a universal authority (riyasa) in the things of religion and of
the world belonging to some person and derived from (niyaba) the Pro-
phet.”27 Shams al-Din Isfahani (d. 1345) writes: “Imamate means deputizing
a certain person on behalf of the Prophet to implement the Islamic legal rul-
ings and to preserve the social order. The entire community must follow this
person.”28
Sunni theology, which uses imam and khalifa interchangeably, accords them
only a limited scope of power and authority and no divine designation or any
special characteristics. Instead, its focus remained on the leader’s ability to
preserve stability and order, especially from the latter part of the Umayyad
period.29 For example, Abu al-Hasan al-Mawardi’s (d. 1058) definition claims
the “Caliphate is therefore an institution which represents the mission of
Muhammad, and the chief duties of the caliph are the safeguard of religion
and the proper organization of general polity.”30 Sa‘d al-Din al-Taftazani
opines: “[It is] their vicegerency (niyabatuhum) of the Messenger in maintaining
religion so that it is incumbent on all peoples to follow.”31
In summary, there are four major differences between Shi‘i and Sunni
conceptions of Imamate:
1 Shi‘is assert that the Imam’s appointment is like that of the Prophet’s and
thus rests with God; Sunnis assert that this designation rests with the
people or a select council.32
2 Shi‘is assert that the Imamate, like prophethood, is one of the religion’s
fundamentals (usul al-din); Sunnis argue that it is no more than a second-
ary matter of religion (furu‘ al-din). In other words, the latter consider
designating this person to be a matter of collective responsibility (wajib
Introduction 7
kifa’i). Thus, if a qualified person or a group selects an imam, everyone
else is absolved from this duty.33
3 Shi‘is assert that the Imam should be infallible, as was the Prophet; Sunnis
say that whosoever proclaims the declaration of faith with certain conditions
can be an imam; therefore, infallibility is not a requirement.34
4 Shi‘is assert that God designated Ali as the Prophet’s successor, that he is
to be followed by a chain of 11 Imams from the progeny of Husayn b. Ali,
and that they are all proofs of God; Sunnis claim that God did not expli-
citly designate any successor and that the number of imams is not limited
to 12.35
The Proof of God’s (Hujjat Allah) Mandatory Presence at All Times

The Imam, whether accessible to the public and recognized or not, is regar-
ded as the pivot and the pole that sustains the world. If he were to be absent
for even a moment, every other existing being would forfeit the cause of their
existence and perish: “The earth would perish without the presence of an
Imam.”36 The aim and purpose of his existence is not limited to providing
guidance in the religious and temporal domains such that, if he were inac-
cessible or people were to deny his station, then the purpose would be ren-
dered void, as is the case with the twelfth messianic Imam. Rather, the aim of
his existence is far loftier than mere outward guidance. The Imams are the
aim and purpose for the world of creation and, through the luminosity of
their light (nur), people are guided toward the truth and brought out from
darkness; they are the cause of opening the doors of God’s Mercy.37
In addition, the Proof of God (the Imam) is the custodian and protector of
the Divine Laws and guides the public toward the right path. Consequently,
on the Day of Judgment no one will have an excuse or a reason to complain
to God that He failed to send a guide to them. This is in stark contrast to the
Sunni conception of an imam/caliph, whose primary function is to administer
the polity and implement legal rulings. This person, who does not have a
divine imprimatur, can be deposed if he is found guilty of egregious violations
or neglects his duties as the ruler.38
The Imam is an expression of God’s Grace and Benevolence (lutf). His
presence is mandated, based on rational grounds and scriptural texts,39
because he draws people closer to obedience (ta‘a) of God and distances them
from disobedience (ma‘siya) in an attempt to achieve their perfection.40 God,
who is Wise and Just, commands human beings to do that which is virtuous
and to refrain from vices because God, who is just, does not engage in evil
(qabih). Good and evil are moral/ethical categories that have an objective
existence and can be deduced by human reason at a universal level. They are
not arbitrarily given an ethical value based exclusively on Divine Will, for
reason has prior knowledge of what is good and what is evil at a general level:
“Both [good and evil] are rational categories because even in the absence of
revelation, the excellence of magnanimity and the wickedness of oppression
8 Introduction
are known”41 and that God “is far removed from every evil act and from
being remiss in what is incumbent.”42
God does not act arbitrarily and whimsically without a definitive purpose
and, as such, His actions fall under the category of goodness (husn) and are
far removed from evil/abominable (qubh). This is because He acts with
wisdom, is self-sufficient, and possesses perfect and comprehensive knowledge
that prevents Him from erring. Ayatollah Ja‘far Sobhani writes that this
principle of the intellect’s determination of good and evil/abominable, a cen-

tral problem in moral theology, is an extremely important and vital one
because on it rests the proofs for several necessities: seeking cognizance of
God through reason; God must be above futile and non-purposive acts;
a responsible person must be endowed with religious obligations (takalif);
prophets must be commissioned; demonstrative proofs in the claimant to
prophethood must be sought; knowledge must testify to the validity of the
one who claims prophethood; the end of prophethood and the continuity of
the religious ruling’s validity; confirming the foundational principles of ethics
and their permanence; the necessity of wisdom in trials and tribulations; and
God being a just entity who does not oppress.43
In contrast, Ash‘ari theologians espouse the view that whatever God wills
to be good is considered virtuous because it is His command, not because the
act has any inherent value. Likewise, whatever God decrees to be evil is given
this ethical value on the basis of scriptural proofs and, as such, no act that is
so designated can have any innate value or be discovered by resorting to
intellect. God, the ultimate source of morality, the Omnipotent and Sovereign
One, can compel His subjects to act as He wills because they have no right to
demand that He operate within certain parameters: “He cannot be called to
account for anything He does, whereas they will be called to account”
(Q. 21:23). In other words, prior to revelation there is an amoral space and no
moral valuation can be assigned to any act by recourse to reason or its
“inherent” nature.44
In general terms, the early Sunnis adopted Ash‘ari theology and the Twel-
ver Shi‘is adopted the rationalist-naturalist theology of the Mu‘tazilis, which
accorded to reason the capacity to discover universal moral and ethical
values. They argued that, based upon divine justice and wisdom, law and
ethics are so interrelated that God’s decree has to have a moral underpinning,
for if He were to act without an objective (gharad), this would constitute a
deficiency and invite blame (dhamm).
Based on this framework that a just and wise God distances Himself from
evil deeds and is motivated to do goodness to facilitate humanity’s growth
and perfection, it follows that humanity was assured of continuous divine
guidance in the form of human conscience, scriptures, and the presence of an
infallible leader to achieve this goal. Human beings, who are free agents and
accountable, need a perpetual and ongoing inducement and motivation to
carry out the religious obligations (al-takalif al-shar‘iyya) that have been
imposed on them. Consequently, God’s attributes of justice (‘adl) and
Introduction 9
benevolence (lutf) would ensure this uninterrupted guidance and commu-
nication with the people, even after the Prophet’s death, by designating a
series of infallible Imams as authoritative expositors of his teachings. In other
words, there remained a need for a hujja from God, a man who would be sent
as an act of benevolence (lutf) since He wants to advance human welfare, so
long as the religious obligations (takalif) imposed by Him remain in force. As
a result, the concepts of taklif, lutf, ‘adl, husn, qubh, and huda (perpetual
guidance) are all interrelated and therefore crucial for understanding the
doctrine of Imamate.
Polarized Scholarly Opinions

Amir-Moezzi employs the earliest extant sources from the divine guides to
sustain his thesis, as did Henry Corbin, that early Shi‘ism, in contrast to the
post-occultation tradition that he terms “theological-juridical rational Ima-
mism,”45 was essentially an esoteric doctrine from which all other aspects of
Shi‘i doctrine are derived.46 He arrives at this conclusion by selectively
retrieving material from these early sources and translating key Arabic phra-
ses in a way that makes them fit his theoretical framework. For instance, he
renders the hadith of the Seventh Imam, “Ma‘rifat al-‘ilm bi-l-‘aql,”47 as
“recognition of sacred knowledge.” In another case, he translates the state-
ment of the Sixth Imam, “Al-‘aql dalil al-mu’min,”48 as “hiero-intelligence is
the guide of the initiated Imamite.” The Sixth Imam’s phrase taken from
al-Kafi, “Qad walada-na Rasul Allah,”49 is translated as “The prophetic/
Imamic Light is in me,” and in the same hadith the phrase “wa ana a‘lamu
Kitab Allah” is rendered as “I have the ‘ilm, the initiatory Knowledge, of the
Qur’an.”50 Finally, his translation of the passage on humanity’s tripartite
division, namely, “Yaghdu al-nas ‘ala thalatha sunuf: ‘alim wa muta‘allim wa
ghutha’ fa nahnu al-‘ulama’ wa shi‘atu-na al-muta‘allimun wa sa’ir al-nas
al-ghutha’” is given as follows: “People are divided into three categories: the
spiritual initiator, the initiated disciple, and the dross carried off by the waves.
We [the imams] are the spiritual initiators, our supporters are the initiated
disciples, and the others are the dross of the waves.”51
In contrast to this overemphasis on Shi‘ism’s “suprarational esoteric tradi-
tion,”52 other scholars have advanced arguments and proofs demonstrating
that the Imamate is primarily political in nature. This obsession with and
excessive emphasis on their political function, as well as the attribution of
political connotations to every aspect of Shi‘ism, reached its climax in the
writings and statements of Khomeini, who regarded divine politics (siyasat-e
khoda’i) and religion (din) as synonymous with the jurisconsult enjoying a
scope of authority equivalent to that of the infallible divine guides. In many
respects, the jurisconsult became the Imam’s functional replacement during
the Greater Occultation.
Such statements of political activism are striking and strange coming from
Khomeini, given that his background and emergence to prominence is
10 Introduction
conjoined with his penchant for gnosis and philosophy.53 His students relate
that he made a conscious decision to discontinue his classes on these subjects
for almost ten years so that he would not be targeted or discredited by the
seminary due to his disposition toward mysticism and philosophy. If he
had not focused on juridical subjects, his stature would have been down-
graded and he would have found it much harder to become a marja‘ al-taqlid
(source of exemplary conduct). His works on mysticism were published post-
humously so that his reputation as, first and foremost, a jurist would not be
tarnished. Contrast the program of action he laid out in his 1970 Najaf lec-
tures on Islamic government with the bewildering assessment made in 1978
by William Sullivan, United States ambassador to Iran during the shah’s
reign: “Khomeini would be likely to return to Iran as a consequence of a
religious-military accommodation and … would play a ‘Gandhi-like’ role.”54
At around the same time he was formulating and articulating his concept
of wilayat al-faqih in Najaf in 1970, his student, close confidant, and spiritual
heir Ayatollah Morteza Motahhari (d. 1980) was elucidating the concepts
of walaya and wilaya in Tehran, albeit from an exclusively mystical perspec-
tive that was free of any contemporary political relevance.55 In contrast,
Khomeini refers to the mystical notions of insan-e kamil (the perfect human)
and jihad-e akbar (the greater struggle) but gives them a political signification
to buttress his arguments for establishing an Islamic government.56
Guidance or Governance?
The dispute over the succession and the many subsequent polemical works
may lead one to conclude that the Imamate is confined to governing and
administering the Muslims’ affairs. In fact, its raison d’être is to provide
authoritative guidance (hidaya), not governance (hukuma), designed to lead
humanity to prosperity, felicity, and perfection in this life and the Afterlife.57
Accordingly, the divine guide is not required to assume a political post to
validate his spiritual station. While one component of his function is related
to administering the divine law as a legitimate ruler, he cannot employ force
or coercion to do so because his status differs from that of a political leader.
Ali refrained from imposing himself and asserted that were it not for the
covenant God made with the scholars to provide guidance, he would never
have entangled himself in politics.58 He exhibited his disdain for political
power and rulership for its own sake, after having objected vociferously to
being passed over in favor of Abu Bakr, ‘Umar, and ‘Uthman, because he
worried that the pre-Islamic tribal values had reasserted themselves and
would prevent him from reforming the community. This explains his reluc-
tance to assume the caliphate after ‘Uthman was murdered.59 On a number of
occasions he is reported to have said that there was no merit in expressing an
opinion when it was known that the people would only ignore it: “La ra’y li-man
la yuta‘.”60
Introduction 11
Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr, however, maintains that the spiritual and poli-
tical domains are organically connected with each other and, as such, cannot
be compartmentalized or considered mutually exclusive:
It is not possible, therefore, to imagine the Imams relinquishing the poli-

tical aspect without renouncing Shi‘ism altogether. What contributed to
the idea that they had abandoned the political aspect of their leadership
was their seeming failure to mount military action to overturn the pre-
vailing narrow military sense. But there are many explicit utterances by
the Imams which make it plain that an Imam is always ready to take the
military course, provided he found enough assistance and the capacity to
realize the Islamic objectives beyond the military campaign itself.61
The Nature and Scope of Religious Authority

In the discourse on religious authority, a logical starting point is the Qur’anic
verse on authority: “O believers, obey God, and obey the Messenger and
those in authority (ulu al-amr) among you … ”62 The Qur’an does not define
ulu al-amr. Consequently, the Sunnis understand it as referring to the caliphs
and their designated appointees,63 whereas the Shi‘is have invariably under-
stood it as denoting an obligation to render unquestionable devotion and
obedience to the infallible divine guides. This is based upon their divinely
sanctioned designation (nass) and divine knowledge (‘ilm), which comprises
inherited knowledge, access to the Books (Jami‘a, Mushaf Fatima, and Jafr)
that contain valuable information, and through contact with God via an inter-
locutor (e.g., the angels).64 These distinctive features, which have no Sunni
counterpart, form the basis for perpetuating the Muhammadan charismatic
authority within the Shi‘i theory of authority.65
Ali’s status was never on par with that of Muhammad, since he was not a
recipient of revelation or a Scripture; however, he was distinguished above the
other eminent prophets (ulu al-‘azm)66 for possessing the seal of universal
wilaya in his person and by virtue of his explicit designation (al-nass al-jali) as
Muhammad’s successor via divine dispensation. In this sense, he was a char-
ismatic leader who exercised “the authority of the extraordinary and perso-
nal gift of grace (charisma), the absolutely personal devotion and personal
confidence in revelation, heroism, or other qualities of individual leadership.”67
Since the Shi‘i theory of authority conceives of the Imamate as a con-
tinuation of prophethood, the scope of authority and the claim to absolute
legitimate obedience enjoyed by the infallible Imams are identical with that of
Muhammad, with the exception of direct access to divine revelation (wahy) or
bringing forth a new message or Scripture. They are gifted with both the zahir
(apparent, manifest, exterior) and batin (hidden, interior) aspects of Islam
with their true interpretation.68 Thus the Shi‘is do not conceive of the Prophet’s
charismatic authority as being segmented into different domains, but rather
12 Introduction
as inhering in the person of the inerrant divine guide, who thus perpetuates
the Muhammadan charismatic legacy that is not subject to routinization.69
This legacy’s continuity and permanence was guaranteed by the Twelfth
divine guide’s (a.k.a. the Twelfth Imam and the messianic Imam) occultation.
This figure, who will reappear at the end of time to usher in an era of global
peace, justice, and equity, led Henry Corbin to remark that “Shi‘ism is the
only religion that has permanently preserved the relationship of divine gui-
dance between God and humanity forever, and continuously perpetuates the
wilaya.”70
The locus of authority among the Shi‘is undeniably resides in the Prophet
and, by extension, the 12 infallible Imams, who are viewed as the legatees and
inheritors of prophetic charisma and knowledge. In terms of religious
authority and leadership, the messianic Imam’s prolonged concealment and
inaccessibility resulted in a vacuum that was gradually filled by the ulama
who, basing themselves on rational and traditional evidence, claimed to be his
indirect deputies. The traditionalist school of thought, which gained ascen-
dancy and influence at the outset of his occultation in 874 and remained
dominant until the tenth century, asserted that there is no room for reason
and rationality, or any critical and analytical thought, as regards religious
discourse during the Imam’s absence. They cited hadiths attributed to the
Imams that condemned Sunni hermeneutical procedures of analogical
deduction (qiyas) and independent inquiry (ra’y). As a result, even ijtihad
acquired a negative connotation and was used in a pejorative sense by Shi‘i
scholars until the twelfth century on the grounds that it was no more than a
deduction based on conjecture and personal judgment.71
This denunciation of analytical thought created a climate that was not
conducive to engendering a creative and innovative reinterpretation of the
revelatory texts. Instead, the primary focus was on collecting and preserving
the hadiths from the Prophet and the Imams in order to glean guidance from
them. During this undertaking, the texts were not to be engaged with ration-
ally and the validity of the transmitters, who reportedly conveyed them from
the infallible divine guides, was not to be questioned. In the late tenth and
early eleventh centuries, however, traditionalists faced a serious challenge
from Shaykh Mufid, Sharif al-Murtada (d. 1044), and other eminent scholars
whose skillful arguments weakened the traditionalists and brought the
rationalists to the fore. Shaykh Muhammad b. Hasan al-Tusi (d. 1067) is
credited with finding a balance and a synthesis between both schools. This
trend toward reviving ijtihad was cemented by ‘Allama Ibn Mutahhar al-Hilli,
who established its epistemology and legitimacy in his works on usul al-fiqh
by affirming a clear-cut epistemological division of knowledge between certainty
(‘ilm qat‘i) and probability (zann) in Shi‘i jurisprudence. He also insisted upon
the need for mujtahids. Accordingly, Imami scholars from Muhaqqiq al-Hilli
(d. 1277) onward gradually transitioned from the principle of certitude in
deriving legal norms to probable opinion. This was formally embraced in the
fourteenth century by their acceptance of ‘Allama Hilli’s ijtihad.72
Introduction 13
Muhammad Amin al-Astarabadi (d. 1626–27), however, objected to this
development. Basing his claims upon hadiths from the Imams, he called it an
innovation and a prohibited practice on the grounds that rational analysis
and the principles of usul al-fiqh could, at best, produce only personal con-
jectures. Given that certainty can be attained only from the statements
attributed to the infallible Imams (viz., hadiths) that everyone can fathom,
there is no need to develop a special class of scholars or mujtahids. This new
traditionalist school, known as the Akhbari,73 eventually became dominant in

almost all Shi‘i seminaries, for the majority of the jurists subscribed to it.
Thus there was no place for mujtahids to engage in independent reasoning.74
The Akhbari school sustained its supremacy for only a few decades, for the
eminent scholar Muhammad Baqir al-Bihbahani (d. 1790–91) revived
rationalism (the Usuli school) in Shi‘i jurisprudence and the legitimacy of
using reason in deriving legal rulings. This stance gradually became the dis-
tinctive mark of Shi‘ism: ijtihad was both permissible and considered a per-
petual imperative, as it was indispensable for dealing with novel issues and
contingencies. Had the Akhbaris triumphed, any discourse on a state model
or reevaluating those legal rulings pertaining to contemporary times in order
to reform them, if warranted by the spirit of the revelatory texts and the
faculty of reason, would have been impossible. Even within the Usuli context
this endeavor is a daunting undertaking, for the scholarly culture in which
it functions assumes that different legal rulings are based on human nature
and thus allows only limited scope for modification over time and changing
circumstances.
Historical Overview of the Major Shifts in the Ulama’s

Political Involvement
Over time, the ulama’s involvement in state affairs has undergone funda-
mental shifts and developments, ranging from political dissociation or quiet-
ism to actively promoting a particular form of government. According to
Ayatollah Muhammad Mojtahed Shabestari, the Qur’an does not prescribe
any particular form of government; some scholars have favored a shura-based
model because the Qur’an states that previous prophets followed that parti-
cular model, as well as hereditary succession. As such, both could not be con-
sidered normative. In his view, the Qur’an is more concerned about the final
outcome—establishing a just and egalitarian society—than with the means of
attaining that goal. The form of government, therefore, is left to public choice
and may differ according to time and place: “If we study the Qur’an carefully,
we see that the fundamental criterion it lays down for government is not a
particular form or type—which it does not even present as a religious con-
cern—but justice”75 and “legal opinions are not the criteria of justice, but
justice the criterion for legal opinions; to put it another way, fatwas are the
instruments of justice.”76 As illustrated in this case, the distinction between
eternal principles and the historical models generated as a result of their
14 Introduction
implementation in a particular historical period is crucial. While the former is
immutable and trans-historical, the latter is mutable and context-bound.
As such, one would be mistaken to idealize the Makkan, Madinan, or
Abyssinian period for all times and circumstances and attempt to replicate it
in a different context and time, for doing so would blur the distinction
between the immutable principles and their historical realization in a
particular context and circumstance.
A skeletal chronology for the pre-modern period would begin with the foun-
dational period (seventh–tenth centuries CE), the period from the Prophet’s
demise, and end with the shift of emphasis from traditionalism to rationalism
in the works of Shaykh Mufid (toward the end of the tenth century). This
rational trend was a logical progression, given the period’s intellectual climate
and the fact that one of the major bodies of hadith literature, that of
Muhammad b. Ya‘qub al-Kulayni (d. 940), had already been compiled. It
appears that the Shi‘i scholars were anticipating the messianic Imam’s quick
return from his occultation. However, his prolonged absence and inaccessi-
bility created a vacuum in leadership and authority that the jurists tried to fill
by serving as his indirect deputies. This period may be called the revision/
critique/appraisal period (eleventh–sixteenth centuries CE), during which the
scholars focused on providing a rational basis to the Islamic disciplines and a
greater impetus to rely on ijtihad, along with the assertion of the ulama’s
authority. The latter occurred when the Safavids proclaimed Shi‘ism the reli-
gion of their empire in 1501. A number of works written in this period deal
with holding the Friday congregational prayer and initiating jihad during the
Twelfth Imam’s occultation. The majority opinion was that the jurists’ scope
of power and authority was circumscribed to hisba, which includes such
functions as issuing legal opinions on juridical issues, implementing the penal
code (hudud) and discretionary penalties (ta‘zir), inviting people to right-
eousness and discouraging them from committing abominable acts, instituting
congregational prayers (especially the Friday prayer), supervising endow-
ments and collecting religious dues, and having limited authority over people
and properties (e.g., a discretionary mandate over children, orphans, people
of unsound mind, endowments, and unclaimed property). In the absence of a
qualified jurist who can assume these responsibilities, the relevant authority
devolves upon those Muslims who possess the ethical attribute of justice
(‘udul al-mu’minin). The basic principle is that under normal circumstances,
no one has any authority (wilaya) over another person or her property. Such
an attitude toward the role of the clergy in politics by many of the religious
scholars aroused Khomeini’s disgust and invective that would characterize
them as superficial, ignorant, and treacherous with a call to the enlightened
clergy to “smash in the teeth of this brainless lot with their iron fist” and
“trample upon their heads with courageous strides.”77
Muhaqqiq Karaki (d. 1533) and Muhaqqiq Ardebili (d. 1585) were the first
scholars to ask whether the jurist has a mandate on political issues. Gradu-
ally, the jurist’s station and prestige reached such a stage that the rulers
Introduction 15
sought their endorsement and approval before assuming the throne or
declaring jihad. Mulla Ahmad Naraqi (d. 1829), the first systematic articulator
of the jurist’s guardianship, cited textual proofs and evidence. His views were
contested by various scholars, among them Shaykh Murtada Ansari (d. 1864).
At the beginning of the seventeenth century, the rationalists’ (Usulis) theo-
logical ascendancy was eclipsed by that of the traditionalists (Akhbaris), who
allowed no scope for reason in matters of religion and rejected the laity’s
emulation (taqlid) of a jurist. This ended with a triumphal return of the Usulis
toward the end of the eighteenth century.
The next phase, the era of constitutionalism in the twentieth century, was
characterized by the ulama’s efforts to limit the ruler’s powers by way of a
constitution to ensure that the legislation approved conformed to Islamic
dictates. The jurists assumed only a supervisory role in this model, because
they opined that all forms of government were imperfect (due to the messianic
Imam’s concealment) and that any form of government may constitute
usurping his exclusive right to govern.
The phase of aspiring to establish an Islamic state began with Khomeini,
who joined the political discourse in 1944 by publishing Kashf al-asrar. In it,
he severely criticized and refuted Ahmad Kasravi, a former clergyman who
had become a vociferous critic of the clerical institution and Islam, not to
mention an ardent supporter of the shah and his arbitrary and despotic mode
of governance. He called for a supervisory role for the jurists, but without any
direct involvement in the state apparatus, to ensure that the country is gov-
erned within the framework of Islam which promotes the maximum public
welfare and benefit. This stance is very similar to the one taken by the Con-
stitutionalists, such as Mirza Hosein Na’ini (d. 1936). With the progression of
time he became a vocal critic of the regime. He berated the shah for granting
immunity to American personnel and their dependents without a reciprocal
arrangement for the Iranians: “Even if the Shah himself were to run over a
dog belonging to an American, he would be prosecuted. But if an American
cook runs over the Shah, the head of state, no one will have the right to
interfere with him.”78 Khomeini was exiled in 1964, first to Turkey and after
a few months later to Najaf, Iraq, which had a long tradition of Shi‘i scho-
larship. In 1970, he presented a series of lectures on his view of an Islamic
state in which authority devolves upon the jurisconsult as the Mahdi’s indirect
deputy, the one entrusted with implementing the Islamic legal rulings and
serving as the public’s guardian and custodian.79 In his Najaf lectures of
1970, Khomeini proclaimed: “The governance of the faqih is a rational and
extrinsic matter; it exists only as a type of appointment, like the appointment of
a guardian for a minor. With respect to duty and position, there is indeed no
difference between the guardian of a nation and the guardian of a minor.”80
This mindset was reinforced after the revolution by such figures as Ayatollah
Ahmed Jannati, chair of the Guardian Council: “The people of Iran are
considered in [view of Islamic] law, as orphans and minors, and Islamic
scholars and clerics are their guardian and parents, who have to see to all of
16 Introduction
their needs.”81 Khomeini further expanded that person’s scope of power and
authority in 1988 with his theory of the jurisconsult’s full-fledged authority,
according to which the jurist enjoyed the same authority as the infallible
divine guides and had the discretionary authority to temporarily abrogate
such primary Islamic injunctions as the daily prayers and the Ramadan fast.
Thus we observe that the ulama’s initial passive and withdrawn attitude
toward politics was followed by one of questioning the monarchy’s legitimacy
and subsequent attempts to reduce the inevitable illegitimacy by constraining

the ruler’s power through a constitution. Acceptance of ijtihad82 and taqlid,83
along with the process of deputization available through general deputyship
(al-niyabat al-‘amma) and special deputyship (al-niyabat al-khassa) of the
Twelfth Imam as a correlate to the process of designating the divine guides,
facilitated this transference of charisma. This process eventually culminated in
the full-fledged authority of the jurisconsult (al-wilayat al-mutlaqa li-l-faqih),
as expounded upon by Khomeini.84
The most recent phase of critical interrogation of wilayat al-faqih that
sought different paradigms in which the public would have sovereignty and
the leaders would be held accountable, commenced after the election of
Muhammad Khatami as the president in 1997;85 it gained greater urgency
after the disputed and suspicious 2009 presidential elections that returned
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to power with a massive victory of
62 percent of the votes. The government’s high-handed and brutal handling of
the peaceful protesters has moved the ensuing movement from questioning
the integrity of the election results to challenging the Islamic state’s very
legitimacy.
Contemporary Challenges to a Historical-Critical Study

of the Imamate
It would not be an exaggeration to state that the Imamate’s centrality in the
Shi‘a worldview has resulted in great sensitivity and apprehension among the
Shi‘is and their traditional scholars whenever it is subjected to scrutiny and
critical historical analysis. The result has been a minimal tolerance for dissent,
in contrast to deliberations on prophethood (nubuwwa) or even God’s unity
(tawhid).86 This reality led H. Landolt to remark:
It is for these reasons that walayah, and not the profession of monothe-
ism (tawhid) as in Sunni Islam, appears as the principal “pillar of Islam”
in the classical collections of Shi‘i traditions, both those of the Ithna
‘Ashariyah, or Twelvers (e.g., al-Kulayni, d. 940), and those of the Fati-
mid Isma‘iliyah (e.g., Qadi al-Nu‘man, d. 974), who follow a common
line of imams up to Ja‘far al-Sadiq (d. 765).87
Ayatollah Muhammad Husayn Fadlalla of Lebanon was severely censured

and rebuked by some of the religious authorities at the Qum seminary
Introduction 17
(howze) for critically reassessing the divine guides’ infallibility (‘isma); histor-
icizing the interpretation of the Ghadir Khumm hadith; scrutinizing the
divine guides’ al-wilayat al-takwiniyya (comprehensive and creative author-
ity); calling for a reevaluation of the purported historical incident in which
Fatima, the Prophet’s daughter, is reported to have suffered a miscarriage due
to ‘Umar’s storming open her house’s front door; his views on gender justice
and other issues; and contesting the rulings of previous jurists, even if it is
claimed that they had reached consensus on a particular issue. This break
from tradition, this questioning of well-established theological, legal, and
historical positions, resulted in virulent fatwas against him from Ayatollahs
Wahid Khorasani, Fazil Lankarani (d. 2007), Bashir Husayn Najafi, Husayn
Nuri Hamadani, Muhammad Taqi Behjat (d. 2009), Taqi Qummi, Jawad
Tabrizi (d. 2006), and other leading jurists. Tabrizi referred to him as one who
has been misled and thus causes people to deviate from the path of truth,
namely, Shi‘ism. Others accused him of being an apostate and a heretic, an
agent of America scheming to create havoc and disarray within the Shi‘i
world. Ayatollah Behjat denounced him for being a bona fide Wahhabi pre-
pared to compromise Shi‘ism’s integrity in order to accommodate Sunnism.
Supposedly, his ultimate goal was to bring about the Shi‘ism’s disintegration
from within through his strong advocacy of ecumenism between the two
schools in the pursuit of mutual tolerance and understanding. Ayatollah Ali
Sistani allegedly questioned Fadlalla’s scholarly credentials upon his procla-
mation of himself as marja‘.88 Eminent jurists have also tacitly approved the
publication of several books written to refute Fadlalla’s views and method-
ology, by remaining silent during the vitriolic discourse and denigration
launched against him.89
A major catalyst leading to this vociferous campaign of ostracism and
excommunication was his call for greater scrutiny and rigor in examining the
historical sources, especially the incident of Fatima’s reported miscarriage.
Apparently, ‘Umar acted in this rash manner after his persistent demands
that Ali come outside and pledge allegiance to Abu Bakr were ignored. This
campaign against Fadlalla also had other contributing factors: his stance on
the infallibility of the Prophet and the Imams as well as the practice of self-
flagellation during Muharram to commemorate Imam Husayn’s martyrdom
on the plains of Karbala, Iraq.
He held that the divine guides are infallible and insulated from committing
errors while functioning as guides and leaders in transmitting (tabligh) Islam
or in matters that require reflection; however, they may be susceptible to
inadvertent error (khata’) or forgetfulness (sahw) in other matters, such as in
their private lives or in performing the ritual prayers. If this were to happen, it
would not bring any discredit upon them.90 Shaykh Saduq (d. 991) argued
that the prophets and Imams were protected from minor and major sins, but
that such protection did not extend to being distracted while praying.
According to him, the sign of the exaggerators (ghulat) of faith is their denial
that the prophets can be distracted during prayer.91 Fadlalla ruled that
18 Introduction
self-flagellation is prohibited because self-inflicted harm, no matter how
insignificant, is impermissible and, moreover, conveys a negative image of
Islam to the general public. Instead, one ought to keep the Ahl al-Bayt’s92
message alive by showing one’s loyalty and devotion to them by implement-
ing their teachings, way of life and conduct, and virtues in one’s personal life.
He wrote of his awareness that many jurists deem self-flagellation permissible
and that some even consider it recommended.93 His assertion that the ziyarat-e
Ashura is of questionable and dubious authenticity only aggravated the

crisis further. This ziyara, which is recited on the day of Imam Husayn’s
martyrdom (Muharram 10), contains curses against the first three caliphs in a
convoluted manner but does not mention their names. Given that the Sunnis
revere these caliphs, demonizing them is a source of great strife and animos-
ity. The conservative and traditional circles’ systematic campaign against him
has been dubbed the “sedition prompted by Fadlalla” (fetne-ye Fadlalla). He
died in July 2010, after a prolonged illness, at the age of 75.
In reaction to this critical approach to the Imamate, Ayatollah Hasan
Zadeh Amoli, a prominent scholar in Qum, put forth a sentimental, reac-
tionary, and somewhat radical proposal: the testimony of faith that Fatima is
the Prophet’s daughter and also infallible (ma‘sum) should be added to the
call to prayers (adhan) as an expression of one’s devotion to her. It would not,
however, be considered an integral part of the adhan, but rather as something
added, just as Ali’s name was added, in the hope that God would be pleased
(raja’ and tabarruk) with this act. When it was asserted that doing so
would be an innovation (bid‘a), he responded that such a charge would be
inaccurate because he was not claiming that this new testimony constitutes
part of the adhan. Rather, this insertion would be analogous to people send-
ing benedictions and blessings upon Muhammad when they hear his name
mentioned in the adhan. Furthermore, he argued, such a thing is neither
viewed as unacceptable in all schools of thought nor does it interrupt or
rupture the adhan’s flow (mawalat). The formula he proposed was ashhadu
anna sayyadita-na Fatima bint rasul Allah, ‘ismat Allah al-kubra wa hujjat
Allah ‘alay hujaj (I bear witness that the revered Lady Fatima is the daughter
of the Messenger of God, infallible, and a proof of God over the other
proofs [i.e., the 12 divine guides]) after the testimony that Ali is the beloved
of God.94
Dr. Abdulaziz A. Sachedina, holder of the IIIT Chair in Islamic Studies at the
Ali Vural Ak Center for Global Islamic Studies at George Mason University
has been the target of a similar systematic propaganda campaign to bar him
from addressing the Muslim community. His books on the concept of the Mahdi
(the awaited savior) and religious pluralism, along with his articles and tran-
scribed speeches, were presented to Sistani in Najaf during August 1998. Sache-
dina attempted to defend his writings and statements; however the Ayatollah,
who was not prepared to engage in any lengthy discourse with him, suggested
that he draft a statement in which he would voluntarily undertake not to write or
give an opinion on Islam. Sachedina declined this request on the grounds
Introduction 19
that working under such constraints would both compromise the integrity of his
conscience and scholarship and prevent him from functioning effectively in the
academy. The Ayatollah was prepared to pay half of Sachedina’s salary if he
would resign from the university. As the parties could not reach a satisfactory
compromise, Sistani admonished the community not to provide Sachedina
with a platform from which he could speak on Islam or consult him on such
matters, and made it categorically clear that the professor had been led astray
by his academic research out of love for the material world and his ego.95 The
Shi‘i community, especially the Shi‘i Khojas, interpreted this admonition as a
binding edict or a legal ruling (fatwa) that had to be implemented on the
grounds of emulation (taqlid).96
The translation into Persian and subsequent circulation of Dr. Hossein
Modarressi Tabataba’i’s English-language Crisis and Consolidation in the
Formative Period of Shi‘ite Thought97 (Darwin Press: 1993) among tradition-
alist scholars in Iran engendered a swift reprimand and rebuke for his critical
analysis of the Imamate and questioning of several sensitive issues (e.g., the
Imams’ infallibility and comprehensive knowledge in the Seen and the
Unseen realms). The severity and profound impact of this censure appear to
have prompted Modarressi to add a foreword to the revised version of the
Persian translation (published in 2007), in which he recounts his adversaries’
unethical practices and lack of civility and states that any traits of arrogance,
self-righteousness, and dogmatism prevent scholars from engaging in an open
discourse without fear of persecution and demonization. He laments this state
of affairs, for it is clearly antithetical to the scholarly climate and culture that
reigned during the early Islamic era, a time when diverse opinions were
embraced under the rubric of ijtihad and the awareness that existing historical
accounts and hadith reports were replete with errors inadvertently made by
the scribes as well as intentional fabrications designed to serve a particular
interest group.98
In his estimation, constructive criticism is imperative and constitutes the
basis upon which knowledge and understanding may be advanced; however, it
should remain confined within the boundaries of professionalism and moral
decency so that it will not degenerate into slander and character assassina-
tion. Intellectuals who never alter their opinions on academic issues are, in all
likelihood, trying to avoid and/or ignore any fresh and critical research or else
are terrified of any potential backlash from the laity. In such a scenario, the
public ends up leading (pishwa) the scholars on the basis of sentiment and
fervor, rather than the scholars leading the laity based on their knowledge,
wisdom, and moderation.99
Some courageous jurists have decided not to capitulate to public pressure.
For example, Ayatollah Muhsin al-Hakim (d. 1970) prohibited striking one-
self with a sword or knife (qam-e zadan) in commemoration of the tragedy of
Karbala,100 and Mulla Habibullah Kashani (d. 1921) was declared an
unbeliever (kafir) merely for ruling that protected religious minorities (ahl
al-dhimma) are ritually pure (tahir).101 Mulla Muhammad Taqi Nuri (d. 1838),
20 Introduction
father of the author of the major hadith work Mustadrak al-wasa’il al-Shi‘a
and a jurist of good repute, was stigmatized as a person of lax morals and
one who engages in debauchery (fasiq) merely for ruling that smoking during
the day while one is fasting does not break (muftir) the fast’s validity.102 Even
though some of these issues are marginal and do not deal with core beliefs, the
public’s anger can be merciless and prone to exploitation by demagogues
against the dissenting jurist. Given this reality, some of them opt to remain
silent when confronted with sensitive or emotive issues.

Modarressi argues that his approach, writing as an outsider seeking to cri-
tically analyze the Imamate based upon the historical accounts, should not be
confused with a confessional approach, for he is not trying to explicate and
interrogate his own religious worldview (mabani-ye ‘aqidati).103 He has not
the slightest doubt of this doctrine’s authenticity and in the presence of the
Twelfth Imam, both of which constitute pillars of the Shi‘i belief system. As
a matter of fact, he believes he has had the honor of feeling this Imam’s
presence by the Grace of God.104 But he does see a hazard: Shi‘ism might
drift away from the path of moderation if the Imamate discourse becomes
emotional rather than being limited to rational proofs, explicit Qur’anic texts,
and authentic hadiths.
In the not too distant past, Dr. Ali Shariati realized that his rising fame
and following placed his speeches and writings under the traditionalists’ close
scrutiny to ensure that they conformed to the “orthodox” opinion. In parti-
cular, his statements on the Imamate and succession; khums (religious dues),
an important source of revenue for the religious establishment; the concepts
of infallibility, intercession (shafa‘at), and dissimulation (taqiyya); and the
utility of grieving over the tragedy of Karbala were viewed as problematic.
The ensuing pressure was so great that he produced 22 statements to clarify
his view on the Imamate, stated that he believes wholeheartedly in the suc-
cession and wilaya of Ali and the other 11 Imams, and addressed many other
issues. Remarkably, he made it vividly clear that unconditional obedience to
the infallible divine guides is due to their access to divine grace and revelation.
Thus jurists, who are not infallible, cannot demand that the public follow
them uncritically and unquestioningly; rather, they should be consulted only
on matters related to their expertise. Finally, the society’s form of government
and method of choosing its leader rests with the public during the Twelfth
Imam’s concealment because such matters have not been explicitly vested in
the jurists.105 This position is analogous to that of Lebanon’s Muhammad
Mahdi Shamsuddin.
Sunni–Shi‘i Strife
Recent flare-ups in Sunni–Shi‘i sectarian tension in Kuwait and Bahrain are
due to Shaykh Yasser Habib’s derogatory remarks about Ayesha, one of the
Prophet’s wives, as “an enemy of God.” In 2003 he was imprisoned in Kuwait
for cursing Abu Bakr, ‘Umar, and Ayesha. Upon his release and pardon by
Introduction 21
the amir in early 2004, he fled to England.106 In this recent encounter, the
Kuwaiti government quickly revoked his citizenship, underlining the great
esteem and reverence in which the Sunnis hold Ayesha. The rector of Egypt’s
al-Azhar University also expressed his dismay and revulsion. Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei quickly sought to defuse the crisis by ruling: “We prohibit insulting
the symbols of our Sunni brothers, as well as accusing the wife of the Prophet
of what affects her dignity and honor. Moreover, it is forbidden to insult any
of the wives of the prophets and especially their master the Great Prophet
[Muhammad].”107
Iran has been at the forefront of attempting to minimize the sectarian ani-
mosity in its external (secondary) discourse to consolidate its strength with
the Sunnis in its confrontation with the West. However, its inner (primary)
discourse favors the intensification of sectarian identity and “otherizing”
all Sunnis, both at home and abroad. For example, the country’s Sunni lea-
ders have often complained of persecution and a lack of religious freedom as
well as government interference in their children’s religious education and in
setting up their seminary curriculum.108 This conflicting stance and dual
policy is also reflected in Khomeini’s Last Will and Testament, which begins
with the oft-repeated hadith of Ghadir Khumm advanced by the Shi‘is as
categorical proof in favor of the Prophet’s explicit designation of Ali as his
successor.109 The unconditional love (mahabba) and obedience (taslim) of the
Imams (walaya), along with dissociating oneself from those who are inimical
to the Ahl al-Bayt (tabarri), are central pivots in the Shi‘i worldview and, as
such, the sectarian fissures will persist. In the past, state leaders have both
magnified and minimized sectarian differences for the purpose of expediency
and promoting vested interests. It is worth noting that Fadlalla of Lebanon
issued a similar decree in March 2008 and again in September 2010 as part of
his efforts to encourage rapprochement and mutual respect by distancing each
party from divisive and fragmentary practices and issues that only increase
mutual hatred and animosity.110
The preachers’ excesses and exaggerations (ghuluww) are frequently moti-
vated by a desire to satisfy and appease the laity, many of whom are steeped
in sectarian polemics, which produces a culture of fervent mutual demoniza-
tion and dehumanization. The Sunnis, who view Shi‘i practices as adulterat-
ing Islam and bordering on polytheism, issue fatwas that the latter are
unbelievers, polytheists, innovators, and unpatriotic because their loyalty is, in
the final analysis, to Iran.111 The Shi‘is reciprocate by condemning them for
usurping Ali’s right of succession and injuring and harassing Fatima, whose
displeasure, in the hadith reports, is said to be equivalent to displeasing the
Prophet. This issuance of fatwas of unbelief against each other is known as
takfir.
In this ongoing polemical discourse, the issues of succession and the Ima-
mate are used to determine whether one is a believer or not. For example,
Muhammad Baqir al-Wahid al-Bihbahani (d. 1205) categorically states that
those who deny (munkir) the Imamate and do not love (mawadda) the divine
22 Introduction
guides are unbelievers who cannot receive zakat or any respect (‘adam
al-ihtiram); in fact, one cannot even bless them when they sneeze.112 In his
estimation, those who deny the divine guides’ wilaya are more evil than
Christians and Jews and one should not associate with them, for:
[O Prophet], you will not find people who truly believe in God and the
Last Day giving their loyalty to those who oppose God and His Mes-
senger, even though they may be their fathers, sons, brothers, or other
relations. These are the people in whose hearts God has inscribed faith
and whom He has strengthened with His spirit.
(Q. 58:22)
Sharif Murtada’s position is similar: cognizance (ma‘rifa) of the Imams is of

equal importance and just as necessary as cognizance of prophethood.113 In
his al-Makasib, Shaykh Ansari asserts that one is allowed to gossip and
backbite (ghiba) the Sunnis because they are not entitled to any respect
(ihtiram) or the rights of brotherhood (ukhuwwa) on account of denying
wilaya.114
A more recent example can be found in the lecture notes of Ayatollah Abu
al-Qasim al-Khu’i, where he states that the collective evidence from the
hadith, ziyarat, and supplications (ad‘iyya) is so conclusive that it leaves no
room for doubt or ambiguity concerning the Sunnis’ unbelief (kufr) because
they have denied and failed to confirm wilaya (la shubha fi kufri-him li anna
inkar wilayat al-a’imma … yujiba al-kufr wa-l-zandaqa … ).115 In addition,
one should disassociate and withdraw (bara’a) from them, for they are
the unbelievers (kafirun) and polytheists (mushrikun) mentioned in the Ziyarat
al-jami‘a: “One who opposes you is an unbeliever, one who fights against you
is a polytheist, and one who rebuffs you will be consigned to the lowest level
of hell” (“wa man jahada-kum kafir wa man haraba-kum mushrik wa man
radda ‘alay-kum fi asfal darak min al-jahim”) and “whoever acknowledges His
Unity accepts it from you” (“wa man wahhada-hu qabila ‘an-kum”).116
Accordingly, one can backbite, slander, and defame, as well as suspect, all of
those who fall into such categories.
But this opinion does not agree with the hadith reports attributed to the
divine guides, in which they classify people as mu’min, kafir, and musta-
d‘af.117 The last category applies to those who have not acknowledged their
wilaya due to ignorance, rather than due to personal animosity.118 God will
determine the destiny of these “weaklings” or “people of weak perception”
(mustad‘af) on the Day of Judgment in accordance with His Will, and thus
no one has a right to interfere in this divine judgment.119 The Fifth Imam
censures Zurara for maintaining that there are only two categories of people—
believers (mu’minun) and unbelievers (kafirun)—and dismisses this short-
sightedness as arising from his youth and immaturity.120 The Imam is thus
paving the way for an accommodation with those Sunnis who are not
engaged in hostile acts against the divine guides.
Introduction 23
In Muhammad b. Ya‘qub al-Kulayni’s al-Kafi, the first major collection of
Shi‘i hadiths compiled in the early tenth century, the divine guides are pre-
sented as being quite tolerant and accommodating toward Sunnis who, out of
ignorance, fail to acknowledge their wilaya. The Sixth Imam castigates his
disciple, Hashim Sahib al-Barid, for exhibiting the characteristics of the
Kharijis in his eagerness to consign people to hellfire on account of not
accepting the wilaya. In other words, they are portrayed as trying to rein in
and control their overzealous supporters. He concludes by underlining the

Imams’ ultimate authority in all matters by reminding his disciples that they
can say only that which they have heard from the divine guide: “a-ma inna-hu
sharr ‘alay-kum an taqulu bi-shay’ ma lam tasma‘u-hu minna.”121
Intolerant statements against the Sunnis are not the norm, as they are
accorded the status of muslim, but not mu’min,122 in terms of the ladder of
faith. This is how some Shi‘i scholars bridge the sectarian divide for the sake
of Muslim cohesion and unity in an attempt to maintain social relations with
the larger community. As such, both agree that one enters Islam by confirm-
ing one’s belief in one God and the messengership of His Prophet, which
legitimize intra-Muslim marriages and the consumption of meat slaughtered
by each other.
The Saved Sect (al-Firqat al-Najiya)

A hadith of dubious authenticity states that the Prophet reportedly said that
after his death his community will divide into 73 sects, out of which only one
will attain salvation (al-firqat al-najiya); the rest will perish and be consigned
to hellfire.123 This prompted those polemicists who wrote on sects (firaq) to
divide groups in such a way that the final tally would be 73 and, of course, the
author’s own sect was the “saved” one. This hadith, which has been recorded
in multiple works and reported through multiple channels of transmission, is
therefore accorded by scholars of both branches a high degree of probable
soundness and validity. For instance, al-Tirmidhi, al-Ghazali, al-Suyuti, Ibn
Taymiyya, and al-Shatibi consider it to be sound (sahih); Hakim al-Nishapuri,
Ibn Kathir, Fayd al-Kashani, and ‘Abd al-Qahhar al-Baghdadi point out that
it has reached us through many independent chains of transmissions (asanid).
A critical investigation, however, demonstrates that many of these chains are
weak or contain an unknown person. Moreover, its structure and various
wordings reflect enough difference to cast doubt upon its authenticity.
The polemical context prevailing after Muhammad’s death encouraged the
fabrication of such hadiths. Interestingly, some of them enumerate the saved
group’s characteristics with a precision that perfectly fits the specific narrator’s
worldview. As expected, Sunni sources stress the necessity of abiding by those
views that have obtained consensus within the community and by those
coming from the Companions: “When [Muhammad was] asked which was
the one that would attain salvation he replied, ‘Those who follow the sunna
and the congregation.’ He was further asked, ‘What is the sunna and the
24 Introduction
congregation?’ He replied, ‘That which I and my companions practice.’”124
The Shi‘i versions emphasize the absolute necessity of remaining obedient,
loyal, and devoted to the infallible divine guides; to love them and detest their
enemies; and not to question their opinions, regardless of whether they are
rationally tenable or not. Some of these notions are of much later origin,
which suggests that the hadiths dealing with the “saved” sect were concocted
and placed into the Prophet’s mouth to give credence and validity to one
group and discredit its opponents.

Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (d. 1111) tried to constrain those who were quick to
declare their opponents to be unbelievers, even on secondary issues. For him,
a “true” believer must testify to Islam’s fundamental doctrines: monotheism
(tawhid), prophethood (nubuwwa), and the Day of Judgment (qiyama). This
provides a basis to include the Shi‘is among the believers, even though they
disagree with the Sunnis over the succession and Imamate:
Know, however, that error regarding the status of the Caliphate, whether
or not establishing this office is a (communal) obligation, who qualifies
for it, and related matters, cannot serve as grounds for condemning
people as Unbelievers. Indeed, Ibn Kaysan denied that there was any
religious obligation to have a Caliphate at all; but this does not mean that
he must be branded an Unbeliever. Nor do we pay any attention to those
who exaggerate the matter of the Imamate and equate recognition of the
Imam with faith in God and His Messenger. Nor do we pay any attention
to those who oppose these people and brand them Unbelievers simply on
the basis of their doctrine on Imamate. Both of these positions are
extreme. For neither of the doctrines in question entails any claim that
the Prophet perpetrated lies.125
Accommodation efforts notwithstanding, as well as pragmatic efforts by the

Shi‘is to reduce and mitigate the polemical and hostile discourse by con-
sidering the Sunnis as muslim but not mu’min, the fact remained that these
compromises were forced upon the Shi‘is since they regarded themselves as
the privileged and the spiritual elite (khassa), as opposed to the common
people (‘amma). Their distinctive and unique sectarian identity and confidence
in salvific efficacy through the intercession of the divine guides is based on the
all-comprehensive notion of wilaya/walaya. This constitutes the foundation
and the basis of their worldview, the importance and significance of which is
best captured by the fact that walaya was counted as one of the “Pillars
(da‘aim) if not the Pillar of Islam:”126 “Islam is built upon five elements:
canonical prayers, alms, the fast, pilgrimage to Mecca and walaya. More than
the others, it is to the latter that people are called and the people accepted the
(first) four and abandoned the last.”127 Belief in it is a prerequisite or a key
(miftah) to the acceptance of one’s good deeds and entry into the Grace of
God such that, says the Fifth Imam:
Introduction 25
if a man were to spend the entire night praying and all day fasting, offer
all his possessions as alms and all the time he has to making the pil-
grimage, but not recognize walaya of the wali of God, in order to
undertake all his actions as guided by the latter, well then God would not
reward him at all and he is not considered among the people of the faith
(ahl al-iman).128
Amir-Moezzi recounts many of the traditions on wilaya from Usul al-kafi that
are related on the authority of the Fifth and the Sixth Imams and provides a
systematic and penetrating understanding of this concept, which eventually
became an integral part of the shahada (the triple profession of faith in
Shi‘ism).129 The centrality and expansive scope of walaya/wilaya of the
Imam, which defines the worldview and ethos of the Shi‘ism, is the subject of
the next chapter.
Notes
1 Most likely referring to Ali.
2 Wilferd Madelung, The Succession to Muhammad (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1997), 30.
3 S. Hussain M. Jafri, Origins and Early Development of Shi‘a Islam (London:
Longman Group and Librairie du Liban, 1979), 19.
4 Muhammad Mahdi Shamsuddin (d. 2001) provides a new orientation to this event’s
significance by emphasizing the announcement’s political dimension: Ghadir Khumm
was intended to provide a formula by which the community could establish a just
and equitable government and social order. Muhammad Mahdi Shamsuddin,
Dirasat wa mawaqif fi-l-din wa-l-siyasa wa-l-mujtama‘ (Beirut: al- Mu’assasat
al-dawla li-l-dirasat wa-l-nashr, 1999), 2:357.
5 Sa‘a al-Din al-Taftazani, A Commentary on the Creed of Najm al-Din al-Nasafi,
trans. Earl Edgar Elder (New York: Columbia University Press, 1950), 143.
6 People are prone to conjecture (Q. 6:116), lacking in profound knowledge (5:103,
7:187, and 49:4), and ungrateful (Q. 7:17; 12:38). al-Hasan b. Mutahhar al-Hilli,
Kashf al-murad fi sharh al-Tajrid al-i‘tiqad, edited with footnotes by Ja‘far Sob-
hani (Qum: Mu’assasat al-Imam al-Sadiq, 2003), 239–42. See also Khalid Y.
Blankinship, “Imarah, Khilafah, and Imamah: The Origins of the Succession to
the Prophet Muhammad,” in Lynda Clarke (ed.), Shi‘ite Heritage: Essays on
Classical and Modern Traditions (New York: Global Publications, 2001), 36.
7 Ali Shariati, Ali: Selection and/or Election (Houston: Free Islamic Literatures,
Inc., n.d.), 1.
8 Mohammad Ali Amir-Moezzi, The Divine Guide in Early Shi‘ism: The Sources of
Esotericism in Islam, trans. David Streight (Albany: SUNY, 1994), 23.
9 On the various definitions and significance of “imam” in Sunni Islam and the
ancient schools of Islamic law, see Norman Calder, “The Structure of Authority
in Imami Shi‘i Jurisprudence,” Ph.D. Dissertation (London: SOAS, 1980), 1–23
and Muhammad Rafii Yunus, “The Necessity of Imamah According to Twelver-
Shi‘ism: With Special Reference to Tajrid al-I‘tiqad of Nasir al-Din al-Tusi,”
M.A. Thesis (Montreal: McGill University, 1976), 8–26.
10 Muhammad Taqi al-Majlisi, ‘Allama Muhammad Baqir al-Majlisi’s father,
regards dissociation (bara‘a) from the Sunnis as part of usul al-din. See his
Lawami‘ (Qum: Matbu‘at Isma‘iliyyan, 1994), 4:400.
26 Introduction
11 For a discussion on the progressive shift and modification in the conception of
the Imamate in Sunni Islam from the time of Shafi‘i to Baqillani, see Calder,
“The Structure of Authority in Imami Shi‘i Jurisprudence,” 34–40. The Imam’s
duties were confined to the executive domain, and the umma was promoted as
Islam’s custodian, guarantor, and exponent.
12 Muhammad b. Ya‘qub b. Ishaq al-Kulayni, al-Usul min al-kafi (Arabic with Per-
sian commentary and translation), edited and translated by S. Jawad Mustafawi
(Tehran: Daftar-e nashr-e farhang-e ahl-e bayt, n.d.) (4th volume is edited and
translated by Hashem Rasuli, Tehran: Entesharat-e masjed-e chaharda ma‘sum,
1966), 2:315 (Kitab al hujja, Bab anna al-a‘imma muhaddathun mufahhamun).

13 Mahmoud Ayoub, “The Speaking Qur’an and the Silent Qur’an: A Study of the
Principles and Development of Imami Shi‘i Tafsir,” in Andrew Rippin (ed.),
Approaches to the History of the Interpretation of the Qur’an (Oxford: Clarendon
Press, 1988), 184–85.
14 Muhammad Taqi al-Hakim, al-Usul al-‘amma li-l-fiqh al-muqarin (Qum: Mu’as-
sasa al al-bayt, 1979), 144; Muhammad Rida al-Muzaffar, Usul al-fiqh (Najaf:
Dar al-Nu‘man, 1967), 3:61. An important criterion for validating a hadith is its
agreement with the Qur’an. Any conflict renders it invalid; if its validity is
somehow inconclusive, it must be set aside and left unjudged out of reverence and
respect that it really might have originated from the divine guides but cannot be
accurately understood by the human intellect. See, Kulayni, Kafi, 1:9 (Muqad-
dama); Muzaffar, Usul al-fiqh, 3:209–61 on conflicting traditions (al-ta‘adul wa-l-
tarajih). Wael B. Hallaq analyzes how the Sunnis use tarjih at the level of theoretical
formulation and the derivation of applied law in his Authority, Continuity and
Change in Islamic Law (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001), 126–32, 153.
15 Muhammad b. ‘Abd al-Karim al-Shahrastani, Muslim Sects and Divisions (Kitab
al-milal wa-l-nihal), trans. A. K. Kazi and J. G. Flynn (London: Kegan Paul
International, 1984), 19.
16 Madelung, The Succession to Muhammad, 1.
17 ‘Abd al-Razzaq Fayyad Lahiji, Gowhar-e morad (Tehran: Vezarat-e farhang va
ershad-e Eslami, 1993), 465–66.
18 Blankinship, “Imarah, Khilafah, and Imamah,” 43.
19 Ahmad Amini, Sharh jami‘ Tajrid al-i‘tiqad (comprises Nasir al-Din al-Tusi’s
Tajrid al-i‘tiqad, ‘Allama Hilli’s Kashf al-Murad, and Hashim Husayni Tehrani’s
Tawdih al-Murad, but only on the section of Imamate—volume 6) (Qum: Murtada,
1999), 37.
20 Ibid.
21 Muhammad b. Muhammad b. al-Nu‘man (Shaykh Mufid), “al-Muqni‘a,” in
Musannafat Shaykh al-Mufid, 14 vols. (Qum: Mu’assasat al-nashr al-Islami,
1992), 14:44. He asserts that, based on consensus of the Shi‘i scholars, the same
decree applies to one who denies even one of the divine guides: “Ittafaqat al-
Imamiyya,” in his work, Awa’il al-maqalat (Tehran: McGill University and Uni-
versity of Tehran, 1993), 7; Muhammad Baqir al-Majlisi, Bihar al-anwar, 2nd
edition (Beirut: Mu’assasat al-wafa’, 1983), 8:366.
22 Mufid, “al-Muqni‘a,” 14:85. Abu al-Salah al-Halabi (d. 1055) expressed a similar
view in al-Kafi fi-l-fiqh (Isfahan: Maktabat al-imam amir al-mu’minin Ali,
1980), 157.
23 These same letimotifs are also present in the sermon delivered in Kufa by Hasan
b. Ali after the assassination of his father Ali b. Abi Talib.
24 Abu Ja‘far Muhammad b. Jarir al-Tabari, The History of al-Tabari: The Caliphate
of Yazid b. Mu‘awiyah, trans. I. K. A. Howard (Albany, N.Y.: 1990), 26.
25 Ibid., 32, with some modification. This notion of exclusive entitlement by virtue
of designation (nass), inherited knowledge (‘ilm), trusteeship, and walaya/wilaya is
a recurring concept from the time of Ali, the First divine guide or Imam.
Introduction 27
26 Up until Khomeini’s assumption of the title imam to enhance his image and sta-
ture in relation to his peers, along with suggesting some kind of a special con-
nection with the occulted Imam, it was consistently employed in Iran and South
Asia to refer to the infallible divine guides and not the jurisconsult. However, the
Arabs used this title to refer to a preeminent and distinguished religious scholar.
27 Hasan b. al-Mutahhar al-Hilli, al-Babu l-Hadi ‘Ashar: A Treatise on the Principles
of Shi‘ite Theology, with commentary by Miqdad-i Fadil al-Hilli, trans. William
McElwee Miller (London: Royal Asiatic Society,1958), 62.
28 Najafi, Sharh jami‘, 9–10.
29 Wadad al-Qadi, “The Term ‘Khalifa’ in Early Exegetical Literature,” Die Welt
des Islams, 28/1–4 (1988): 409.
30 Qamar-ud-din Khan, Al-Mawardi’s Theory of the State (Lahore: Islamic Book
Foundation, 1983), 3.
31 Taftazani, A Commentary on the Creed of Najm al-Din al-Nasafi, 143.
32 Hilli, Kashf al-murad, ed. Sobhani, 187–88.
33 For a critical and exhaustive analysis of this subject, refer to ‘Abd al-Husayn al-
Amini, al-Ghadir fi-l-Kitab wa-l-sunna wa-l-adab (Tehran: Dar al-kutub al-Islamiyya,
1987), 7:141–52.
34 Hilli, Kashf al-murad, ed. Sobhani, 184–86.
35 Mahmud Heydari Agha’i et al., Ta’rikh-e tashayyo‘ (Qum: Pazhuheshgah-e
howze va daneshga, 2006), 18–20.
36 Kulayni, Kafi, 1:252, hadith no. 10 (Kitab al-hujja, Bab anna al-ard la takhlu min
hujja). The Imam is “the mystical pole (qotb) of the world; if he ceased to exist,
the world of man would collapse. Man cannot survive as man if he loses his polar
dimension.” Roberts Avens, “Corbin’s Interpretation of Imamology and Sufism,”
Hamdard Islamicus, 11/2 (Summer 1988): 69.
37 Mulla Sadra, Sharh Usul al-kafi and Mafatih al-ghayb (Tehran: Maktabat al-
mahmudi, 1971), 467. His commentary is partial and ends with Kitab al-hujja,
Bab anna al-a’imma wulat amr Allah wa khazanah.
38 Khan, Al-Mawardi’s Theory, 33–38.
39 In Sunni Islam, this is established strictly on traditional grounds.
40 Hilli, al-Babu l-Hadi ‘Ashar, 62–63.
41 Ibid., 40–41.
42 Ibid., 40.
43 Hilli, Kashf al-murad, ed. Sobhani, fn. 1, 56–57.
44 A. Kevin Reinhart, Before Revelation: The Boundaries of Muslim Moral Thought
(Albany: SUNY, 1995), 7.
45 Amir-Moezzi, The Divine Guide, 19. According to Amir-Moezzi, Shaykh Mufid
is an example of an Imami scholar who rationalizes Shi‘i doctrine from its origi-
nal esoteric nature. See the excellent study by Martin J. McDermott, The Theology
of al-Shaykh al-Mufid (Beirut: Dar el-Machreq, 1978).
46 Heydar Amoli (d. 1385) laments that Shi‘i scholars and laypeople have ignored
Shi‘ism’s esoteric tradition for so long that “statements of this kind have never
reached their ears or been uttered by their tongues.” Heydar Amoli, Kitab Nass
al-nusus fi sharh Fusus al-hikam, ed. Henry Corbin and Osman Yahia (Tehran
and Paris: Département d’Iranologie de l’Institut Franco-Iranien de Recherche,
1975), 267.
47 Kulayni, Kafi, 1:20, hadith no. 12 (Kitab al-‘aql wa-l-jahl).
48 Ibid., 1:29, hadith no. 24 (Kitab al-‘aql wa-l-jahl).
49 Ibid., 1:79, hadith no. 8 (Kitab fadl al-‘ilm, Bab al-radd ila-l-Kitab wa-l-sunna wa
anna-hu laysa shay’ min al-halal wa-l-haram).
50 See footnote nos. 22, 32, and 36, pp. 110 and 112 in Andrew J. Newman, The
Formative Period of Twelver Shi‘ism: Hadith as Discourse between Qum and
Baghdad (Richmond, Surrey, UK: Curzon Press, 2000).
28 Introduction
51 Mohammad A. Amir-Moezzi, “Only the Man of God is Human: Theology and
Mystical Anthropology According to Early Imami Exegesis,” in Etan Kohlberg
(ed.), Shi‘ism (Burlington: Ashgate, 2003), 22, fn. 17.
52 Amir-Moezzi, The Divine Guide, 19.
53 Baqer Moin, “Khomeini’s Search for Perfection: Theory and Reality,” in Ali
Rahnema (ed.), Pioneers of Islamic Revival (London: Zed Books Ltd., 1988), 76.
54 Zbigniew Brzezinski, Power and Principle (New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux,
1983), 368.
55 Morteza Motahhari, valaha va velayatha (Tehran: Entesharat-e Sadra, 2003).
56 For a discussion on Khomeini’s Islamicized version of the philosopher/king,

see Beatrice Zedler, “The Ayatollah Khomeini and his Concept of an Islamic
Republic,” International Philosophical Quarterly 21 (1981): 83–98.
57 Hossein Modarressi, Crisis and Consolidation in the Formative Period of Shi’i
Islam: Abu Ja‘far ibn Qiba al-Razi and his Contribution to Imamite Shi‘ite
Thought (Princeton: The Darwin Press, 1993), 8–10. Post-revolution publications
coming out of Iran strongly stress that even a superficial reading of Islamic tex-
tual sources demonstrates beyond a shadow of a doubt that Islam and politics
are intertwined. See Daneshnameh-ye Imam Ali, 14 vols., under the supervision of
Ali Akbar Rashad (Tehran: Sazeman-e entesharat-e pazhuheshgah-e farhang
va andishey-e Islami, 2006), vol. 6: Siyasat. This is, of course, done to buttress
the advocates of wilayat al-faqih that jurists have a mandate to participate in
the political sphere because the Prophet’s primary aim was to establish a just
society. This aim, it is argued, cannot be neglected during the Twelfth Imam’s
occultation.
58 Ali b. Abi Talib, Nahj al-balagha, compiled by Sharif al-Radi, trans. S. A. Reza
(Rome: European Islamic Cultural Centre, 1984), Sermon 3 (Khutbat al-shiqshiqiyya),
106. Another statement ascribed to him states that governing the community
is, in his estimation, worth less than his old dilapidated sandal, ibid., Sermon 33,
165: “By Allah, it [i.e., the old sandal] is more dear to me than ruling over you
but for the fact that I have to establish that which is right and ward off the
wrong” (wa-l-lah la-hiya ahabbu ilayya min imrati-kum illa an uqima haqq aw
adfa‘a batil).
59 Ibid., Sermon 91, 234–35.
60 Ibid., Sermon 27, 54; Kulayni, Kafi, 5:6 (Kitab al-jihad, Bab fadl al-jihad);
Muhammad b. Babawayh, Ma‘ani al-akhbar, ed. Ali Akbar al-Ghaffari (Qum:
Mu’assasat al-nashr al-Islami, 1995), 310.
61 Kulayni, Kafi, 2:190 (Bab fi qillat ‘adad al-mu’minin); and Muhammad Baqir al-
Sadr, The Emergence of Shi‘ism and the Shi‘ites, trans. Asaad F. Shaker (Montreal:
Imam Ali Foundation, 2006), 75–76.
62 Q. 4:59.
63 Patricia Crone and Martin Hinds argue that for the first two centuries after the
Prophet’s demise, the caliphs functioned as religious authorities and focal points
for resolving both state-related issues and questions of law and doctrine. Thus, the
bifurcation of the Sunni caliph as the political leader and the Shi‘i Imam as the reli-
gious leader is a much later phenomenon. See Patricia Crone and Martin
Hinds, God’s Caliph: Religious Authority in the First Centuries of Islam (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1986), 2, 34, and 80–82.
64 Imam Ja‘far al-Sadiq is reported to have told a disciple that the Imams possess
something as a result of which they do not need the people, but the people need
them. That “thing” is a book dictated by the Prophet and written down by Ali,
which contains all that is permissible and prohibited. Kulayni, Kafi, 1:241.
65 Hamid Dabashi, Authority in Islam: From the Rise of Muhammad to the Estab-
lishment of the Umayyads (New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers, 1989), 97–99.
The author uses a Weberian framework and typology to situate traditional
Introduction 29
Arab authority; Muhammad’s charismatic authority (al-risala al-Muhammadiyya);
and Sunni, Shi‘i, and Khariji authority. See also William Tucker, “Charismatic
Leadership and Shi‘i Sectarianism,” in Robert Olson (ed.), Islamic and Middle
Eastern Societies (Brattleboro: Amana Books, 1987), 29–40.
66 Namely, Prophets Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad.
67 Max Weber, From Max Weber: Essays in Sociology, translated, edited, and with an
introduction by H. H. Gerth and C. Wright Mills (New York: Oxford University
Press, 1946). Quoted in Dabashi, Authority in Islam, 101.
68 On this charismatic transference, see Lynda G. Clarke, “Early Doctrine of the
Shi‘ah, According to the Shi‘i Sources,” Ph.D. Dissertation (Montreal: McGill

University, 1994), 84–87.
69 Dabashi, Authority in Islam, 95.
70 Ibid., 117.
71 Devin J. Stewart, Islamic Legal Orthodoxy: Twelver Shiite Responses to the Sunni
Legal System (Salt Lake City: The University of Utah Press, 1998), Introduction.
72 Robert Gleave, Scripturalist Islam: The History and Doctrines of the Akhbari Shi‘i
School (Boston: Leiden, 2007), 4–8. Hasan b. Mutahhar al-Hilli, “‘Allama al-Hilli
on the Imamate and Ijtihad,” in S. A. Arjomand (ed.), trans. John Cooper,
Authority and Political Culture in Shi‘ism (Albany: SUNY, 1988), 240–49; and
Ahmad Kazemi Moussavi, Religious Authority in Shi‘ite Islam: From the Office of
Mufti to the Institution of Marja‘ (Kuala Lumpur: ISTAC, 1996), 61–77.
73 For an interesting discussion on the association of Maktab-e Tafqiq to the Akhbari
School, see Robert Gleave, “Continuity and Originality in Shi‘i Thought: The
Relationship between the Akhbariyya and the Maktab-e Tafkik,” in Denis
Hermann and Sabrina Mervin (eds.), Shi‘i Trends and Dynamics in Modern Times
(XVIII – XX centuries) (Beirut: Ergon Verlag Würzburg in Kommission, 2010),
71–92.
74 Hossein Modarressi, “Rationalism and Traditionalism in Shi‘i Jurisprudence: A
Preliminary Survey,” Studia Islamica 59 (1984): 141–58.
75 Muhammad Mojtahed Shabestari, “Religion, Reason, and the New Theology,” in
Lynda Clarke (ed.), Shi‘ite Heritage: Essays on Classical and Modern Traditions
(New York: Global Publications, 2001), 253.
76 Ibid., 255. “Reminiscent of Popper’s assertion that the main question is not ‘who
should rule’ but ‘how to rule,’ Shabestari maintains that the Qur’an and the sunna
actually emphasize the ‘values of government’ and not necessarily the ‘forms of
government.’” Mehrzan Boroujerdi, Iranian Intellectuals and the West (New
York: Syracuse University Press, 1996), 168–69.
77 Moin, “Khomeini’s Search for Perfection,” 80.
78 Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini, Islam and Revolution, trans. Hamid Algar (Berkeley:
Mizan Press, 1981), 182.
79 Farzin Vahdat, God and Juggernaut: Iran’s Intellectual Encounter with Modernity
(Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 2002), 164.
80 Khomeini, Islam and Revolution, 63.
81 Akbar Ganji, “30 Million People and Six Individuals,” Sobh-e Emruz (Tehran),
27 May 1999. Quoted in Nader Hashemi, Islam, Secularism, and Liberal Demo-
cracy: Toward a Democratic Theory for Muslim Societies (New York: Oxford
University Press, 2009), 92.
82 In the Shi‘i context, this means independent scholarly research undertaken by a
qualified jurist (faqih) to derive a new ruling on a legal or theological question
based upon his interpretation and application of the Qur’an, the sunna, con-
sensus, and reason. See Abdulaziz Sachedina, Islamic Messianism: The Idea of
the Mahdi in Twelver Shi‘ism (Albany: SUNY, 1981), 199.
83 The laity’s practice of emulating and following a specific jurist’s dictates for religious
guidance.
30 Introduction
84 See Abdulaziz Sachedina, The Just Ruler (al-sultan al-‘adil) in Shi‘ite Islam: The
Comprehensive Authority of the Jurist in Imamite Jurisprudence (New York:
Oxford University Press, 1988). Another work on this issue is Liyakatali Takim’s
The Heirs of the Prophet: Charisma and Religious Authority in Islam (Albany:
SUNY, 2006). For a discussion between medieval-era Sunni and Shi‘i polemicists
on legitimate leadership and its theological underpinnings, see Asma Afsaruddin,
Excellence and Precedence: Medieval Islamic Discourse on Legitimate Leader-
ship (Leiden: Brill, 2002). On the methodological devices in usul al-fiqh used by
Khomeini to advance his theory of absolute clerical authority, see Hamid
Enayat’s “Iran: Khumayni’s Concept of the ‘Guardianship of the Jurisconsult’,”

in James P. Piscatori (ed.), Islam in the Political Process (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1983), 160– 80 and Hamid Dabashi, The Theology of Dis-
content: The Ideological Foundations of the Islamic Revolution in Iran (New York:
New York University Press, 1993), 454–55.
85 Hashemi, Islam, Secularism, and Liberal Democracy, 91.
86 The first of the four major and earliest hadith collections, Kulayni’s Usul al-kafi,
places Imamate under “Kitab al-hujja” as part of the usul immediately following
the chapter entitled Kitab al-tawhid (Book on Monotheism).
87 Hermann Landolt, “Walayah,” Encylopedia of Religion, editor-in-chief Mircea
Eliade (New York.: Macmillan, 1987), 15:319–20.
88 http://mezan.net/dcmt/index_olama.html (accessed March 29, 2013).
89 Ja‘far Murtada al-‘Amili, Khalfiyyat kitab ma’ sa’t al-Zahra’, 5th print (Beirut: Dar
al-sira, 2001); Muhammad Ali al-Hashimi al-Mashhadi, al-Hawza al-‘ilmiyya
tudin al-inhiraf, 3rd print (Beirut: Ahmad al-Husayni, 2001); Hashim al-Hashimi,
Hiwar ma‘a Fadlalla hawl al-Zahra’, 2nd print (Lebanon: Dar al-huda, 2001).
90 Ahmed ‘Adil al-Qadi, al-Fiqh al-hayat ma‘a samahat Ayatollah al-‘uzma al-Sayyid
Muhammad Husayn Fadlalla (Beirut: Mu’assasat al-‘arif li-l-matbu‘at, 1997),
moderator Ahmad ‘Adil al-Qadi, 267–74. On the prophets’ infallibility see Sabine
Schmidtke, The Theology of al-‘Allama al-Hilli (Berlin: Klaus Schwarz Verlag,
1991), 142–47.
91 Liyakat Takim, “From Bid‘a to Sunna: The Wilaya of ‘Ali in the Shi‘i Adhan,”
Journal of the American Oriental Society 120/2 (2000): 166–77. McDermott, The
Theology of Al-Shaikh Al-Mufid, 356–58.
92 Consisting of the Prophet, Fatima, and the 12 divine guides.
93 Muhammad Husayn Fadlalla, al-Masa’il al-fiqhiyya (Beirut: Dar al-malak,
1996), 1:181; Muhammad Husayn Fadlalla, Afaq Islamiyya (Beirut: Dar al-Zahra’,
1996), 1:155–67.
94 Hasan Zadeh Amoli, Azan va eqameh, commentary by Samadi Amoli (Qum:
Mu’assese-ye Najm al-Din, n.d.), 42.
95 www.uga.edu/islam/sachedina_silencing.html (accessed 8 November 2010).
96 The Persian translation is Maktab dar farayand-e takamol va virayesh-e jadid,
trans. Hashem Izad Panah (Tehran: Entesharat-e kavir, 2007).
97 Ibid., 17.
98 Ibid., 13–14.
99 Ibid., 13–14.
100 Ibid., 18.
101 Ibid.
102 Ibid., 19–20.
103 Ibid., 23.
104 Ibid., 24.
105 Ali Shariati, Mizegerd (Tehran: Hoseyniye-ye Ershad, 1971), 108–13.
106 Huffington Post, “Kuwait Strips Shii Activist of Citizenship,” 20 September 2010.
Available at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20100920/ml-kuwait-shiites/
(accessed 10 March 2012).
Introduction 31
107 http://www.islamtimes.org/vdcgnu9w.ak9yq4j5ra.html (accessed 15 October
2011).
108 “Iranian Authorities Close Tehran Sunni Mosque,” Al Arabiya News, 9
February 2011. http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/02/09/136981.html
(accessed 10 November 2012).
109 Muhammad Shafi‘i Mazandarani, Darshayi az wasiyyat nameh-ye imam Khomeini
(Qum: Daftar-e nashr-e ma‘arif, 2003), 30.
110 http://english.bayynat.org.lb/islamicinsights/insight__Islamic_unity.htm (accessed
28 March 2013).
111 www.memritv.org/clip/en/2336.htm (accessed 12 October 2011).

112 Muhammad Baqir al-Wahid al-Bihbahani, Masabih al-zalam (Qum: Mu’assasat
al-‘allama al-mujaddid al-Wahid al-Bihbahani, 2003), 10:473 and 7:246.
113 Abu al-Qasim Ali b. al-Husayn al-Musawi al-Murtada, al-Intisar (Najaf: al-Matba‘at
al-Haydariyya, 1971), 217, 243, and 477.
114 Murtada al-Ansari, Kitab al-Makasib, ed. Muhammad Kalantar (Beirut: Mu’as-
sasat al-Nur li-l-Matbu‘at, 1990), 40. The reference on backbiting is to Q. 49:12:
“Believers, do not indulge many of your suspicions—some suspicions are sinful—
and do not spy on one another or speak ill of people behind their backs: would
any of you like to eat the flesh of your dead brother?”
115 Abu al-Qasim al-Khu’i, Misbah al-faqaha fi-l-mu‘amalat, compiled by Muhammad
Ali al-Tawhidi (Najaf: al-Matba‘at al-Haydariyya, 1954), 1:324–25.
116 Ibid.
117 Kulayni, Kafi, 4:226–30 (Kitab al-iman wa-l-kufr, Bab al-mustad‘af). For a brief
discussion on the usage of mustad‘afun, aytam, and masakin in Shi‘i texts, see
Etan Kohlberg, “Imam and Community in the Pre-Ghayba Period,” in Amir
Arjomand (ed.), Authority and Political Culture in Shi‘ism (New York: SUNY,
1988), 41–44.
118 “Marfu‘ ‘an-hum al-qalam” (exonerated from responsibility), Kulayni, Kafi,
4:126, hadith no. 1 (Kitab al-iman wa-l-kufr, Bab al-mustad‘af).
119 The Sixth Imam reprimands Sahib al-Barid for labeling people as kafir and
categorizes this behavior as a Khariji characteristic. Kulayni, Kafi, 4:120–22,
hadith no. 1 (Kitab al-iman wa-l-kufr, Bab al-dalal).
120 Ibid. The Fifth Imam castigates Zurara for being too eager to categorize
people as unbelievers because they do not endorse the divine guides’
wilaya (4:122–25, hadith no. 2). Also, see 4:127, hadith no. 4 (Kitab al-iman
wa-l-kufr, Bab al-mustad‘af), in which the divine guide reprimands Zurara
for his over exuberance in talking about the Imamate to those who may be
unable to fully understand it and being persistent in pursuing his inquiry of
mustad‘af.
121 Ibid., 4:120–22, hadith no. 1 (Kitab al-iman wa-l-kufr, Bab al-dalal).
122 The category of mu’min is reserved for those who love, accept, and follow the
instructions of the 14 divine guides (viz., the Prophet, Fatima, and the 12 Imams)
and dissociate themselves from those who oppose them.
123 al-Ghazali provides a less popular version, one that is more inclusive and
optimistic: all the sects will go to Paradise, except one: “My community
will divide into over seventy sects; all of them will enter Paradise except the
Crypto-infidels.” See Abu Hamid al-Ghazali, On the Boundaries of Theo-
logical Tolerance in Islam (Faysal al-Tafriqa Bayna al-Islam wa-l-Zandaqa),
trans. Sherman A. Jackson (New York: Oxford University Press, 2002), 111
and 127; Ignaz Goldziher, Introduction to Islamic Theology and Law, trans-
lated by Andras and Ruth Hamori (New Jersey: Princeton University Press,
1981), 167.
124 Shahrastani, Kitab al-milal, trans. Kazi, 10.
125 Ghazali, On the Boundaries of Theological Tolerance, 113.
32 Introduction
126 Mohammad Ali Amir-Moezzi, The Spirituality of Shi‘i Islam: Beliefs and Prac-
tices (New York: I. B. Tauris in association with The Institute of Ismaili Studies,
2011), 241.
127 Ibid., 242.
128 Ibid., 242, fn. 32.
129 Ibid., 231–75.
1 The Ethos of Shi‘ism
It is He who has sent this Scripture down to you [O Prophet]. Some of its
verses are definite (muhkam) in meaning—these are the cornerstone of the
Scripture—and others are ambiguous [or allegorical or symbolic] (muta-
shabih) … only God knows the true meaning and those firmly grounded in
knowledge. They say: “We believe in it: it is all from our Lord.”
(Q. 3:7)
Throughout the centuries, Sunni scholars have made a systematic effort to

project an image that the early Muslims had little or no dispute over the
succession to Muhammad until the assassination of ‘Uthman ibn ‘Affan, who
succumbed to nepotism and failed to provide astute and disciplined leadership.1
This may be referred to as the Sunnis’ harmonizing tendency to minimize the
disparity between them and the Shi‘is. Further, some have argued that this rift
began only after Ali’s caliphate (661), suggesting thereby that it was no more
than a minor political struggle with little, if any, religious motivation.2 In
addition, it is asserted that the proclivity or tendency toward the Shi‘i world-
view and the definitive schism became crystallized only after the massacre of
Husayn, the Prophet’s grandson, and his small group of devoted followers at
Karbala, Iraq, in 680, an event that served as a catalyst in the formulation of
a unique Shi‘i identity.
Such a view, derived from tendentious Sunni historiographies, has recently
been challenged by Henri Lammens, Leone Caetani, Maria Dakake, Wilferd
Madelung, amongst others. Madelung reaches a tentative conclusion, based
on evidence gathered from the Qur’an and by extrapolating from historical
accounts, that there were acute disagreements over the succession and that
Ali’s followers had some justification, found both in the Qur’an and the pro-
phetic hadith literature, to promote his candidacy. For instance, he cites
several examples in which the Qur’an stresses the importance of blood ties
(dhu al-qurba) and its superiority and priority over all other types of affilia-
tions and bonds. In addition, he provides instances of previous prophets’
authority and charisma being transmitted to their immediate family members,
who had already been accorded an eminent position in the Qur’an and were
considered to be their heirs. Thus, it would not be far-fetched to expect that
Muhammad would have envisioned his succession in a similar light, for
“Insofar as the Qur’an expresses the thoughts of Muhammad, it is evident
that he could not have considered Abu Bakr his natural successor or have
been pleased by his succession.”3 The Shi‘is cite the incident that took place
while Muhammad was on his deathbed as a self-evident proof that he wanted
to appoint Ali as his successor. And yet ‘Umar rejected his request to have a
letter of guidance “after which you will not go astray” recorded on the
grounds that the Prophet was delirious and because: “You have the Qur’an,
the Book of God is sufficient for us.” The Shi‘is view both of these with mis-
giving and apprehension, for they hold that ‘Umar suspected that the Prophet
might designate Ali as his successor.4
Asma Afsaruddin argues that the basis of support for the selection of Abu
Bakr and the ensuing pro-Alid opposition was based on “the Qur’anic para-
digm of sabiqa and fadl/fadila to establish the legitimacy of the claims of their
respective candidates to leadership of the polity and kinship had little role to
play in this enterprise at this stage, but would acquire growing importance in
the subsequent period.”5 However, the Arab society of that time was deeply
anchored in tribal values according to which the kinship and ancient nobi-
lity ascribed to a certain clan or family were the primary marks of identity
and source of authority. Moreover, even the Quraysh invoked kinship at the
Saqifa gathering. During ‘Uthman’s reign one observes the large-scale reas-
sertion of the pre-Islamic concept of authority. Afsaruddin, although aware of
the tentativeness of her findings, is nevertheless confident that the validity of
her thesis can be sustained via the collective weight of the evidence: “Admit-
tedly, the evidence garnered from these diverse sources is to a degree circum-
stantial; cumulatively, however, the weight of this evidence is significant and
cannot be easily discounted.”6 Moshe Sharon, who posits a similar theory,
asserts that the kinship factor only became prominent in the middle of the
seventh century, about 80 years before the timing suggested by Afsaruddin.7
Wilferd Madelung and Amir-Moezzi have contested and challenged these
claims.
In this chapter, I intend to underline the centrality of wilaya/walaya in the
formulation of the Shi‘i religious ethos and in defining their worldview. This
concept, which has been part of their nomenclature from the outset, espe-
cially after the Battle of Siffin in 657, continues to dominate the Shi‘i ethos.
Its expansive and broad meaning includes both the political and spiritual
domains and “denotes an all-encompassing bond of spiritual loyalty that
describes, simultaneously, a Shi‘ite believer’s allegiance to God, the Prophet,
the Imam and the community of Shi‘ite believers, collectively.”8
Two diametrically opposite conceptions of post-Muhammadan authority
existed at this time. Those who supported Abu Bakr, the school of khilafa
(caliph), assumed that the Prophet’s strictly religious role ended with the
Qur’an’s completion and Islam’s perfection. Thus, there was no more need for
prophethood and revelation: “Today, I have perfected your religion for you,
completed My blessing upon you, and chosen as your religion islam: total
The Ethos of Shi‘ism 35
devotion to God” (Q. 5:3). In contrast, the school of the Imamate held that
(a) the role of his successor comprised both a religious and a political aspect,
for this individual would be the authoritative expositor and elucidator of the
Qur’anic teachings and (b) be entrusted with continuing the Prophet’s mission
of radically transforming those tribal values and norms that conflicted with
the Qur’anic worldview. Given that the Prophet only had a few years to
initiate major reform in a deeply anchored tribal society with age-old tradi-
tions, such people stated that continued sound leadership was needed to pre-
vent any backsliding. As such, the candidate could only be appointed by the
Prophet based upon divine directive.
Interestingly, Dr. Ali Shariati writes that although both modes of succes-
sion are appropriate and have textual support, the Sunni option would be
suitable only after the community has attained a degree of maturity that
would allow each member to make an independent evaluation of the candi-
date(s) and to overcome their traditional obedience to tribal leaders. In other
words, the ten years allotted to the Prophet to reform society after his
migration to Madina was grossly insufficient to uproot the pre-Islamic and
tribal practices that severely curtailed personal autonomy. He writes that “the
elections which were held immediately after the death of the Prophet in
Saqifeh, should have taken place 250 years later.”9
Origin of the Term Shi‘a

The word shi‘a (pl. shiya‘ or ashya‘) and other derivative forms from the root
word sh-y-‘ appear in the Qur’an and the hadith literature with varied mean-
ings and significations. Over time, it acquired a technical meaning in histor-
ical and sectarian works: those who supported Ali and believed that the
Prophet had explicitly designated him as his temporal and spiritual successor.
Its lexical meaning, namely, “group, party, sect, or faction,” is evident in
several Qur’anic verses, all but one or two of which have a negative con-
notation: “As for those who have divided their religion and broken up into
factions [shiya‘—plural of shi‘a], have nothing to do with them [O Prophet]”
(Q. 6:159);10 “We will seize out of each group [shi‘a] those who were most
disobedient toward the Lord of Mercy” (Q. 19:69); “We sent messengers
among the various communities [shiya‘] of old, but they mocked every single
messenger that came to them” (Q. 15:10); and “Pharaoh made himself high
and mighty in the land and divided the people into different groups [shiya‘]”
(Q. 28:4). This term is also used in the sense of a partisan, follower, or supporter
in: “And of his partisans [shi‘ati-hi] was Abraham” (Q. 37:83).
The one instance in which it is invoked in a positive context led Shaykh
Mufid, an eminent tenth-century Shi‘i theologian, to proclaim that it refers
to a sincere and morally sound group of people in contrast to the faction
whose members are inimical and hostile to the divine message: “He entered
the city, unnoticed by its people, and found two men fighting: one from his
own people [shi‘ati-hi], the other an enemy [‘aduwwi-hi]” (Q. 28:15).11 This
prompted Ibn Jawziyya (d. 1350), who strongly disagreed with the Shi‘i
worldview, to assert that in the majority of cases the Qur’an uses the term in
a negative fashion to refer to those who seek to fragment and divide the
community by replacing consensus with dissent and, as a result, are on the
wrong path.12
It is important to note, however, that this term appears without any quali-
fier in the hadith and early discourse after the Prophet’s death to signify the
supporters and partisans of any distinguished person, such as shi‘a of

‘Uthman, Mu‘awiya or Al-e Sofyan; moreover, in such instances it had a
positive connotation. During the caliphate of Ali, it connoted someone who
preferred Ali over ‘Uthman or the two earlier caliphs as well as those who
believed in the former’s special status as the Prophet’s designated successor.13
According to Shaykh Mufid, the term gradually came to be applied exclu-
sively to Ali’s supporters and partisans when the definite article al was
attached to the word shi‘a.14 It is not known precisely when this occurred, but
Ya‘qubi has preserved the letter of condolence sent by the people of Kufa to
Husayn b. Ali on the occasion of his brother Hasan’s death (the definite arti-
cle is attached): “What a tremendous [calamity] has afflicted this umma in
general (‘amma), you, and the Shi‘a (al-shi‘a) in particular (khassa).”15 There
are hadith reports in which the Prophet uses shi‘atu-na (our shi‘a), shi‘ati wa
shi‘a ahl bayti (my shi‘a and the shi‘a of my family), and similar expressions
to refer to the group possessing wholesome and noble traits.16 The Sunni
scholar Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti (d. 1055) writes in his Qur’anic commentary,
al-Durr al-manthur, that the Prophet, when elaborating on the Qur’anic verse,
“Those who believe and do good deeds are the best of creation” (Q. 98:7),
singled out those who inclined toward Ali as the prosperous ones who will
have nothing to fear on the Day of Judgment.17 However, in all likelihood
shi‘a is used in its lexical meaning of follower or supporter and not as a
separate and distinct sect or a school of thought, which crystallized much
later with its own worldview and elaborate theological system. One piece of
evidence for this supposition are the hadiths that record the Prophet as
praising or giving glad tidings to a group of people with the expression:
“Shi‘ati wa shi‘a ahl al-bayti (my [Prophet’s] shi‘a and the shi‘a of my
progeny).18
This positive usage perhaps explains why the Shi‘is’ opponents denigrated
them by such terms as rafidi (rejecters), thereby suggesting that shi‘i was not
viewed as repugnant or offensive.19 ‘Abd al-Karim al-Shahrastani, a twelfth-
century Sunni scholar and heresiographer, provides the word’s customary and
conventional meaning:
The Shi‘ites are those who follow ‘Ali only. They hold that his caliphate
and imamate were based on designation and appointment, either open or
hidden. They maintain also that the imamate must remain in ‘Ali’s
family; if it were to go outside of it, this would be either because of a
wrong on the part of another, or because of dissimulation on the part of
the rightful imam. According to them the imamate is not a civil matter,
validly settled by the will of the people appointing an imam of their own
choosing: it is a fundamental matter and a basic element of religion.
Messengers of God may not ignore and disregard it, nor leave it to the
choice of the common people.20
Different groups, including individuals whose primary task was to write on

Muslim sects, have ascribed varied significations to shi‘a, depending upon
their own affiliations. Abu Hatim al-Razi (d. 891), perhaps one of the earliest
recorders of such literature, argues that this label was given to anyone who,
during the Prophet’s lifetime, showed a close affinity for and zealous devotion
to Ali.21 Hasan b. Musa al-Nawbakhti (d. 922) and Abu al-Hasan Ash‘ari
(d. 935) reinforce this point by noting that this term was used to reflect Ali’s
excellence and superiority vis-à-vis the other Companions.22 In another defi-
nition, Ali is viewed as both superior to them and as the Prophet’s personally
designated successor. This is evident in Shaykh Tusi’s categorization of the
Zaydis; they are not Shi‘is because they do not profess Muhammad’s direct
appointing of Ali, although they consider Ali superior to all other Compa-
nions.23 Aban b. Taghlab replies to a questioner who wanted to know how
many Companions remained loyal to Ali:
By God, we discern the status and distinction of the Prophet’s Compa-

nions on the basis of whether or not they followed Ali or not … A Shi‘a
is one who refers to Amir [Ali] whenever there is a difference of opinion
regarding the sunna of the Prophet and to Ja‘far b. Muhammad [Sixth
Imam] when people differ on the statements of Ali b. Abi Talib.24
Another usage of shi‘a refers to those who believe that Ali and the other
Imams were invested with the Imamate by the Prophet’s explicit designa-
tion.25 Finally, the same term sometimes refers to those who embraced the
meanings given here and also believed that the Imams were infallible and
entitled to unconditional love and obedience, and that dissociating themselves
from the Imams’ opponents (regardless of the extent of this opposition) was
necessary. This requirement was relaxed under the principle of taqiyya (dis-
simulation) in situations where displaying these sentiments would result in
persecution and imprisonment.26
In summary, the term shi‘a is used with multiple meanings in an incre-
mental progression: a supporter or helper in a general sense with its lexical
meaning; a follower or supporter of Ali with the belief that he is superior to
all other Companions; a conviction that Ali is also the community’s temporal
and religious leader (Imam) due to his explicit designation by the Prophet;
belief in the Imamate of the other 11 Imams is also based on divine decree;
belief in the infallibility of all the Imams and befriending and supporting their
followers, and dissociating themselves from the Imams’ enemies.
The Origins of Shi‘ism

As this issue is fraught with difficulties and hazards, it would be wise to heed
W. Montgomery Watt’s caution that a
modern scholar who is trying to reconstruct the history of Shi‘ism must

disregard statements that belong primarily to the architectonic or the
heresiographers, and must try to discover the religious and political views
actually held by individual men whom he can name and date, and also
the political activities in which they engaged.27
The expansive scope of the Imams’ authority and their glorification, along
with the right to their followers’ complete obedience and devotion, both of
which inhere in wilaya/walaya, suggest that the early Shi‘is viewed this posi-
tion as encompassing both the political and religious spheres (with great
emphasis placed on their access to esoteric and hidden knowledge needed to
initiate their disciples into the mysteries of the faith). Amir-Moezzi provides
evidence from various historiographical works where the expression “din Ali
(religion of Ali)” refers only to Ali, whereas the word sunna refers to such
other role models as Abu Bakr and ‘Umar.28 This claim of prophetic heritage
and exclusive selection by the Prophet is evidenced in the protests made by
Ali, his wife Fatima, and their sons Hasan and Husayn (the Second and the
Third Imams, respectively, according to Twelver Shi‘is) to the rulers that their
rights had been compromised and their authority usurped. In addition,
some of their companions (e.g., ‘Abdalla b. Ja‘far, ‘Ammar Yasir, Asbagh
b. Nubata, and Qays b. Sa‘d) vociferously objected to the impromptu meeting
held at the Saqifa and the ensuing selection of Abu Bakr. The emphasis
placed on the successor’s identity and mode of selection has resulted in sev-
eral discourses concerning the origins of Shi‘ism, all of which are closely tied
to various political events and, over time, assumed a political coloring. The
spectrum of opinions range from a conviction that Shi‘ism was an integral
part of Islamic culture during the Prophet’s time and is identical with “origi-
nal Islam,” to it being an innovation designed to sabotage Islam and cause
irreparable damage to it from within.
For instance, past and contemporary Shi‘i polemicists marshal proofs and
evidence from the Prophet’s hadith, such as the one he related at the begin-
ning of his ministry when inviting his pagan relatives to embrace Islam (da‘wa
dhu al-‘ashira). In it, he called Ali his akhi wa warithi wa waziri wa wasiyyi wa
khalifati (my brother, my legatee and minister, my trustee and successor),
after none of his guests responded to his call for assistance. Other famous
hadiths are: Ghadir, manzilat Harun (the position of Aaron), mubahala
(mutual imprecation), and thaqalayn (the two precious weights). Viewing the
Prophet’s public promotion of Ali as an exemplary person with noble virtues
and entrusting him with important duties on the basis of kinship and blood
relationship (nasab), marriage (musahara), and the bond of brotherhood
(mu’akhat),29 made Shi‘ism a natural outcome, one that had its seeds in
Muhammad’s own words and deeds:
Within the framework of the Islamic Call, Shi‘ism is thus embodied in the
thesis postulated by the Prophet—at God’s behest—aimed at securing the

future of the Mission. Accordingly, it is not a phenomenon that was for-
eign to this stage of events, but a necessary result. It was natural to the
Call’s genesis, exigencies and initial circumstances, which drove Islam to
give birth to “Shi‘ism.”30
Scholars who view Shi‘ism as an evolving phenomenon, one contingent upon

the existing political vicissitudes, claim that it became crystallized only after
one of the following historical events: the Saqifa deliberations held immedi-
ately after the Prophet’s death (632), ‘Uthman’s murder (656) and its aftermath,
the Battle of the Camel (656), the Battle of Siffin (657), Ali’s assassination (661),
the massacre of Imam Husayn and his followers at Karbala (680), and the
subsequent elaboration of Shi‘i belief systems and law by Imams Muhammad
al-Baqir (d. 732–743) and Ja‘far al-Sadiq (d. 765).31 Kamil Mustafa Shaybi
(d. 946), a Shi‘i scholar, who presents a number of views on the origins and
evolution of Shi‘is wrote: “Shi‘ism was an Islamic movement that began in
the time of the Prophet, took form after the killing of ‘Uthman, and attained
independent existence after the martyrdom of Husayn.”32
These conflicting opinions can be attributed to three major factors: (a) the
conflation of shi‘a’s etymological and lexical meanings with its meaning as a
separate sect or school of thought; (b) the assumption that all of the details
dealing with their beliefs, doctrines, and practices have remained constant
since the group’s inception, meaning that they have not evolved and/or been
enhanced over time; and (c) the monolithic treatment of Shi‘ism, which
ignores all of its types. Each sect had its own unique worldview but
undoubtedly shared some aspects with others, such as Ali’s superiority to all
other Companions.
Marshall Hodgson believes that one should not consider the beliefs and
principles of the early Shi‘is from the lens of later Imamism because doing so
would provide a distorted picture. According to him, later Shi‘is had a vested
interest in presenting themselves as “moderates” and as having, from the
outset, the doctrine of Twelve Imams even before the Twelfth Imam’s birth.
According to him, Imam Husayn’s martyrdom was a major impetus that led
to Shi‘ism becoming a separate sect, as was the subsequent movement of the
Penitents (tawwabun) who fought the government in an attempt to avenge the
shedding of innocent blood at Karbala. At this stage, he argues, Shi‘ism was
still a movement and a pronounced tendency; it only became a formal sect
during the time of the Sixth Imam, Ja‘far al-Sadiq.33
The Imamate and Wilaya/Walaya/Muwalat
Imami scholars have discussed the Imamate34 under three major titles: love
(mawadda), temporal succession (khilafa), and the comprehensive creative
(wilaya takwini) and legislative authority (wilaya tashri‘i). All of these can be
subsumed under wilaya/walaya, which comprises the allegiance, love, and
devotion due to the Prophet and the Imams along with the temporal and
spiritual authority enjoyed by them. So central was this affinity and devotion
that wilaya was considered one of Islam’s pillars (arkan): prayers, fasting,
pilgrimage, zakat, and wilaya.35 Khilafa is reserved for those whom God has
designated and appointed, such as the prophets, to provide public guidance at
the individual and social levels, whereas wilaya taqwini (an acquired author-
ity) is attained after the perfection of one’s spiritual state by serving God and
humanity.
As a result of having gained close proximity to the Divine, He empowers
the individual with a discretionary authority over human beings and the
cosmos that is to be utilized in conformity with the Divine pleasure.36 An
example of an individual who possessed such authority but was not a divine
guide is the person who told Solomon, when he asked if anyone could bring
the Queen of Sheba’s throne to him before her arrival: “I will bring it to you
in the twinkling of an eye” (Q. 27:40). The implication and ramification of
such closeness is given in the following hadith, which depicts a complete
concord between the Divine and the human will:
My slave, by performing acts of piety continually, approaches me until I

love him. When I love him, I become the ear by which he hears, the eye
by which he sees, the tongue by which he speaks, the hand by which he
grasps, and the foot by which he walks.37
(i) Mawadda/Mahabba/Hubb/Walaya
The foundation of God’s creation is based on love and, as such, one of His
names is al-Wadud, namely, the one who loves. A disciple once asked the
Sixth Imam, Ja‘far al-Sadiq, whether the religion of Islam had a component
that dealt with love. He responded that the entirety of religion was about
love.38 In a tradition reported on the Fifth Imam’s authority, Muhammad
Baqir, religion is equated to love and vice versa: “fa al-din huwa al-hubb
wa-l-hubb huwa al-din.”39 As S. H. Nasr notes, the intense love for the divine
guides permeates the Shi‘i worldview: “In the Sunni world Islamic esotericism
manifests itself almost exclusively as Sufism, whereas in the Shi‘ite world, in
addition to a Sufism similar to that found in the Sunni world, there is an
esoteric element based upon love (mahabba) which colors the whole structure
of the religion.”40 One of the meanings of walaya41 in the context of the
Imams is expressing one’s love for them by assisting them and protecting
them from any harm and distress.
There is consensus among the Sunnis and Shi‘is that love, affection, rever-
ence, and respect for Muhammad and his progeny are mandated by the
Qur’an and the Prophet’s sunna.42 However, the love and affection for the
Prophet’s family permeates the Shi‘i ethos and is one of the criteria used to
determine the integrity and soundness of one’s faith and acts. In other words,
it has become a litmus test to enable one to attain salvation. As it was the
norm and practice of all prophets and angels to love the divine guides, this
became a way to attain proximity to God and receive His pleasure.43 Even
inanimate objects express their praise and love for his progeny.44 The degree
of love increases as one obtains a spiritually enlightened understanding
(ma‘rifa) of the infallible leaders. At the same time, one’s belief (iman) cannot
attain perfection without dissociating oneself from those who are inimical to
the Imams.
The evidence for this fundamental necessity of loving the divine guides is
sought by way of a proof-text from the Qur’an: “Say [O Prophet]: ‘I ask no
reward from you for this, only the affection due to kin (al-mawadda fi-l-
qurba)’” (Q. 42:23). When this verse was revealed, the community asked
Muhammad who these “near relatives” (qurba) were. He replied that they
were Ali, Fatima, Hasan, and Husayn.45 It is further argued that one’s love
for them entails unconditional and absolute submission to them in order to
benefit from their exoteric and esoteric guidance. This Qur’anic directive fol-
lows the pattern practiced by previous prophets who sought no reward for
their ministry.46 The difference between the previous prophets and Muham-
mad is that the former sought their reward exclusively from God and did not
request recompense in the form of love and submission to their near kinship
(qurba). The Prophet, on the other hand, sought this so that a benefit would
accrue to his followers for loving and submitting to the divine guides, a gain
that returns to the person concerned (fa-huwa la-kum47) because these figures
are a source of guidance and salvation for the community.
This love’s centrality and affinity are further underlined in numerous
hadiths found in early Shi‘i works that list it as a criterion of the validity of
one’s faith and enmity toward the Imams as a sign of unbelief (hubbu-hu
iman wa bughdu-hu kufr48). Obedience and love for them expresses one’s
obedience and love for God and His Messenger (“man ata‘a Ali fa-qad ata‘ani
wa man ata‘ani fa-qad ata‘a Allah”49 and “man ahabba-hu fa-qad ahabbani wa
man ahabbani fa-qad ahabb Allah”50); it is the best form of worship (“hubb
Ali afdal al-‘ibada”51) and a condition for accepting one’s righteous deeds
(“man ahabba-hu tuqbalu salatu-hu wa siyamu-hu wa qiyamu-hu”52); it con-
firms that one is born to a lawfully wedded couple, which is related by Abu
Bakr and known as hadith al-khayma;53 it provides the beneficiary with glad
tidings of prosperity in both worlds;54 it is instrumental for conferring ease
and comfort at the time of death, when the soul is removed from the body,
and during the period between death and resurrection (barzakh);55 and it is a
guarantee that they will be resurrected with the prophets and enjoy the same
stature.56
In essence, love for the divine guides assures that one will experience true
life (yuhya hayat57) in this transient world as well as success and prosperity in
the afterlife:
One who dies while possessing the love of the progeny of Muhammad
dies the death of a martyr (shahid). One who dies while possessing the
love of the progeny of Muhammad dies the death of one who has been
forgiven. One who dies while possessing the love of the progeny of
Muhammad dies the death of one whose repentance has been accepted.
One who dies while possessing the love of the progeny of Muhammad
dies the death of a believer (mu’min) with perfect faith (mustakmil al-iman).
One who dies while possessing the love of the progeny of Muhammad,
the angel of death informs him of his entry to paradise after which he is
questioned by the two angels—Munkar and Nakir.58:
At the same time, harboring hatred or ill-will toward the Imams constitutes a
cardinal sin, one that the hadiths regard as unpardonable and tantamount to
warring against God and His Messenger:
One who dies while hating the progeny of Muhammad dies a death of a
disbeliever (kafir). One who dies while hating the progeny of Muhammad
will not even smell the fragrance of paradise. One who dies while hating
the progeny of Muhammad will come on the Day of Judgment with this
stamped between his eyes, hopeless of the Mercy of God.59
As a testimony of one’s love for Muhammad’s progeny, one is required to seek

friendship with those who are disciples and supporters of the Imams and to
dissociate (tabarri) and denounce the partisans of those who harmed his pro-
geny and usurped their rights. Hadiths are cited in which the divine guides’
displeasure is equated to that of God and His messenger (“man abghada Ali
fa-qad abghadani wa man abghadani fa-qad abghad Allah”).60 Finally, this
mawadda invites God’s bounties and blessings and is instrumental in repelling
harm, calamities, trials, and tribulations.61
(ii) Khilafa
A khalifa is defined, both etymologically and lexically, as one who assumes
the role of deputy and succeeds a person in his role and function. Raghib
Isfahani (d. 1108/09), who attests to such a meaning, says that khilafa is
“deputization from someone else.”62 In the Qur’an, its plural forms (viz.,
khala’if and khulafa’) carry a very similar connotation: “Do you find it so
strange that a message should come from your Lord, through a man in your
midst, to warn you? Remember how He made you heirs [khulafa’] after Noah’s
people, and increased your stature: remember God’s bounties, so that you
may prosper” (Q. 7:69). Likewise, the hadith literature has preserved instances
where this term is invoked with a similar signification. The Prophet is repor-
ted to have prayed: “O God, have mercy on my successors (khulafa’i).”63
When asked who they are, he replied: “They are the ones who will come after
me and relate my traditions and conduct … ”64
This term, however, acquired a new meaning upon his death: the Muslim
community’s next leader and commander, as expressed in the formula khalifat
al-rasul (successor of the Messenger), which was contracted to khalifa. The
Qur’an uses khalifat Allah (deputy of God) to designate one whom God has
appointed to carry out a divine mission, whether he be a prophet or his suc-
cessor: “O David, We have appointed you a vicegerent on earth. Judge fairly
between people. Do not follow your desires, lest they divert you from God’s
path” (Q. 38:26). However, Wadad al-Qadi makes a persuasive case that at
least until the latter part of the Umayyad period the exegetes “did not equate
the Qur’anic khalifa with the head of the Islamic State.”65
The Imam functions as the Prophet’s deputy or successor in temporal and
religious affairs. Scholars who analyze the Imamate from a theological per-
spective stress this person’s temporal function and equate it with khilafa;
in the early hadith reports, however, this person’s scope of function and
authority is wide and expansive. Moreover, this term also denotes the divine
mandate, which is akin to prophethood but does not include legislative
authority.66 This shift of emphasis from the religious to the temporal is
observable especially from the time of Shaykh Mufid, when an attempt was
made to respond to the Mu‘tazili’s challenges and, in the process, Mu‘tazili
ideas were incorporated.67 The demystification of the Imamate led to the
de-emphasis of the Imam’s esoteric character and narrowed the scope of his
activities to providing guidance and leadership in temporal affairs. This trend
was continued in polemic works by Shi‘is who sought to demonstrate that Ali
was the only Companion who deserved to be the caliph after the Prophet’s
demise. In other words, the Imamate’s principal components (viz., walaya and
wilaya) were set aside and marginalized from the second half of the tenth
century onward. In this regard, Amir-Moezzi observes:
The original tradition that might be called “esoteric nonrational Ima-

mism” is reported especially by the “traditionalist” traditions of the
“Qumm School”; it is this tradition that is the object of the present study,
and it is not to be confused, especially where Imamology is concerned,
with the later tradition called “theological-juridical rational Imamism,”
influenced by Mu‘tazilism and represented by the “rationalist” theolo-
gians and jurists of the “Baghdad School.” It is the confusion between
these two Imamite traditions of quite different natures and “visions
of the world” that is in large part responsible for the incoherencies,
extrapolations, and contradictions that can be seen in a great number of
studies on Imamism.68
The following hadith, reported on the authority of al-Rida (the Eighth

Imam), provides a different perspective: The Imam enjoys an all-inclusive
mandate that encompasses both the religio-political and spiritual domains of
guidance and leadership:
… Do they know the value of the Imamate and its position in the com-
munity that their selection could be allowable in this matter? Verily, the
Imamate is too sublime among values, too great among ranks, too high
among stations, too impenetrable on all sides, too profound among the
depths, for people to reach it with their intellects, or to grasp it with their
opinions, or to establish an Imam by their choice. Verily, the Imamate is
that in which Allah, to Whom belong Might and Majesty, has dis-
tinguished Ibrahim, the Intimate Friend (al-Khalil), after Prophethood
and Intimacy, as a third degree, and an eminence with which he hon-
oured him and by which He raised his renown, and He said: “Behold!
I make you an Imam for the people.” Then the Intimate Friend said out of
delight in this: “And of my seed.” Allah, the Blessed, the Sublime, said:
“My covenant shall not reach the evil-doers” (al-Baqara, 2:124). Thus, this
verse has abolished the leadership (imama) of all evil-doers till the Day of
Resurrection, and it has become for the select ones. Then Allah, the
Sublime, bestowed honours on him, by establishing it in his seed, the ones
who are selected and purified (by Allah). …
Verily, the Imamate is the position of the Prophets, and the heritage
of the successors. Indeed, the Imamate is the vicegerency (khilafa) of
Allah and the vicegerency of the Messenger, and the station of Amir
al-mu’minin and the inheritance of al-Hasan and al-Husayn.
Truly, the Imamate is the reins of the religion, the state of order of the
Muslims, the rectitude of the world, and the might of the believers. Verily,
the Imamate is Islam’s growing root, and its lofty branch. Through the
Imam the prayer, zakat, fasting, hajj and jihad (exerting oneself, striving
in the way of Allah, whether by means of one’s property, one’s life, one’s
knowledge, or by any other means) are perfected, the general wealth (of
the Muslims, fay‘) and charity (sadaqat) are increased, the restrictions
and the commands are put into practice, and the frontier-posts and
borders are protected. …
… Where can someone like this be found? Do you imagine that this
can be found anywhere else but in the progeny of the Messenger? By
Allah, they have lied to themselves, they have promised to themselves the
impossible, they have climbed up to a difficult and dangerous height,
(and) their feet will slip and fall to the bottom. They want to appoint an
Imam with (their) convulsed, unproductive and defective mind, and (their)
misguided opinions. Nothing accrued to them but remoteness from him … 69
(iii) Al-Wilayat al-Mutlaqa (Tashri‘i and Takwini):70 Legislative
and Creative Authority
Legislative Authority (Wilaya Tashri‘i)

Wilaya tashri‘i refers to the authority bestowed by God upon an individual,
like a prophet, so that he can guide the people in legislative matters and
govern them on the social plane. This does not imply, however, that the Pro-
phet is empowered to assign a legal/moral value of “obligatory” or “pro-

hibited” to different conduct and issues, for this would be tantamount to God
delegating His legislative authority to Muhammad, something that clearly
contradicts the Qur’an:
When Our clear revelations are recited to them, those who do not expect
to meet with Us say, “Bring [us] a different Qur’an, or change it.” [O
Prophet] say, “It is not for me to change it of my own accord; I only
follow what is revealed to me, for I fear the torment of an awesome Day,
if I were to disobey my Lord.”
(Q. 10:15)
If [the Prophet] had attributed some fabrication to Us, We would cer-

tainly have seized his right hand and cut off his lifeblood, and none of
you could have defended him.
(Q. 69:44–46)
The Qur’an also proclaims that Muhammad speaks only what has been
revealed to him: “By the setting star! Your companion has not strayed; he is
not deluded; he does not speak from his own desire. It is only a revelation
that is sent to him” (Q. 53:1–4). He enjoys a limited scope of authority how-
ever, in that God does take his preference into consideration. For instance, it
is reported that God desired to legislate five daily prayers of two units (rak‘a)
each, whereas Muhammad was hoping for a revelation that would increase
the noon (zuhr), afternoon (‘asr), and night prayers (‘isha’) by two units and
the evening prayer (maghrib) by one. God accommodated his wish on account
of his nobility and grandeur.71
Another area in which his legislative authority can be actualized is the
administration of political, social, and economic affairs. This is based on the
Qur’anic verse that mentions the ulu al-amr72 and another one that gives
Muhammad’s right upon Muslims priority over their own rights upon them-
selves: “The Prophet is closer to the believers or has a higher claim (awla)73
on them than their own selves, and his wives are like their mothers”
(Q. 33:6).74 Accordingly, he was entitled to adjudicate on issues that would
crop up among Muslims and expect them to accept his judgment uncondi-
tionally: “By your Lord, they will not be true believers until they let you
decide between them in all matters of dispute, and find no resistance in their
souls to your decision, accepting them totally” (Q. 4:65).
Universal Creative Authority (Wilaya Takwini)

Walaya and Wilaya: The root’s primary meaning is related to the affinity and
proximity of two or more things that are unimpeded by any extraneous items.
According to the context, this closeness could be in terms of friendship, place,

assistance, or belief system. The second meaning signifies “authority,
power.”75 The most popularly quoted verse on wilaya states, according to the
Shi‘is: “Only God is your wali and His Apostle and those who believe, those
who keep up prayers and pay the poor-rate while they bow” (Q. 5:55).76
Sunni exegetes, who assert that the waw in the sentence is only a conjunction
that contains no reference to the person’s state (waw al-hal), read: “Your (real)
friends are (no less than) Allah, His Messenger, and the believers—those who
establish prayers and pay zakat and they bow down humbly (in worship).”77
Shi‘i interpretations have featured linguistic, rational, and traditional
proofs to determine the wali’s identity and scope of authority. The particle
innama underlines that wilaya is confined only to God, His Messenger, and
the person who gave the zakat while bowing in prayer (ruku‘). The wali is not
defined as a friend or a patron, but is equated to awla bi-l-tasarruf, namely,
one who is more entitled to exercise full authority over the believers than they
have over themselves: “The Prophet has a greater claim (awla) on the faithful
than they have on themselves” (Q. 33:6).78 Another argument to discredit
reports equating wali simply with “friend” is obtained from Qur’anic verses
that denote the believers, in general, as awliya’ of each other (i.e., “friends,”
without the restrictive particle innama).79 Thus, wali in Q. 5:55 is believed to
have a different signification and a higher rank and status because it is con-
joined with the wilaya of God and His Messenger. Hadith reports, consensus
among the scholars, and the “occasions of the revelation” are employed to
identify Ali as the wali.
Al-Wilaya comprises both real or creative (takwini) and legislative
(tashri‘i) wilaya. The discourses of Shi‘i scholars on the scope of the Imams’
authority range from advocating a comprehensive universal authority to
outright rejection of the same. Some Imami scholars are silent and have
deferred judgment on the basis that there is insufficient information to
render any decisive conclusion.80 In a hadith attributed to Muhammad, he
forewarns the community that some of the lofty virtues regarding his
progeny in the form of hadiths will be extremely difficult to accept as valid,
except for those whose faith, after having been rigorously tested by God,
remains intact. The true stature and exalted station of the divine guides, along
with the initiatory secrets, could be revealed only to those who had the
necessary prerequisites and training: “Our teaching is difficult and arduous;
the only ones who can withstand it are a prophet sent to men, an angel of
proximity, or an initiated one whose heart has been tested by God for faith”
(inna haditha-na sa‘b mustas‘ab la yahtamilu-hu illa malak muqarrab aw nabi
mursal aw ‘abd imtahana Allah qalba-hu li-l-iman).81 This is in keeping with
the principle articulated in the hadith: “We, the group of prophets, have been
ordered to talk with the people according to the capacity of their understanding
(‘ala qadr ‘uquli-him).”82
In addition, the Imams cautioned people not to reject and belie those
hadiths that praise them because doing so might cause them to discard
something true. At the same time, however, sound hadiths do direct the
community to use the Qur’an in order to distinguish between true and false
hadiths. Those that conform to it ought to be accepted; those that do not
ought to be “struck against the wall,” meaning categorically rejected. These
two apparently conflicting admonitions suggest that analyzing the hadiths
must be a nuanced activity, one done with care and diligence by considering
various factors: whether it is of particular or universal import, comprehensive
or context-bound in its applicability; constant or variable, esoteric or exoteric,
and muhkam (explicit and clear-cut) or mutashabih (allegorical, metaphorical
or symbolic).
This approach can be supported by the Qur’an, which calls upon people to
evaluate the truthfulness of any report and not to accept or reject it without
sufficient investigation, for doing so will only result in remorse and regret:
“Believers, if a troublemaker brings you news, check it first, in case you wrong
others unwittingly and later regret what you have done” (Q. 49:6). Another
Qur’anic verse advanced to attest to the possibility that such apparently irra-
tional or unintelligible hadiths might have an esoteric or a hidden meaning
that need to be excavated is: “But they are denying that whereof they have no
knowledge [‘ilm], and whose interpretation [ta’wil] has not yet come to them.
In the same way, those before them refused to believe—see what was the end
of those evildoers!” (Q. 10:39).83
The story of Jesus is normally cited to support a universal wilaya, because
he could restore human life by breathing his spirit into it and cure the sick by
God’s will: “I have come to you with a sign from your Lord: I will make
[akhluqu] a bird for you out of clay, then breathe [anfakhu] into it and, with
God’s permission, it will become a real bird. I will heal [ubri’u] the blind and
the leper, and bring the dead back to life [uhyi] with God’s permission”
(Q. 3:49).84 It is interesting to observe that in this verse Jesus refers to himself
as a miracle worker, albeit with God’s blessing: “ … how, by My leave, you
fashioned (takhluqu) the shape of a bird out of clay, breathed (tanfakhu) into
it, and it became, by My leave, a bird; how by My leave, you healed (tubri’u)
the blind person and the leper; how by My leave, you brought the dead back to
life (tukhriju al-mawta); … ” (Q. 5:110). At the same time, the Qur’an
underlines that God is the ultimate Sovereign, Omniscient, and Omnipotent:
“Say [O Prophet], ‘I have no control over benefit or harm, even to myself,
except as God may please: if I had knowledge of what is hidden, I would have
abundant good things and no harm could touch me. I am no more than a
bearer of warning and good news to those who believe’” (Q. 7:188).
A distinction is made here: al-wilayat al-takwiniyya as it relates to God is
dhati (essential), whereas it is ‘aradi (accidental, namely, with God’s permis-
sion [bi-idhn Allah]) for the prophets and Imams. The Qur’an mentions other
prophets who had this creative authority to perform miracles: Joseph, Moses,
Solomon, and Muhammad.85 An interesting dialogue between the Sixth
divine guide, Ja‘far al-Sadiq, and a blind man named Abu Basir relates that
the former confirms his ability to revive the dead and cure the leper and the
blind by God’s will. The Sixth Imam rubbed his hand over this man’s face
and eyes, and his eyesight was restored.86
For the sake of explication, wilaya can be divided into 1487 subjects.
1 The Luminous Realities (al-haqiqat al-nuriyya)88
“So believe in God, in His Messenger, and in the light We have sent down.”
(Q. 64:8)
The infallible divine guides are endowed with a special soul and emanate
from God’s Light. In one sense, they are the Light of God: “There was
nothing else except God. Then He created the five [Muhammad, Ali, Fatima,
Hasan, and Husayn] from the Light of His Glory … ”89 This light is trans-
mitted from generation to generation in the loins of Adam’s progeny. After it
reached ‘Abd al-Muttallib, it was divided between ‘Abdalla (Muhammad’s
father) and Abu Talib (Ali’s father). This light enables the divine guides to
inspire and influence people’s hearts in order to bring them closer to God. In
response to Abu Khalid al-Kabuli’s inquiry about “So believe in God, in His
Messenger, and in the light We have sent down” (Q. 64:8), the Fifth Imam,
al-Baqir, replied:
I swear by God that the light (al-nur) is the light of the Imams from the
household of the Prophet till the Day of Resurrection … The brilliance of
the light of the Imam in the hearts of the believers is greater than that of
the sun. It is the Imam who illumines the hearts of the believers. God
prevents the brilliance of that light from reaching the hearts of whom-
soever He wills; this being the explanation for the darkness of their
hearts.90
Similar hadiths indicate that their true followers received some aspect of this
light and thus were guided aright, whereas their enemies were deprived of
this light and, consequently, went astray: “ … The one to whom God gives no
light has no light at all” (Q. 24:40).91 This division into antagonistic and
dualist groups is a recurring theme.
The way to attain cognizance and understanding of God is to comprehend
this light: “Knowing me (i.e., Ali) is through the Light. Knowing God is
identical to knowing me by the Light and this is the pure religion (“ma‘rifati
bi-l-nuraniyya wa ma‘rifat Allah ‘azz wa jall ma‘rifati bi-l-nuraniyya wa huwa
al-din al-khalis”92). In his exegesis of “The earth will shine with the light of its
Lord” (Q. 39:69), Ali b. Ibrahim al-Qummi (d. 941) relates that Imam Sadiq
had interpreted “the light of his Lord” to mean “the light of the Imam of the
Earth.”93 As this light’s94 exalted nature makes it impossible to fathom the
precise nature of these luminous individuals, the divine guides related esoteric
knowledge only to those select disciples (ashab al-sirr95) who had the capacity
and were already initiated to comprehend their status. This is related in a
story about ‘Umar’s question to Abu Dharr as to the identity of the person
who was with the Prophet in the mosque. The latter replied that he could not
recognize that person’s true nature. Upon going inside, ‘Umar saw that
Muhammad was with Ali and, in astonishment, related the conversation to
Muhammad. Muhammad told him that Abu Dharr had spoken the truth,
because “no one can have full cognizance of Ali except God and His Mes-
senger.”96 In another tradition, the Prophet states that “no one can recognize
God except I and you (Ali); no one can recognize me except God and you;
no one can recognize you except God and I (“Ya Ali ma ‘arafa Allah illa ana
wa anta, wa ma ‘arafa-ni illa Allah wa anta, wa ma ‘arafa-ka illa Allah
wa ana”).97
2 The First Creation of God (awwal ma khalaqa Allah)
The infallible divine guides, who were the first creations after Muhammad,
are also viewed as the best, the perfect, and the most noble (ashraf and afdal)
of all of His creations (except for Muhammad) because they were the first to
recognize His divine Unicity and Majesty.98 They are the Creator’s purpose
(final cause) for creating the world, which was done for their sake (‘illat
al-gha’i al-khilqa—“li ajli-him”): “O Ali, were it not for us (i.e., the divine
guides), God would not have created Adam or Eve, paradise or hell-fire
and heavens or the earth” (Ya Ali, law la nahnu [i.e., the divine guides] ma
khalaqa Allah Adam wa la Hawwa’ wa la janna wa la-l-nar wa la-l-sama’ wa
la-l-ard).99 In one tradition, Ibn ‘Abbas relates that the Prophet told him that
he and Ali had been created from one light (nur wahid)100 40,000 years before
Adam and the Divine Throne. God created humanity and the universe on
account of His love for Muhammad and his progeny.101 In his al-I‘tiqadat,
Shaykh Saduq relates a hadith that “God did not create anyone superior to
the Prophet and the Imams. They are the most loved by Him and the most
noble. … ”102
The presence of these luminous lights is essential for the world’s continued
existence. In this regard, prophethood (nubuwwa) ended with Muhammad;
however, the need for a wali continues until the end of time, and thus a proof
(hujja) from God must always be present:
If mankind consisted of only two persons, one of them would have to be

an Imam … The last person to die will surely be the Imam so that no one
may have a basis to protest against Allah, to Whom belong Might and
Majesty, that He has abandoned him without any Proof (hujja) from
Allah for him.103
3 The Most Beautiful Names (al-asma’ al-husna)104
“The Most Excellent Names belong to God: use them to call on Him and keep
away from those who distort them.”
(Q. 7:180)
The name (al-ism) is derived from the mark (al-sima) and is an indication or a
sign. This appellation, which has both a general and a universal application,
refers to the named item (mussamma), whether it is a word formulation, an
existent, or something else. But when a linguistic meaning is applied, the
universal sign or mark is transformed into a specific mark that refers to the
named item. The mark’s universal meaning, one that is not restricted to
the word, can be gleaned from a hadith reported on the Eighth Imam’s
authority: “When someone says ‘bi ism Allah’ it means, I put on myself one
mark (or sign) of God’s marks and that mark is worship (al-‘ibada). Faddal
(the narrator) asked him: ‘What is that mark (sima)?’ The Imam replied: ‘The
indication or sign (al-‘alama).’”105 In other words, the name manifests the
named item. Each and every existent manifests, to the degree of its own
essence, the name of one of His attributes to the extent of its capacity to
function as a vehicle of self-manifestation. It is also a mark and a sign of one
action (fi‘l) among His actions (af‘al).
The beautiful names of God comprise the attributes of His essence (sifat
dhat), such as all-knowing (al-‘alim), powerful (al-qadir), living (al-hayy);
of His action (sifat fi‘l), such as creator (al-khaliq), sustainer (al-raziq);
and glorification and sanctification (tamjid and taqdis), such as sanctified
(al-quddus) and self-sufficient (al-ghani). All of these must be manifested in
the outer world, and only by means of the resulting existents can the proper-
ties of God’s names become apparent and understood through intellectual
constructs. However, as His true reality transcends all human constructs and
formulations, the attribute of His essence can be discerned only by means of
the self-manifestation of the attributes of those existents whose properties
(e.g., creation, sustenance, and mercy) are manifested in the outer world. Such
attributes can be derived from the relationship between Him and the cosmos.
Namely, observing created beings (makhluq) enables people to deduce the
existence of a creator (khaliq).
God’s essence is disclosed in the universe’s attributes and actions, for He is
omnipresent in His creatures, signs, attributes, and acts. Thus all existents self-
manifest His attributes, acts, signs, and names, and thereby indicate their
Creator’s beautiful and perfect nature. Ali is reported to have said: “I do not
see anything except with the presence [cause] of God” (“ma ra’aytu shay’ illa
wa ra’aytu Allah qabla-hu”106) and “[He] is present in things but not as a
compound. [He] is absent from it but not vanished” (“dakhil fi-l-ashya’ la
bi-l-mumazaja, wa kharij ‘anha la bi-l-muzayala”107). The Fourth Imam, Zayn
al-‘Abidin, is reported to have made the following supplication, “You are
disclosed to me in everything such that I see you manifested in everything …
and you are apparent in everything” (“anta al-ladhi ta‘arrafta ilayya fi kull
shay’ fa-ra’aytu-ka zahir fi kull shay’ … Wa anta al-zahir li-kull shay’”108), on
the Day of ‘Arafa.
Although all existents are the “locus of manifestation” (mazahir) of God’s
names, their capacity to function as vehicles of His self-manifestation differ,

for each existent embodies a specific number of His attributes based on its
rank. The Imams are the supreme examples of the perfect human being
(al-insan al-kamil or al-insan al-tamm) because they assume God’s character
traits and manifest His names and attributes in perfect equilibrium: “We are
the beautiful names of God and the Supreme Symbol and the Greatest Sign”
(“wa nahnu asma’ Allah al-husna wa-l-amthal al-‘ulya wa-l-ayat al-kubra”).109
4 Intercession (shafa‘a)
“Your Lord is God who created the heavens and earth in six Days, then
established Himself on the Throne, governing everything; there is no one that
can intercede with Him, unless He has given permission.”
(Q. 10:3)
The Imams are endowed with the privilege of shafa‘a tashri‘i (intercession in
legislation) and shafa‘a takwini (intercession in creation) on behalf of creation
to secure goodness and repel harm. The former is employed to petition God
to forgive and overlook those infractions related to His rights (huquq Allah);
the latter acts as an intermediary between God and His creation in dispersing
and diffusing divine bounties, mercy, grace, and sustenance, including the act
of creation. This meaning is related in a hadith reported on Ali’s authority:
“The earth was created for the sake of the seven—you receive sustenance
through them, help and assistance is rendered to you on account of them, and
rainfall comes through [their intercession]—they include Salman al-Farsi,
Miqdad, Abu Dharr, ‘Ammar, and Hudhayfa. I am their leader, and they
send benedictions upon Fatima” (“khuliqat al-ard li sab‘a, bi-him turzaqun,
wa bi-him tunsarun, wa bi-him tumtarun, min-hum Salman al-Farsi wa-l-Miqdad
wa Abu Dharr wa ‘Ammar wa Hudhayfa, wa ana imamu-hum wa hum
al-ladhina sallu ‘ala Fatima”110). As a consequence, there must always be a
hujja so that the Earth can survive and keep the cause of its existence.
On the Day of Judgment, the shafa‘a will be available to all people who
accepted the truth brought by the divine guides. One hadith relates the
meaning of rahim from the exegesis attributed to the Eleventh Imam, Hasan
al-‘Askari. In it, he is reported to have said that only 1 percent of God’s
mercy (rahma) has been dispersed among His creation in this world, and that
it finds expression in the love between the human/animal mother and her
child/offspring. On the Day of Judgment, the entirety of God’s rahma will be
diffused and accessible, such that Muhammad’s community will successfully
intercede on behalf of its neighbors, associates, and acquaintances irrespective
of their faith or lack thereof.111
Hadiths found in the early works report that many of the previous prophets
sought the divine guides’ intercession for help when confronted with a crisis,
and that it was due to the latter’s honor that God decided to knead the clay
out of which He fashioned humanity with His own Hand and breathed into it
from His Spirit. Noah was rescued from the flood when he appealed to God
through these luminous entities, and Ibrahim prayed to God for the fire to
become cool by asking for it in the name of Muhammad’s progeny. Moses
communicated with God, and Jesus performed miracles and was saved from
crucifixion by being allowed to ascend to heaven, on account of the divine
guides’ intercession.112 God created the world due to His love for the awliya’,
and it is because of their teachings and initiatory knowledge that the angels
and humanity worship God.
5 Comprehensive Knowledge (al-‘ilm al-ladunni)
God has bestowed all-encompassing knowledge (namely, knowledge of the

past, the present, and the future) upon the Imams.113 Since nothing is con-
cealed from them, they have access to any knowledge they desire: anna
al-a’imma idha sha’u an ya‘lamu ‘alimu.114 For example, they are privy to the
knowledge of earlier scriptures and can judge in accordance with their
teachings.115 They possess the Jafr, the Jami‘a, and the Mushaf Fatima.116
Angels continually descend upon them to provide additional information,
as well as on Friday night117 and the Night of Power (Laylat al-Qadr).118
The Imams know how long they will live, when and how they will die, and
can choose to die on their own accord.119 The sources of their knowledge are
the angels (by way of inspiration) and communication with the deceased
prophets and Imams, the written sources, and through spiritual ascension to
the Divine Throne. This hereditary initiatory knowledge is transmitted through
their spiritual lineage.120 One necessary outcome of the bestowal of this
comprehensive knowledge and cognizance is infallibility (‘isma).
6 Recipients of Inspiration (muhaddath)121
The Imams receive revelation (wahy122), but not in the form in which it des-
cended upon the prophets. Instead, God inspires them by means of another
process and, as such, they are referred to as muhaddath, persons spoken to by
angels via sounds in their ears (naqr fi-l-asma‘) and supported by the Holy
Spirit (ruh al-qudus) whenever they desire to know something.123 Imami
scholars distinguish between a messenger who brings a new law and scripture
(rasul); a non-lawgiving prophet (nabi) who is entrusted with explicating and
advancing his immediate predecessor’s message; and the Imam, who receives
inspiration as a muhaddath to guide people in exoteric and esoteric issues. The
Imams can hear, but not see, the angel who brings this inspiration. On the
Night of Power, which occurs during Ramadan, they receive additional
information about that which is to unfold in the subsequent year as well as
detailed elaborations on other issues. In addition, the Imams make a spiritual
ascension to the Divine Throne to increase their knowledge, especially on
Fridays.
7 Esoteric Guidance (al-Imamat al-batiniyya)124
The Imams provide inner guidance to their followers on how to refine their
souls by esoteric means. This is in contrast to the outer guidance they dis-
pense on issues related to the law and the shari‘a. They develop a bond
with their true followers, those who have accepted their wilaya and are in
communion with them. Further, their guidance covers the entirety of God’s
creation.
Every religion comprises a zahir (exterior) and a batin (interior) dimension.
The chain of prophets and scriptures fall into the former category, and the
uninterrupted chain of Imams, whose presence is mandatory for life on Earth
to continue, constitute the latter. The faithful who submit to their wilaya and
love them are given the privilege of being initiated by the Imams and guided
into the mysteries of the Divine Being and religion:
The person upon whose shoulders lies the responsibility for the guidance
of a community through Divine Command, in the same way that he is
the guide of man’s external life and acts, is also the guide for the spiritual
life, and the inner dimension of human life and religious practice depends
upon his guidance.125
8 Miracles and Charismata [special divine graces and favors] (mu‘jizat and
karamat)
The term mu‘jizat is normally applied to the miracles performed by the pro-
phets, and karamat to those performed by the saints of God. This distinction
is especially apparent in the works of kalam, where it is discussed in separate
categories. The Imams perform miracles as a testimony of their high rank and
stature. Some of the works on Imamate detail the miracles attributed to
them.126 Sharif Murtada severely rebukes those traditionists who exaggerate
the divine guides’ supernatural powers, such as the ability to walk on clouds
and other fanciful accounts.127
9 The Primordial Covenant (mithaq)
In pre-existential time, God made a pact with the distinguished prophets (ulu
al-‘azm) and the rest of humanity to worship only Him and to testify to their
devotion and love for the Prophet and his progeny. The scriptural evid-
ence cited for this episode is “[O Prophet], when your Lord took out the off-
spring from the loins of the Children of Adam and made them bear witness
about themselves, He said, ‘Am I not your Lord?’ and they replied, ‘Yes we
bear witness.’ So you cannot say on the Day of Resurrection, ‘We were not
aware of this’” (Q. 7:172). Various related hadiths state: “God took the pre-
temporal pact from the prophets on the wilaya of Ali and the covenant was
made with the prophets by virtue of the wilaya of Ali” (“inna Allah akhadha
mithaq al-nabiyyin ‘ala wilayat Ali wa akhadha ‘ahd al-nabiyyin bi wilayat
Ali”128). The primordial covenant on love and fidelity (walaya) to the divine
guides was taken from the entire creation.129
‘Allama ‘Abd al-Husayn Amini (d. 1970), author of the momentous multi-
volume al-Ghadir, provides a detailed discussion and analysis of this subject
with rational (‘aqli) and textual (naqli) proofs. He adduces 19 Qur’anic verses
and 70 hadiths, which are subjected to a scrupulous investigation of the
hadiths’ chain of transmission (isnad) and text (matn). Citing both Sunni and
Shi‘i scholars who confirm his views, he uses poetry to corroborate them fur-
ther and concludes that the primordial covenant refers to one’s affirmation of
servitude to God (rububiyya), prophethood (nubuwwa), and wilaya.130
This event is also referred to as yawm al-mithaq (the day of the pre-temporal
pact), yawm al-jam‘ (the day of humanity’s gathering), yawm al-shahid (the
day of witness), yawm al-mashhud (the day of being witnessed), yawm al-‘ard
al-awwal (the day of the first presentation), yawm al-khalq al-awwal (the day
of the first creation), yawm al-taklif al-awwal (the day of the first obliga-
tion), yawm al-ba‘th al-awwal (the day of the first mission), yawm al-iqrar (the
day of affirmation), yawm al-wilaya (the day of wilaya), yawm al-bala’ (the
day of trial), ‘alam al-dharr (the world of particles), ‘alam alast (the world of
testimony), and ‘alam al-azilla (the world of shadows).131
10 The Presentation of Deeds to the Prophet and His Progeny (‘ard al-a‘mal)
Every week, the infallible leaders receive a full account of the deeds of their
faithful followers who submit to their wilaya. They become joyful and happy
when the deeds performed are positive, and saddened and sorrowful when the
deeds are negative.132 The Sixth Imam, when asked about the interpretation
of Qur’an, 9:105, “Say [O Prophet], ‘Take action! God will see your actions—as
will His Messenger and the believers … ,” replied that this refers to the Imams.133
11 The Infallible Guides are Witnesses Over the Deeds of the Community
The infallible leaders will be the proof (hujja) of God on the Day of Judgment
over the faithful by virtue of the following Qur’anic verse: “We have made
you [believers] into a just community, so that you may bear witness (shahid)
[to the truth] before others and so that the Messenger may bear witness
(shahid) [to it] before you” (Q. 2:143). On that day, every community will be
summoned to appear before the Imam of their respective time, who will act as
a proof: “On the Day when We summon each community, along with its
leader … ” (Q. 17:71).
12 The Status of the Infallible Leaders
The status of the divine guides is so exalted that God created the universe out
of His love for them. They were created from the superior clay of heaven
(‘illiyyin) and are from the original Light (nur) of God.134 In contrast, their
opponents were created from the sijjin, which is from hell, and is composed of
salty, brackish water.135
Adam and the angels were commanded to prostrate to them, thereby ack-
nowledging their grand status, and to affirm their wilaya. One who affirms their
wilaya is akin to one who has affirmed the wilaya of all the prophets sent by
God, whereas one who accepts the wilaya of Muhammad but rejects his
infallible progeny is akin to one who accepts the wilaya of all the previous
prophets but rejects the wilaya of the last Prophet.136
13 The Status of the Infallible Leaders on the Day of Judgment
In addition to providing guidance and serving as intermediaries who dis-

tribute divine blessings in this world, the divine guides play a role at the time
of death, during one’s questioning in the grave, during the period between
death and resurrection, and on the Day of Accounting. Their rank and status
on the Day of Judgment is found in hadiths that confer upon them the privi-
lege of assigning people to paradise or hell based on the affirmation or neg-
ation of their wilaya, “qasim al-janna wa-l-nar,”137 for one’s loyalty and fidelity
to them is the scale for weighing one’s righteous deeds (mizan al-a‘mal);138
the path of safety on the bridge (sirat) is the one of wilaya and none will be
allowed to enter without the approval of Ali (“Halt them for questioning
(Q. 37:24) [about their wilaya to Ali],139 “la yajuzu ahad al-sirat illa man
kataba la-hu Ali al-jawaz.”140); the first question posed will be about the
wilaya; love and obedience of Ali brings about salvation and God would dis-
pense with the fire of hell if people were united on their love for Ali (‘Umar
b. Khattab: “law ijtama‘a al-nas ‘ala hubb Ali b. Abi Talib ma khalaq Allah
al-nar”141); and Ali’s permission is required to reach the fountain (hawd) in
paradise (“Ali yawm al-qiyama ‘ala-l-hawd la yadkhulu al-janna illa man ja’a
bi-jawaz min Ali.”142).
14 The Divine Guides’ Relationship with God, the Prophets, and the Other
Existents before and after Creation
The infallible guides have a special and unique relationship with God, for
their luminous lights were created before anything else and from a special
heavenly material (‘illiyyin). Thus they are the firm rope of God (habl Allah
al-matin143) and have been given special knowledge of the greatest names
(al-ism al-a‘zam).144 In addition, they have a relationship with the prophets by
virtue of communicating with their spirits and having inherited their knowl-
edge.145 Gabriel is reported to have told Muhammad: “God created Ali with
the other prophets esoterically and created him with you exoterically (Inna
Allah ba‘atha Ali ma‘a al-anbiya’ batin wa ba‘atha-hu ma‘a-ka zahir).”146
They are also the mediators between God and the prophets, as their names
are invoked before a miracle is performed. As a case in point, it is asserted
that God forgave Adam’s lapse when he petitioned God for forgiveness in the
name of the luminous entities, that Moses parted the Red Sea by invoking
their names, and that Jesus revived the dead by appealing to God in the name
of the 14 infallibles. The earlier prophets gave glad tidings to their respective
communities on the future coming of Prophet Muhammad and his progeny.
The infallible divine guides have a close and intimate relationship with
everyone who has accepted their wilaya and are sincerely devoted to them.
Their light shines in their hearts with a light that is more intense than that of
the stars. They guide the faithful like a compassionate father, such that the
analogy is made that one who cuts off his link with them is like an orphan.147
The above categories are interrelated and intertwined. The division was
made only to illustrate and explicate the complex nature of wilaya found in
early Twelver Shi‘i hadith literature. Later Imami scholars, who took great
pains to provide Qur’anic references and rational arguments to prove that
ascribing certain supernatural powers to the divine guides was neither exag-
geration nor extremism (ghuluww),148 accused the Sunnis of exaggerating
some of the caliphs’ virtues.149 Shi‘i scholars vigorously denounced all reports
that sought to divinize and glorify the Imams and/or all those that attributed
divine attributes to them, especially from the tenth century onward, as having
been fabricated by extremist Shi‘is (ghulat). However, such hadiths do exist in
the early corpus of Shi‘i works on hadith, exegesis, and theology by Saffar,
Qummi, ‘Ayyashi, Saduq, Kulayni, and other scholars.
Hodgson, Watt, Amir-Moezzi, and Ayoub make a persuasive case that
there was no separation or distinction between “extremist” and “moderate”
Shi‘ism for the first two centuries. Thus, the former may be considered a precursor
and progenitor of the latter when the scholars opted to distance themselves from
such exaggerated reports and formally disciplined the former on the grounds that
they had transgressed the limits of Islam. Hodgson writes: “[T]he conventional
approach to the Ghulat—that they were the left wing of the Shi‘a, a posited
Twelver ‘moderation’ being its center, and the mild Zaydis its right wing—is
hardly acceptable, certainly for the earlier period which is most fully described
by the heresiographers.”150 Amir-Moezzi labeled these two categories as “non-
rational esoteric” and “theologico-legal-rational” trends, respectively, with the
latter becoming dominant and the norm after having diluted (but not com-
pletely expunged) those hadith reports that elevated the Imams’ status to a
cosmic level.151 It is in this context that one should note an astute observation
made by Ayatollah ‘Abdalla Mamaqani (d. 1932): “We have stated on many
occasions that the accusations of extremism leveled by the early [scholars]
(al-qudama’) do not deserve to be taken into consideration since many aspects
that are essential to Imami doctrine (daruriyyat al-madhhab) were held by
them to be extremist.”152
The virtues and excellences mentioned in the Qur’an and hadith that the
divine guides enjoy are gifts bestowed (mawhub) upon them by God and thus
are not acquired (iktisab). However, they can be regarded as an ideal and a
paradigm that can inspire other people to strive for a higher rank of excel-
lence in their own lives: “The Messenger of God is an excellent model (uswa
hasana)” (Q. 33:21). Accordingly, every conscious human being can poten-
tially ascend to a higher status, depending upon the extent to which he/she
polishes his/her cosmic mirror (heart). The prophets and divine guides, who
have actualized the names of God latent in all people, thus become points of
reference worthy of emulation. In the Sixth Imam’s own words: “It is because
of us that God is known and worshipped. We are the proofs that lead to God,
and were it not for us God would not have been worshipped (Bi-na ‘urifa
Allah wa bi-na ‘ubida Allah nahnu al-adilla’ ‘ala Allah wa law-la-na ma ‘ubida
Allah”);153 “He who knows us knows God, and he who knows us not, knows
not God (man ‘arafana faqad ‘arafa Allah wa man ankarana faqad ankara
Allah);” and “Without God, we would not be known, and without us, God
would not be known (law la Allah ma ‘urifna wa law la nahnu ma ‘urifa
Allah).”154
Morteza Motahhari succinctly summarizes the essence of this chapter: all
the various forms of wilaya/walaya reside in the person of the Imam: wilayat
al-mahabba (the Imams are entitled to unconditional love and affection and,
as such, their devotees have been charged to discharge this obligation);
wilayat al-Imama (the Imams have been designated to provide guidance and
leadership to the people in religious and spiritual matters since they are the
authoritative and infallible guides); wilayat al-za‘ama (the exclusive authority
and mandate over the Muslims’ socio-political affairs or in temporal matters);
wilayat al-ghayb (unseen) and malakuti (divine) (the Imams have been gifted
with comprehensive authority over the entire creation of God like Prophet
Muhammad and other previous prophets).
Scholars adopted different approaches to engage in a systematic study of
this central doctrine of Imamate and wilaya/walaya. The detailed rational and
traditional arguments were gradually articulated and refined with care and
diligence, bearing in mind that for the Shi‘is it was the very foundation of
their faith. Rejecting the merit and validity of Imamate is equivalent to
rejecting the prophecy of all the prophets.
Notes
1 Mahmoud Ayoub, The Crisis of Muslim History: Religion and Politics in Early
Islam (Oxford: Oneworld Publications, 2003), 17 and 22. Tabari relates on Sayf
b. ‘Umar’s authority that Ali was so eager to pledge allegiance to Abu Bakr that
in his haste he arrived dressed only in his shirt. Madelung, The Succession to
Muhammad, 1–2 and Marshall Hodgson, “How did the Early Shi‘a Become
Sectarian,” Journal of the American Oriental Society 75/1 (1955): 1.
2 Ardent supporters of Ali, like Salman al-Farsi and Abu Dharr, viewed his suc-
cession in religious as opposed to political terms. Maria M. Dakake, The Char-
ismatic Community: Shi‘i Identity in Early Islam (Albany: State University of
New York Press, 2007), 6.
3 Madelung, The Succession to Muhammad, 16 and Q. 3:33–34, 19:58, 6:84–89,
37:76–77, 57:26, 11:71–73, and 4:34. Amir-Moezzi further elaborates on Made-

lung’s work in his The Spirituality of Shi‘ Islam, 16–22. Contrast this with M. A.
Shaban, who maintains that Muhammad “made no pronouncement on the ques-
tion of how the umma should continue after him. The famous Shi‘i tradition that
he designated his cousin Ali as his successor at Ghadir Khum should not be
taken seriously. Such an event is inherently improbable considering the Arab tra-
ditional reluctance to entrust young and untried young men with great responsi-
bility … One can only conclude that Muhammad intended that his followers
should settle, on their own, the problem of succession, if indeed there was to be
any successor at all. This fits very well with his deep understanding of his times
and it was the only practical course for him to take.” M. A. Shaban, Islamic
History: A New Interpretation (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1971),
16. A similar view is posited by Bernard Lewis, The Arabs in History (London:
Harper & Row, 1966), 50. Also see Marshall Hodgson who writes: “It is hard to
suppose that anyone thought of Ali as the logical candidate at the death of the
Prophet,” Hodgson, “How did the Early Shi‘a Become Sectarian,” 2.
4 Madelung, The Succession to Muhammad, 24.
5 Afsaruddin, Excellence and Precedence, 6.
6 Ibid., 271.
7 Moshe Sharon, “The Development of the Debate around the Legitimacy of
Authority in Islam,” Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam 5 (1984): 121–41.
8 Dakake, The Charismatic Community, 6.
9 Shariati, Selection and/or Election, 12. This 250-year period is the approximate
span of time covered by the 12 infallible divine guides before the commencement
of the Minor Occultation (874). He argues that the Qur’an contains conflicting
material that can be selectively retrieved to substantiate pre-set positions. Sunni
scholars cited the Qur’anic verse on consultation to validate the method used to
choose Abu Bakr as the new leader. This, according to him, has been the stan-
dard practice of those who use religion to give credence to one’s position: “In
order to do away with a right, another right will be cited.” Ibid., 6.
10 “ … each party [hizb] rejoicing in their own” (Q. 23:53).
11 Mufid, Awa’il al-maqalat, 1.
12 Nasir b. ‘Abdalla b. Ali Qafari, Usul madhhab al-Shi‘a al-Imamiyya al-ithnay
‘ashariyya: ‘ard wa naqd (Cairo, n.p., 1994), 34.
13 Interestingly, Muhammad b. Jarir al-Tabari, the famous historian and exegete,
is referred to as harboring mild tendencies and inclinations in favor of the Ahl
al-Bayt (tashayyu‘ yasir), but not to the extent that it resulted in any harm.
Muhammad b. Ahmad al-Dhahabi, Mizan al-i‘tidal (Beirut: Dar al-ma‘rifa,
1985), 3:498.
14 Mufid, Awa’il al-maqalat, 2. The term shi‘a was used to refer to Ali in various
contexts: as being more virtuous and meritorious than ‘Uthman, as the legitimate
Imam and successor to Muhammad, as having been explicitly appointed by
Muhammad, and of being infallible and inerrant.
15 Ahmad b. Muhammad b. Ya‘qubi, Ta’rikh-e Ya‘qubi, trans. Muhammad Ibrahim
Ayati (Tehran: Markaz-e entesharat-e ‘elmi va farhanghi, 1983), 1:228.
16 Ahmad Mahmud Subhi, Nazariyyat al-Imama la day al-Shi‘a al-ithnay ‘ashariyya:
tahlil falsafi li-l-‘aqida (Beirut: Dar al-Nadda al-‘Arabiyya, 1991), 49.
17 ‘Abd al-Rahman b. Abi Bakr al-Suyuti, al-Itqan fi ‘ulum al-Qur’an (Beirut: Dar
Ibn Kathir, 1987), 6:589.
18 Majlisi, Bihar, 31:437.
19 Mufid, Awa’il al-maqalat, 94.
20 Shahrastani, Kitab al-milal, trans. Kazi, 125.
21 Abu Hatim al-Razi, Gherayesh wa mazaheb-e Islami, trans. Agha Nuri (Qum:
Markaz motale‘at va tahqiqat-e adyan va mazaheb, 2003), 259.
22 Abu al-Hasan al-Ash‘ari, al-Maqalat wa-l-firaq, ed. Muhammad Jawad Mashkur

(Tehran: Markaz-e entesharat-e ‘elmi va farhanghi, 1982), 15; Hasan b. Musa
al-Nawbakhti, Firaq al-Shi‘a, trans. Muhammad Jawad Mashkur (Tehran:
Entesharat-e ‘elmi va farhanghi, 2002), 17.
23 Muhammad b. Hasan al-Tusi, Talkhis al-Shafi‘i, ed. Husayn Bahr al-‘Ulum
(Qum: Dar al-kutub al-Islamiyya, 1974), 2:56.
24 Ahmad b. Ali al-Najashi, Rijal al-Najashi, ed. Musa Shubayri Zanjani (Qum:
Jami‘a mudarrisin, 1984), 12, 330–31.
25 Amini, Sharh jami‘, 11–12.
26 Ibid.
27 W. M. Watt, “The Rafidites: A Preliminary Study,” Oriens 16 (1963): 111
28 Amir-Moezzi, The Spirituality of Shi i‘i Islam, 8–11.
29 Ibid., 29 and 33.
30 Sadr, The Emergence of Shi‘ism and the Shi‘ites, 54.
31 Subhi, Nazariyyat al-Imama, 28–29.
32 Kamil Mustafa al-Shaybi, al-Sila bayn al-tasawwuf wa-l-tashayyu‘ (Beirut: Dar
al-Andalus, 1982), 17.
33 Hodgson, “How did the Early Shi‘a Become Sectarian,” 1-3.
34 As Maria Dakake astutely pointed out, imama and wilaya/walaya cannot be
treated as synonyms. It appears that wilaya/walaya was the more common usage
in the earliest phase of Shi‘ism’s development, as evidenced by the fact that the
Prophet called Ali the mawla/wali on the Day of Ghadir (632). Later Imami scho-
lars preferred to use imama instead of wilaya/walaya. Dakake, The Charismatic
Community, 35, 49, and 53.
35 Amir-Moezzi, The Spirituality of Shi‘i Islam, 241–42.
36 Allama Muhammad Husayn Tabataba’i, Velayat nameh, translated from Arabic
to Persian by Homayun Hemmati (Tehran: Amir kabir, 1977), 95–116.
37 Javad Nurbakhsh, Traditions of the Prophet (Ahadith) (New York: Khaniqa
Nimatullahi Publications, 1981), 15.
38 Fayd Muhsin al-Kashani, Tafsir al-Safi, ed. Husayn al-A‘lami (Tehran: Maktabat
al-Sadr, 1995), 5:50.
39 Ahmad b. Muhammad b. Khalid al-Barqi, Kitab al-mahasin, ed. Jalal al-Din
al-Husayni (Tehran: Dar al-kutub al-Islamiyya, 1950), 1:262–63, hadith no. 327
(Bab al-hubb wa-l-bughd fi-llah).
40 al-Muhammad Husayn al-Tabataba’i, Shi‘ite Islam, translated with an introduction
by Seyyed Husayn Nasr (Albany: SUNY, 1975), 14 (introduction).
41 Dakake argues that walaya “denotes an all-encompassing bond of spiritual loy-
alty that describes, simultaneously, a Shi‘ite believer’s allegiance to God, the
Prophet, the Imam, and the community of Shi‘ite believers, collectively.” Dakake,
The Charismatic Community, 7.
42 Motahhari, valaha va velayatha, 37–46.
43 Abu al-Hasan al-‘Amili al-Nabati al-Futuni, Tafsir mir’at al-anwar wa mishkat
al-asrar (Qum: Mu’assasa Isma‘iliyyan, 1858), 31. This work is the introductory
(Muqaddama) volume to Hashim b. Sulayman al-Bahrani’s al-Burhan fi tafsir
al-Qur’an. Preface by Mahmud b. Ja‘far al-Musawi al-Zarandi (Qum: Mu’assasa
Isma‘iliyan, 1858).
44 Nur Allah b. ‘Abdalla Shustari, Ihqaq al-haqq wa izhaq al-batil (includes Mulhaqat
by Shahab al-Din al-Husayni al-Mar‘ashi al-Najafi), ed. Shahab al-Din al-Najafi
(Qum: Maktaba Ayatollah al-Mar‘ashi al-Najafi, n.d.), 7:278.
45 al-Hafiz Ahmad b. ‘Abdalla b. Ahmad b. Ishaq (Hakim al-Haskani), Shawahid
al-tanzil li qawa‘id al-tafsil fi-l-ayat al-nazila fi ahl al-bayt, ed. Muhammad
Baqir al-Mahmudi (Tehran: Wizarat al-thaqafa wa-l-irshad al-Islami, 1990),
2:130; Ibn al-Maghazili al-Shafi‘i, Manaqib Ali b. Abi Talib (Tehran: al-Maktaba
al-Islamiyya, 1982), 307; al-Hasan b. Yusuf al-Mutahhar al-Hilli, Nahj al-haqq

wa kashf al-sidq, ed. ‘Aynulla al-Hasani al-Armawi (Qum: Dar al-hijra, 1986),
175; Shustari, Ihqaq, 22:96–97; Amini, Ghadir, 2:306–11; al-Muhammad Husayn
al-Tabataba’i, al-Mizan fi tafsir al-Qur’an (Beirut: Mu’assasat al-a‘lami, 1957–74),
18:42–52.
46 “Say, I ask no reward for it from you: it is a lesson for all people” (Q. 6:90); “My
people, I ask no reward for it from you; my reward comes only from God”
(Q. 11:29). Also, see Q. 11:51, 25:57, 26:109, and 26:127.
47 “Say, ‘If I have asked you for any reward, you can keep it (fa-huwa la-kum). It is
God alone who will reward me: He is witness to everything’” (Q. 34:47).
48 Shustari, Ihqaq, 4:263, 287; 5:43; 7:213, 216; 17:165; and 21:129.
49 Ibid., 6:410–12. In Sunni hadith collections, the person of Ali is replaced by
‘amiri:’ “wa man yuti‘a al-amir fa qad ata‘ani … ” See Muslim b. al-Hajjaj
al-Nisaburi, Sahih Muslim (Beirut: Dar al-fikr, n.d.), 6:13.
50 Shustari, Ihqaq, 17:8–11, 7:378, and 6:410–12.
51 Ibid., 30:311 and 17:235.
52 Ibid., 22:340 and 9:252, 454.
53 Quoted in Amini, Ghadir, 4:323; ‘Allama Amini relates 11 other hadiths on this
subject, 4:321–25. Shustari, Ihqaq, 33:237 and 9:165. See also Etan Kohlberg,
“The Position of the Walad Zina in Imami Shi‘ism,” in Belief and Law in Imami
Shi‘ism (Hampshire: Variorum, 1991), chap. 11, 237–66: “Their basic message is
that a hallmark of the walad zina is hatred of the ahl al-bayt,” 239.
54 Shustari, Ihqaq, 9:425 and 18:471.
55 Ibid., 21:319 and 22:341. Love for the divine guides is interpreted to mean love
for the truth, humanity, goodness, and anything that leads to prosperity and
perfection.
56 Ibid., 3:577, 7:215, and 17:197.
57 Ibid., 5:104–5.
58 Ibid., 2:298 and 9:487–90; Sulayman b. Ibrahim al-Qanduzi al-Hanafi, Yanabi‘
al-mawadda, ed. Ali Jamal Ashraf al-Husayni (Beirut: Dar al-uswa, 1995), 1:91.
Qanduzi quotes these hadiths from Zamakhshari’s al-Kashshaf and Fakhr al-Din
al-Razi’s al-Tafsir al-kabir, both of which feature their authors’ commentary on
the verse on mawadda (Q. 42:23).
59 Qanduzi, Yanabi‘, 1:91.
60 Shustari, Ihqaq, 5:291, 6:416, 16:598–622, 22:453, 24:474, 30:330, and 31:252.
61 Ibid., 30:279, 18:243, and 7:260.
62 Abu al-Qasim Raghib al-Isfahani, al-Mufradat fi gharib al-Qur’an (Cairo:
al-Matba‘ah al-maymaniyah, 1906), 155–56.
63 Muhammad Husayn al-Nuri, Mustadrak al-Wasa’il (Tehran: al-Maktabat
al-Islamiyya, 1962), 3:182.
64 Ibid.
65 al-Qadi, “The Term ‘Khalifa’ in Early Exegetical Literature,” 409.
66 Numerous hadiths refer to the divine guides as khalifa in its comprehensive sense,
which covers the temporal, religious, and spiritual spheres. See, for example,
Kulayni, Kafi, 1:275–76 (Kitab al-hujja, Bab anna al-a’imma khulafa’ Allah fi
ardi-hi … ); and Amini, Ghadir, 7:131.
67 Amir-Moezzi, The Divine Guide, 12.
68 Ibid., 19.
69 Kulayni, Kafi (Kitab al-hujja, Bab nadir jami‘ fi fadl al-imam wa sifati-hi).
Muhammad b. Ya‘qub b. Ishaq al-Kulayni, al-Kafi, translated to English under
the supervision of Muhammad Rida al-Ja‘fari (Tehran: WOFIS, 1978-) vol. 1,
part two, The Book of Divine Proof (II), 92–109. So far, up to the end of section 1
of Kitab al-hujja has been translated to English. This corresponds to 2:189 of the
work edited and translated into Persian by Mustafawi.

70 Different terms are employed to refer to this wilaya: al-wilayat al-mutlaqa,
al-wilayat al-‘amma, al-wilayat al-takwiniyya, al-wilayat al-kulliyya. al-wilayat
al-takwiniyya and tashri‘iyya are not found in the Qur’an and the hadith litera-
ture. See Lotfollah Safi Golpayegani, Velayat-e takvini va velayat-e tashri‘i
(Tehran: Mua’ssasat al-Imam al-Mahdi, n.d.), 53. I use wilaya in its technical
sense, not in the signification found in some Shi‘i hadiths and works, to mean love
(mahabba). It is possible to distinguish between the two meanings in Shi‘i works
based on the sentences’ context and qara’in. Wilaya, like wahy and mu‘jiza, does
not lend itself to intellectual constructs because it is a reality (haqiqa) that the
community is informed about through hadiths. Only a select few can taste an
aspect of this wilaya. The analogy is trying to make a small child understand the
pleasure of having sex.
71 Kulayni, Kafi, ed. Ghaffari, 1:255–56, hadith no. 4 (al-tafwid ila rasul Allah wa
ila-l-a’imma fi amr al-din).
72 Q. 4:59.
73 This superlative form of awla was used during the sermon of Ghadir where the
Prophet is reported to have asked the believers: “Do I not have more authority
or claim (awla) over you than you have upon yourselves?” Haskani, Shawahid
al-tanzil, 1:187; Hilli, Nahj al-haqq, 172–73.
74 Abdel Haleem translates this as “The Prophet is more caring towards the believ-
ers than they are themselves, while his wives are their mothers” which is not quite
accurate.
75 Landolt, “Walayah,” 316–23 and Tabataba’i, Mizan, 6:10–16, 10:89, 16:291, and
14:215.
76 Abdel Haleem’s translation: “Your true allies are God, His Messenger and the
believers—those who keep up the prayer, pay the prescribed alms, and bow down
in worship.”
77 ‘Abdullah Yusuf Ali, The Holy Qur’an (Elmhurst, New York: Tahrike Tarsile
Qur’an, 2009), 81. H. Landolt translates this verse as “Your wali is only God, his
Messenger, and those who [truly] believe, who perform the prayer and give alms,
bending the body.” Landolt, “Walayah,” 317.
78 Abdel Haleem’s translation: “The Prophet is more caring towards the believers
than they are themselves.”
79 “And (as for) the believing men and the believing women, they are guardians
(awliya’) of each other … ” (Q. 9:71) and “The believers, both men and women,
support each other … ” (Abdel Haleem’s translation).
80 Safi Golpayegani, Velayat-e takvini, 13–15.
81 Muhammad b. al-Hasan al-Saffar al-Qummi, Basa’ir al-darajat, ed. Mirza M.
Kuchebaghi (Qum: Maktaba Ayatollah al-‘uzma al-Mar‘ashi al-Najafi, 1983),
20–28; Kulayni, Kafi, 2:253–57 (Kitab al-hujja, Bab fi-ma ja’a anna haditha-hum
sa‘b mustas‘ab); Majlisi, Bihar, 2:183–85; Futuni, Tafsir mir’at al-anwar, 61.
82 Kulayni, Kafi, 1:28, hadith no. 15 (Kitab al-‘aql wa-l-jahl).
83 Abdel Haleem’s translation: “But they are denying what they cannot comprehend—
its prophecy has yet to be fulfilled for them.”
84 Ja‘far Sobhani, Velayat-e tashri‘i va takvini dar Qur’an-e majid (Qum: Mu’assasa
Imam Sadiq, 2003), 64–68.
85 Joseph’s miracle is related in Q. 12:93–96; Moses in Q. 2:60 and 26:63; Solomon
and his companion in Q. 27:38–40; Muhammad in Q. 54:1–2.
86 Kulayni, Kafi, 1:470, hadith no. 4. For additional examples, see Jawad b. ‘Abbas
Karbala’i, al-Anwar al-sati‘a fi sharh ziyara al-jami‘a (Tehran: Mu’assasat al-a‘lami,
1990), 1:298–309.
87 These 14 categories are interrelated and thus not mutually exclusive. See Kulayni,
Kafi, 2:276–318 (Kitab al-hujja, Bab fihi nukat wa nutaf min al-tanzil fi-l-wilaya)
and 2:318–21 (Kitab al-hujja, Bab fihi nutaf wa jawami‘ min al-riwaya fi-l-wilaya).
88 Sometimes referred to as al-haqiqat al-Muhammadiyya or al-haqiqat al-‘Alawiyya.
89 Kulayni, Kafi, 1:276 (Kitab al-hujja, Bab anna al-a’imma nur Allah), hadith no. 1.
“God is the light of the heavens and the earth … ” (Q. 24:35).
90 Ibid. and Amir-Moezzi, The Spirituality of Shi‘i Islam, 273–74.
91 Majlisi, Bihar, 65:44–45, hadith no. 90.
92 Futuni, Tafsir mir’at al-anwar, 58.
93 Ibid.
94 No one should attempt to draw a comparison or parallel between the divine
guides and others: “la yuqasu bi-na ahad min ‘ibad Allah,” Majlisi, Bihar, 65:44,
hadith no. 90 and Futuni, Tafsir mir’at al-anwar, 6.
95 “Law ‘alima Abu Dharr ma fi qalb Salman la-qatala-hu” (If Abu Dharr were to
know what resides in the heart of Salman, he would kill him), Kulayni, Kafi,
2:254, hadith no. 2 (Kitab al-hujja, Bab fi-ma ja’a anna haditha-hum sa‘b mustas‘ab);
and Majlisi, Bihar, 25:246.
96 Futuni, Tafsir mir’at al-anwar, 8.
97 ‘Abd al-Husayn al-Amini, “ al-Asma’ al-husna,” unpublished manuscript, 15;
Majlisi, Bihar, 39:84. Another variant states: “Ya Ali, ma ‘arafa Allah haqq
ma‘rifati-hi ghayri wa ghayra-ka, wa ma ‘arafa-ka haqq ma‘rifati-ka ghayr Allah
wa ghayri,” in Ibn Shahr Ashub, Manaqib Al Abi Talib (Najaf: Haydariyya,
1956), 3:60; Majlisi, Bihar, 39:84.
98 There are three opinions on the infallible Imams’ station and rank: (1) they are
superior to all of the prophets and messengers, except Muhammad; (2) they are
superior to all of the prophets, except for the distinguished prophets (the ulu
al-‘azm); and (3) all of the prophets and messengers are more distinguished than
them. Both Shaykh Mufid and Sharif Murtada favor the first opinion. The latter
argues that since one’s need to confirm one’s belief in the Imams is mandatory to
attain iman and distance from kufr, it is therefore a higher station than that of all
of the other prophets. Futuni, Tafsir mir’at al-anwar, 20. Q. 2:124, in which
Ibrahim is given the rank of imam after having fulfilled a divine test, is also
advanced to prove that Imamate is a higher rank than prophethood, given that he
was already a prophet before being designated an imam. In the esoteric sense,
Imamate is equivalent to wilaya over the people; see Tabataba’i, Mizan, 1:272.
A hadith attributed to the Sixth Imam states: “Before appointing Abraham as
prophet, God Almighty appointed him His servant. Before ennobling him with
His friendship, He bestowed on him the rank of messengerhood. Before granting
him the rank of Imamate, He made him His sincere and devoted friend. It was
therefore after Abraham had attained a whole series of high ranks that he was
given the station of Imamate,” ibid., 1:276 quoting from Kulayni, Kafi.
99 Ali b. Ibrahim al-Qummi, Tafsir al-Qummi (Qum: Mu’assasa dar al-kitab, 1984),
1:18.
100 Futuni, Tafsir mir’at al-anwar, 30; Majlisi, Bihar, 57:192.
101 Ibid.
102 Muhammad b. Ali b. Babawayh al-Qummi (Shaykh Saduq), Risalat al-I‘tiqadat,
trans. Asaf A. A. Fyzee (London: Oxford University Press, 1942), 84.
103 Kulayni, Kafi, 1:253–54, Kitab al-hujja hadith no. 3 (Bab law lam yabqa fi-l-ard
illa rajulan la-kana ahadu-huma al-hujja).
104 God’s names are manifested in the entirety of His creation (including inanimate
objects), and in this sense they are all signs (ayat) of God. The name of God and
God are one and the same (‘ayniyya): “al-ism huwa al-musamma” (the name is
identical to the named). The names of God are enumerated as follows: names of
essence (asma’ al-dhat), attributes (asma’ al-sifat) and actions (asma’ al-af‘al), and
the principal (ummahat al-asma’). Nobody shares in the reality of His immutable
attributes; however, the names (asma’) are an intellectual appreciation or under-
standing of the divine attributes and, consequently, can be applied to His crea-
tures. Muhammad b. Ali b. Babawayh al-Qummi (Shaykh Saduq), al-Tawhid,
edited with footnotes by Hashim al-Husayni al-Tehrani (Qum: Jama‘at al-
mudarrisin, 1995), 185–223, Bab 29 (Asma’ Allah ta‘ala). See also Jalal al-Din
Ashtiyani, Sharh-e muqaddame-ye Qaysari bar Fusus al-hikam (Qum: Bostan-e
ketab, 2001), 258. In total, 99 of God’s names are related in multiple hadith
reports. See Saduq, al-Tawhid, 194–223.
105 Muhammad b. Ali b. Babawayh al-Qummi (Shaykh Saduq), Ma‘ani al-akhbar,
ed. Ali Akbar al-Ghaffari (Tehran: Entesharat-e Islami, 1982), 3; al-Qummi,
Tehrani, al-Tawhid, 229–30, hadith no. 1.
106 Mulla Hadi Sabzawari, Sharh al-Asma’ al-husna (Qum: Maktaba basirati, n.d.),
1:4, 78, 189, and 2:21.
107 Ibid., 2:96. Another variant is dakhil fi-l-ashya’ la ka-shay’ fi shay’ dakhil, wa
kharij min al-ashya’ la ka-shay’ min shay’ kharij. Tabataba’i, Mizan, 8:263;
Kulayni, Kafi, 1:83, hadith no. 2 (Kitab al-Tawhid, Bab anna-hu la yu‘rafu illa bi-hi);
Saduq, Tawhid, 285 and 306; Saduq, Ma‘ani al-akhbar, 1:239, hadith no. 217.
108 Ibid.
109 Kulayni, Kafi, 1:196, hadith no. 4 (Kitab al-tawhid, Bab al-nawadir); Majlisi,
Bihar, 25:5, hadith no. 7; al-Nadr Muhammad b. Mas‘ud b. ‘Ayyash al-Sulami al-
‘Ayyashi, Kitab al-tafsir, ed. Hashem al-Rasuli al-Mahallati (Tehran: al-Maktabat
al-‘ilmiyyat al-Islamiyya, n.d.), 2:42 (“nahnu wa-l-lah al-asma’ al-husna al-lati la
yaqbalu Allah min al-‘ibad ‘amal illa bi ma‘rifati-na”) as interpretation of the
verse: fa ad‘u-hu bi-ha (Q. 7:180). The divine guides are also referred to as “kalimat
Allah” (words of God) in hadith reports, Shaykh Saduq, Man la yahduruh al-
faqih, ed. Ali Akbar Ghaffari (Qum: Jami‘at al-mudarrisin, 1984), 2:592 (Bab
mawdi‘ qabr amir al-mu’minin … ); Majlisi, Bihar, 24:173, and in some of the
ziyarat they are addressed as “kalimat Allah” (“al-salam ‘alay-ka ya kalimat
Allah” in Bihar, 100:307), “kalimat Allah al-tamma” (Kanz al-‘ummal, 1:108)
and “kalimat al-Rahman” (Bihar, 100:278). In the ziyara of the Twelfth Imam:
“ … wa azhir kalimata-ka al-tamma … fi ardi-ka,” in Taqi al-Din Ibrahim
b. Muhammad al-‘Amili al-Kaf‘ami, al-Balad al-amin wa-l-dir‘ al-hasin (Beirut:
Mu’assasat al-a‘lami, 1997), 404; Bihar, 99:82. In the supplication celebrating the
Twelfth Imam’s birth: “ … fa-tammat kalimatu-ka sidq wa ‘adl la mubaddila
li-kalimati-ka wa la mu‘aqqiba li-ayati-ka,” in Kaf‘ami, al-Balad al-amin, 264.
110 Muhammad b. Muhammad b. al-Nu‘man al-Mufid, al-Ikhtisas with introduction
by Muhammad Mahdi Hasan al-Khurasani (Qum: Maktaba basirati, n.d.), 4.
Other examples are hadith qudsi: “khalaqtu-ka li-ajli wa khalaqtu al-khalq la-ka,”
and “law la-ka la-ma khalaqtu al-aflak,” Shustari, Ihqaq, 1:430–31.
111 Mufid, Ikhtisas, 25, hadith no. 4. Qudrat Allah Husayni Shahmuradi analyzes the
exegesis attributed to the Eleventh Imam and concludes that it is authentic and
properly ascribed to him. See ‘Abd al-Husayn al-Amini, Tafsir-e Fatihat al-kitab,
trans. Qudrat Allah Husayni Shahmuradi (Tehran, n.p, n.d.), 193–204.
112 Futuni, Tafsir mir’at al-anwar, 31. Shafa‘a here is used in the sense of “tawassul”
(resorting to intermediaries by way of petitionary prayer), which is a form of
shafa‘a.
113 “Ya‘lamuna ‘ilm ma kana wa ma yakun,” Kulayni, Kafi, 1:388–91 (Kitab al-hujja,
Bab anna al-a’imma ya‘lamuna ‘ilm ma kana wa ma yakunu wa anna-hu la yakhfa
‘alay-him al-shay’).
114 Ibid., 1:382–83 (Kitab al-hujja, Bab anna al-a’imma idha sha’u an ya‘lamu ‘alimu).
115 Ibid., 1:329–31.
116 Ibid., 1:344–50. For greater elaboration on these written sources, see Amir-Moezzi,
The Divine Guide, 73–74.
117 Ibid., 1:372–74.
118 Ibid., 1:350–72.
119 Kulayni, Kafi, 1:383–87 (Kitab al-hujja, Bab anna al-a’imma ya‘lamuna mata
yamutuna wa anna-hum la yamutuna illa bi ikhtiyar min-hum).
120 The scope of knowledge in the section on wilaya is far broader than it is in the
section on khilafa, because knowledge in the latter section pertains only to tem-
poral affairs (e.g., knowledge of the Qur’an, sunna of the Prophet, and matters
pertaining to society). The divine guides are also referred to as “firmly grounded
in knowledge [rasikhun fi-l-‘ilm] (Q. 3:7). Ibid, 1:321–31.
121 Ibid., 2:13–15. Also see Etan Kohlberg, “The Term Muhaddath in Twelver
Shi‘ism,” Studia Orientalia memoriae D.H. Baneth (Jerusalem: The Magnes Press,
1979), 39–47.
122 Wahy is used in different contexts and meanings; however, when applied to the
revelation (wahy) received by the prophets, it has a specific meaning. Even the
bees receive wahy (Q. 16:68), as was the mother of Moses (Q. 28:7). For further
information, see Tabataba’i, Mizan, 2:135; 12:312; 15:346, 347; and 18:75, 18:7.
123 Kulayni, Kafi, 2:15–20; Majlisi, Bihar, 26:17.
124 The divine guides are referred to as hudat (Kulayni, Kafi, 1:272–73), ‘alamat
(ibid., 1:296) and ayat (ibid., 1:296–97).
125 Tabataba’i, Shi‘ite Islam, 212.
126 Hashim b. Sulayman al-Bahrani, Madinat al-Ma‘ajiz, ed. ‘Izzatulla al-Mawla’i
al-Hamadani (Qum: Mu’assasat al-ma‘arif al-Islamiyya, 1992); Majlisi, Bihar,
vol. 41; and Shustari, Ihqaq, vol. 8.
127 Amir-Moezzi, The Divine Guide, 150, fn. 74.
128 al-Saffar al-Qummi, Basa’ir, 93, Bab 8, hadith no. 4.
130 ‘Abd al-Husayn Amini, “Primordial Covenant,” 1–32, unpublished manuscript.
131 Ibid., 5.
132 Kulayni, Kafi, 1:318–19 (Bab ‘ard al-a‘mal … ), Muhammad Husayn al-Tabataba’i,
al-Mizan fi tafsir al-Qur’an, trans. Saeed Akhtar Rizvi (Tehran: WOFIS, 1973),
1:270 in reference to “Say [Prophet], ‘Take action! God will see your actions—as
will His Messenger and the believers—and then you will be returned to Him who
knows what is seen and unseen and He will tell you what you have been doing”
(Q. 9:105).
133 Ibid., hadith no. 2; al-Saffar al-Qummi, Basa’ir, 259–60.
134 al-Saffar al-Qummi, Basa’ir, 34–35, 37; Kulayni, Kafi, 2:232–34 (Bab khalq abdan
al-a’imma … ), 3:2–8 (Bab tinat al-mu’min wa-l-kafir).
135 al-Saffar al-Qummi, Basa’ir, 38–40, 44, 191.
136 Futuni, Tafsir mir’at al-anwar, 20, 24.
137 al-Saffar al-Qummi, Basa’ir, Bab 18, 414–18.
139 ‘Abd al-Husayn Sharaf al-Din, al-Muraja‘at, ed. Husayn al-Radi (Qum:
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Religious Authority and Political

Thought in Twelver Shi‘ism

Hamid Mavani is Assistant Professor of Islamic Studies at Claremont

1. The Flourishing of Islamic Reformism in Iran

2. The Political Thought of Sayyid Qutb

3. The Power of Sovereignty

4. Islam and Political Reform in Saudi Arabia

6. The Muslim Brotherhood

7. Islamic Revivalism in Syria

8. The Essence of Islamist Extremism

9. Religious Authority and Political Thought in Twelver Shi‘ism

711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017

ISBN13: 978-1-138-93373-6 (pbk)

1 The Ethos of Shi‘ism 33

2 Approaches to the Imamate: Traditional, Theological,

3 Mode of Succession and Imam’s Policy vis-à-vis the Rulers 106

4 Shi‘i State Models during the Major Occultation 135

5 Khomeini’s Concept of Governance and its Critique 178

6 The Case for Secularity in Islam: Traditional and Foundational

It gives me great pleasure to acknowledge those of my friends, mentors, and

Shi‘i political thought has witnessed a spectrum of opinions on governance

conception of Imamate. He contends that the jurisconsult has been charged

Contemporary ﬁqh literature frequently refers to maslahah (common and

Many prominent scholars have all rigorously and methodically studied

exposition of the Imamate as put forth in the traditional disciplines of Qur’an

theological perspective such as Ayatollah Abu al-Qasim al-Khu’i (d. 1992).

The Crisis of Succession

The Prophet Mohammad (P.B.U.H.), upon his last pilgrimage, appointed

nion, this is a very fundamental question. The whole of Shi‘ism can be

The Doctrine of the Imamate

He forcefully attributes his exclusive entitlement to the rank of Imam to his

The Proof of God’s (Hujjat Allah) Mandatory Presence at All Times

principle of the intellect’s determination of good and evil/abominable, a cen-

Polarized Scholarly Opinions

It is not possible, therefore, to imagine the Imams relinquishing the poli-

The Nature and Scope of Religious Authority

traditionalist school, known as the Akhbari,73 eventually became dominant in

Historical Overview of the Major Shifts in the Ulama’s

and subsequent attempts to reduce the inevitable illegitimacy by constraining

Contemporary Challenges to a Historical-Critical Study

Ayatollah Muhammad Husayn Fadlalla of Lebanon was severely censured

Ashura is of questionable and dubious authenticity only aggravated the

silent when confronted with sensitive or emotive issues.

Sharif Murtada’s position is similar: cognizance (ma‘rifa) of the Imams is of

and control their overzealous supporters. He concludes by underlining the

The Saved Sect (al-Firqat al-Najiya)

group and discredit its opponents.

Accommodation eﬀorts notwithstanding, as well as pragmatic eﬀorts by the

1966), 2:315 (Kitab al hujja, Bab anna al-a‘imma muhaddathun mufahhamun).

56 For a discussion on Khomeini’s Islamicized version of the philosopher/king,

Shi‘ah, According to the Shi‘i Sources,” Ph.D. Dissertation (Montreal: McGill

Enayat’s “Iran: Khumayni’s Concept of the ‘Guardianship of the Jurisconsult’,”

111 www.memritv.org/clip/en/2336.htm (accessed 12 October 2011).

Throughout the centuries, Sunni scholars have made a systematic eﬀort to

Origin of the Term Shi‘a

supporters and partisans of any distinguished person, such as shi‘a of

Diﬀerent groups, including individuals whose primary task was to write on

By God, we discern the status and distinction of the Prophet’s Compa-

The Origins of Shi‘ism

modern scholar who is trying to reconstruct the history of Shi‘ism must

thesis postulated by the Prophet—at God’s behest—aimed at securing the

Scholars who view Shi‘ism as an evolving phenomenon, one contingent upon

My slave, by performing acts of piety continually, approaches me until I

As a testimony of one’s love for Muhammad’s progeny, one is required to seek