ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books A Strife-free Dialogue (A Step towards Understanding) Stage 3: A Meticulous Understanding of the Imamiyyah’s Faith The issues that will be examined at stage three are a logical continuation of what was discussed in stage two; that is, when the concepts of divinity, Prophecy, shari‘ah , the religious ultimate end and certain terms of the Shi‘ah culture are explained, the origin of the Imamiyyah and that of the extremists will not be confused, nor will the Shi‘ah sources and those of the Extremism be taken as identical.

The items that need to be examined at this stage are three: the sources, identity and origin of the Imamiyyah. The important issues of Imamate and the Imam’s ( ‘a ) occultation referred to here are in fact constituents of stage two, but are discussed here for the reasons mentioned before.

Sources of the Imamiyyah school of thought Before making a thorough examination of the religious concepts and beliefs, the Wahhabis habitually claim that the Shi‘ahs’ beliefs stem from the Zoroastrianism, Judaism and Christianity. This is an unfounded judgment because if they trace the same line that we have mentioned in the previous stages, they will realize that the fundamentals of the Shi‘ism are all derived from the Qur’an and the correct Prophetic (S) Sunnah .

If the Wahhabis were familiar with the Imamiyyah’s scholarly verdicts and practice, they would perceive our assertion and would no longer accuse the Shi‘ahs of being Zoroastrians. Since they equate the Shi‘ism with Extremism, the Wahhabis think that the sources of these two are also identical, and that the Shi‘ah sources have their roots in the Zoroastrianism, Judaism and Christianity, just as the extremists’ deviations come from the Zoroastrianism, Judaism and Christianity.

How distant are these two opinions! The reality of the Imamate in the Shi‘ah school of thought Powerful and authoritative documents—the Qur’an and Sunnah —prove that the succession to the Prophet (S), Imamate, is a particular blessing Almighty God has, through His Messenger (S) made known to the mankind; it is not a concept that has been fabricated by the Shi‘ahs, nor is it the outcome of the oppression inflicted upon the Prophet’s pure household ( ‘a ).

The Imamate i.e., leadership of the twelve Imams ( ‘a ) has repeatedly been expressed in the correct texts from the early days of the advent of Islam, and has nothing to do with the fourth century or the time thereafter.