The roots of this tendency lie in a special conception of...

The roots of this tendency lie in a special conception of Imamate in which the Imam has a particular spiritual and intellectual station. The function of the Imam, apart from governing the society, consists of interpreting and expounding the religion and it derives from his special relationship with the Messenger of God (s). The followers of this tendency generally referred to the office of the Imam with such expressions as wisayah, wilayah and imamah, not with the term khilafah.

Of course, in this case there were possible differences in the understanding of the Imamate and related beliefs and its deviant form is represented by the tendency called ghuluww. An important point in this regard relates to the historical background of creedal Shiism and its roots. Here we will undertake a study of this issue.

Among the definitions that have been suggested for creedal Shi'ism, perhaps the best one is the one given by Aban ibn Taghlib, who said, "The Shi'ah are those who followed Ali ('a) when the people differed concerning the Messenger of Allah (s), and who followed Ja'far ibn Muhammad ('a) when people differed concerning Ali ('a)" (al-Shi'atu al-ladhina idha ikhtalafa al-nasu 'an Rasulillah, sallallahu alayhi wa alih, akhadhu bi qawli Aliyyin, 'alayhi al-salam, wa idha ikhtalfa al-nasu 'an Aliyyin akhadhu bi qawli Ja far ibn Muhammad, 'alayhi al-salam).

[^39] A creedal Shi'i considers the office of the Imamate as a continuation of prophethood, though without the element of new revelation, and considers the statements of the Infallible Imams ('a) as decisive in all matters and as the final judge in respect of all opinions advanced by various individuals and creeds. Such an approach differs altogether from the kind of Shi'i tendency that prefers Imam Ali to 'Uthman or even to all other caliphs.

This approach had precedents among the followers of the (a) since the very beginning. Among followers of Imam Ali ('a) there were many who had more than an ordinary kind of attachment for the Imam and who believed him to possess a Divine office of Imamate. Aside from the extent to which these cases delineate the character of the belief in the Imam, one may infer from them the belief that the office of Imamate derived from a designation by God and the Prophet.

After swearing allegiance to Imam Ali ('a) Khuzaymah ibn Thabit is reported to have said, "We have elected someone who was chosen for us by the Messenger of God (s).