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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Leading The Ummah Chapter 24: The Reasons Behind The Infallibility Of The Divine Leaders Concerning this issue the scholars have dealt with numerous reasons two of which we shall present here: It should be stated however that these two reasons are related both to the Prophet and to the Imams.

This is because in the view of Shiites Imamate is a continuation of prophethood with the exception of the fact that the Prophet has direct relations with divine inspiration but the Imam lacks such a privilege. Except for this fact, both the Prophet and Imams share identical qualifications. Now let us explain those two reasons: Education in the light of action Without doubt, the reason behind prophethood is to train and to educate people.

One of the influential factors for such education is for the educator to possess the necessary qualities. For instance if a speaker was fluent and eloquent in his speech but because of some undesirable traits he could not attract people; under such conditions, the objectives of prophethood would not have been satisfied. The most discounting factor in a leader is for his acts and speech to be in contrast.

In such cases his guidance loses its validity and the foundations of his prophethood become shaky. The great Shiite scholar Seyyed Murteza, explains the above reason in the following manner: We would never peacefully listen to a person who is double-minded in his faith and therefore, is not consistent and stable in his religion. In the same way, the speech of the one who does not carry out his thoughts would not have any effect on us.

If a physician writes a book on the dangers of alcohol and even shows us a documented film on this topic, but he himself is a drunkard, nobody will care to listen to him or to his advice. Or suppose a leader stood everyday on a stage and delivered a speech on justice and equality but in practice, confiscated people's assets, his preaching contradicts action. To solve this problem Allah has provided his prophets with a strong faith and perseverance so that they are immune against sins.

For this reason the Prophets and the divine leaders should not go near sins since their pre-prophethood era should have been bright and flawless. This is because a man whose life has been full of sins and wrongdoings and is known among people as a sinner can not influence people properly.