Here are the conditions which must be fulfilled by the...

Here are the conditions which must be fulfilled by the Prophet as well as by the Imam: The Prophet must be infallible viz. he should not commit any sin throughout his life and should not make any mistake while narrating the orders and realities of the religion or replying to the religious queries of the people. The Imam should also be like-wise and the argument in both the cases is the same.

The Prophet should be the wisest person in the matter of religious law and none of the points relating to religion should be hidden from him. And as the Imam is one who completes or narrates that portion of the religious law which was not narrated during the time of the Prophet of Allah, he (i.e. the Imam) too should be the most knowledgeable person with regard to the commands, and rules and regulations of religion.

Prophethood is a status which comes through nomination by Allah and not through selection by the people. A Prophet is introduced by Allah and is appointed to the office of prophethood by Him, because it is only He who can distinguish between an infallible and a fallible person and only He can understand as to who has attained such a position under the auspices of His blessing that he should be aware of all the details of the religion. However, according to the second point of view (i.e.

of the Sunnis), it is not necessary that any of the conditions for prophethood should be found in the Imam. It is not necessary that he should possess infallibility, righteousness, knowledge or conversance with religious law or should be nominated or should have relationship with the occult world.

It is sufficient that he should protect the glory and worldly interests of Islam by making use of his own intelligence as well as by consulting the Muslims and should ensure the security, of the area by enforcing penal laws and should endeavour to extend the territories of Islam under the call for jihad.

Prophethood And Imamate Were Inter-Related Besides the logical and philosophical arguments which finally prove the correctness of the first viewpoint the hadiths and the narrations which have come down from the Prophet of Islam also confirm the view of Shi'ah Ulema. During the period of his prophethood the Prophet specified his successor time and again and excluded the subject of Imamate (successorship) from the purview of selection or reference to the popular vote.