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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books The Origin of Shi'tte Islam and It's Principles Prophethood Imamiyah Shi'as believe that all the Prophets were appointed by God; all of them were sent by Him and they are all His exalted servants. Hadrat Muhammad al-Mustafa (s.a.w.) is both the "Seal of the Prophets" (the final prophet) and the Chief of all the Prophets. He was perfectly infallible, free from sin and deviation.

All his life the Holy Prophet acted according to the will of God Almighty; God enabled him to travel from Masjid al-Haram to Masjid al-Aqsa, from where he went bodily to al-'Arsh and al-Kursi (the throne and the footstool) and even beyond the "hujub" (the veils) and the "suradiq" (the highest point beyond the heaven of heavens); he finally came to within two bow spans or less of the presence of God.

It is the firm faith of the Imamiyah Shi'as that whoever claims prophethood or revelation after Hadrat Muhammad al-Mustafa (s.a.w.) is an unbeliever and liable to be put to death. The Quran which today is in the hands of the Muslims is the same text of guidance and religious commands which God the Almighty revealed as a miracle. There has been no addition to, or subtraction from, it.

Muslims believe in "tahrif" (changes in the original) ,are wrong, because it violates the Quranic declaration: "We have revealed the Book and We are its Protector". All the 'ulama' (religious scholars) are unanimous on this point, and if there is any tradition against it, it is unauthentic; any tradition which has come down to us through imperfect chains of transmission cannot be relied upon as source of knowledge and cannot thus be acted upon.

The Imamate It is the question of the Imamate which distinguishes the Shi'a sect from all other sects; it is the basic and fundamental difference which separates this school from other schools of thought. Other differences are not fundamental; they are "furu'i" (that is they are concerned with the details of the code of writing and action). Such differences of secondary importance are present between the views of the Imams (religious heads) of the majority community of the Muslims.

For instance, a large number of the Hanafi laws do not correspond with the laws of Shafi'is- According to the Imamiyah sect, the Imamate is the rank of the Perfect Man; like prophethood it is sustained by Almighty God for the guidance of the people.