ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Discovering Islam Succession to the (Imama) The universal messengers of God had successors. God appointed His messengers for the guidance of humankind. God also appointed successors to the prophets and messengers as a matter of necessity. Prophet Abraham was succeeded by two of his sons, Ishmael and Isaac. Prophet Moses during his lifetime and afterwards was succeeded by his brother, Aaron. Even Prophet Jesus had successors.

Similarly, the was succeeded by twelve distinguished successors, one after another. These successors are called imams and were appointed by God, not by humankind. The right to ordain imams belongs to God, and the Quran makes this point in many verses, “And remember when your Lord said to the angels, 'Verily I am going to place a successor [khalifa]'” (2:30).

“And remember when the Lord of Abraham tried him with certain commands which he fulfilled; Allah said to him, 'Verily I am going to make you a leader [imam] of mankind'“ (2:124). God addressed Prophet David as such, “O David! Verily We have placed you as a successor on earth” (38:26). God also attributes the right of appointing leaders to Himself; “We made from among them leaders, giving guidance under Our command” (32:24).

During the lifetime of the , he mentioned specifically the names of the leaders [imams] that would come after him. The Prophet said that there would be twelve leaders, and that all of them would be descendents of Quraysh.[^1] The imams were the authorities of God among humankind. The imams all had special personalities in matters of knowledge, forbearance, morality, and justice. The twelve successors to the are as follows: Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib. Father's name : Abu Talib ibn[^2] Abd al-Muttalib.

Mother's name : Lady Fatima bint[^3] Asad. Birth : Makkah, on the 13th of Rajab, 23BH[^4] (600CE). Death : Murdered at the age of sixty-three. While praying, he was mortally wounded by a poisoned sword of an assassin on the 21st of Ramadan 40H ^5 , in Kufa. Buried in an-Najaf al-Ashraf (Iraq). Known as the “Commander of the Faithful” ( Amir al-Muminin) . Imam Ali was the Prophet's first cousin and son-in-law (married to Lady Fatima); he was the first male to embrace Islam.

The Prophet ascribed Imam Ali with historical sayings, such as, “I am the city of knowledge and Ali is its gate,” and “Whoever considers me his leader, Ali is also his leader.” [^6] Imam Ali was recognized for his knowledge, wisdom, bravery, and justice.