ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Islamic Thought (Ma‘arif Islami) Book Two Section One: Period of the Presence of the Imāms (‘a) General Objectives After studying this discourse, students are expected: To know the origin of the Sunnī and Shī‘ah schools of thought and their main differences on the issue of Imamate; To be acquainted with the manner of selecting the Imāms and their continuity; To understand the pivotal role of the Imāms in protecting the foundation of religion, guiding the Muslims and propagating religious teachings; and To be aware of the Shī‘ah viewpoint on the savior and the constructive effect of waiting during the period of occultation.

Introduction Clarification of the principle of Imamate and the circumstances surrounding its inclusion in the intellectual body of a group of Muslims (Shī‘ah) as one of their ideological principles lies in paying attention to the following points: Based on the monotheistic worldview, the One and Only God is the Creator of the universe and the Master and Cherisher of the entire creation including humanity. This is called “monotheism in Lordship” [ tawḥīd fī’r-rubūbiyyah ].

Accordingly, for a religious and monotheist person, God has the right to rule over human beings and assign duties to them such that every person has duties to God and there is no escape but to discharge them. Therefore, God has the legislative right [ ḥaqq-e tashrī‘ī ] and the people, in turn, are duty-bound to submit and surrender to Him. On the one hand, the principle of monotheism gives this right solely to God and it is wrong for people to associate this right to any other than Him.

If we believe someone else to have such a right, we have actually drifted away from “monotheism in sovereignty” [ tawḥīd fī’l-ḥākimiyyah ], and once we obey the command of other than God, we fall into the abyss of “polytheism in obedience” [ shirk fī’ṭ-ṭā‘ah ].

On the other hand, the requisite of the acceptance of monotheism is the all-encompassing legislative sovereignty of God in the sense that human beings cannot accept the sovereignty of God only in some decrees or in a specific domain; rather, one should abide by every commandment of God, the Sublime, in every sphere. God has exercised His legislative sovereignty by sending prophets and issuing orders and decrees through them.