Prophethood and messengership is the Divine practice...

Prophethood and messengership is the Divine practice (sunnat) while Imamate is an obligation on the Almighty Allah. And the divine obligations became known to us through the Holy Prophet (S) and they are incumbent on us and there would be no change in them till the Judgment Day. Yes, we also do not deny the tradition that during the period of Fatara between (S) and Prophet Isa (a.s.) there was no prophet or successor.

We do not deny it and we say: This report is correct but we do not agree to the interpretation our opponents present regarding the discontinuity of prophets and messengers. Fatara means a time when no messenger, prophet or successor is apparent and well known as it was before that time. It is also proved by Quran that the Almighty Allah sent (S) at a time when no messenger had come for a long time and not at the time when there was no prophet or successor.

Between Prophet Isa (a.s.) and (S) many prophets and Imams came who remained in hiding due to the fear…