Imamate and Leadership

The Imamate of the Most Excellent

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Lesson Twenty-Five

One of the questions that has been the subject of much
discussion between Shi'i and Sunni scholars is the Imamate of
the Most Excellent. The Sunni position is that if someone can
be found to exist in the ranks of the ummah who is unequalled
with respect to virtue knowledge and piety someone less
excellent than he may still legitimately become leader of the
community and exercise the functions of successor to the
Prophet peace and blessings be upon him and his family.

In order to prove their point they cite the caliphate of
Abu Bakr and 'Umar and they maintain that although 'Ali b.

Abi Talib peace be upon him was present at the time and his
worthiness and perfection were far more apparent than those
of anyone else the Companions nonetheless selected Abu Bakr
as successor to the Prophet.

The Shi'ah believe that the Imamate constitutes an
extension of prophethood in its spiritual dimension. The one
who after the death of the Prophet is to serve as an authority
for the Muslims in their learning the ordinances and principles
of religion who is to settle newly occurring problems for
which no precedent can be found in the Qur'an and the
Sunnah whose words are to be a decisive criterion - such a one
must indubitably be more excellent than all others in his
virtues and perfections. When God selects someone as the
teacher of humanity and the guide of the ummah to expound
His laws to interpret the complexities of the Qur'an and to

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defend the truth and develop the personality of the ummah He
entrusts this position to an exceptional and inerrant person
who is utterly unique in his spiritual qualities his outer and
inner attributes his communication with the world of the
unseen. Such a person perceives the inner truth of things with
his inner eye and is always oriented to the truth in such a way
that his faith is never corrupted and his deeds never deviate
from the right path.

The Imam is therefore the most excellent being of his time
the foremost of all his contemporaries. Imam al-Rid a peace be
upon him says the following concerning the distinctive
qualities of the Imam:

"The Imam is utterly free of sin and pure of all fault. He is
celebrated for his knowledge and his forebearance. His
existence is a source of pride to the Muslims of anger to the
hypocrites of perdition to the unbelievers. The Imam is unique
in his age in the sense that no one can attain his rank. No
scholar can come within range of his knowledge and he is
unequalled in all his qualities. He possesses all virtues and
worthy attributes without any striving on his part and he is
adorned with all lofty characteristics. This is a great gift
bestowed on him by God in His generosity." ( 1 )

( 1 ) al-Kulayni al-Kafi Vol. I p.200.