Emamat Pajouhi

Emamat Pajouhi

Caliphate and Imamate in the Thought of Haydar Ali Qalamdaran

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
alireza sadri aghdam 1
imdat Turan 2
mohammad moradi 3
1 shia studies
2 Faculty member of the University of Religions and Denominations
3 Faculty member of the University of Quran and Hadith
10.22034/jep.2026.565891.1701
Abstract
Haydar Ali Qalamdaran was a contemporary religious revisionist who wrote on the causes of Muslim decline, Muslim advancement, and theoretical solutions to problems of the Islamic world. His inquiry into Muslim backwardness, concern for establishing Islamic government, and aspiration to return to Islam's golden age ultimately led him to reconsider foundational Shi'i doctrines, especially Imamate, and to separate caliphate from Imamate, producing an intermediate theory between Shi'i and Sunni theological-political thought. Positions examined here through a descriptive-analytical method include affirming Imami Shi'ism's truth; preferring election over explicit designation (nass) and appointment; accepting the infallibility of the Twelve Imams; denying the Imam's knowledge of the unseen; prohibiting election of a ruler when an infallible Imam is present; positively assessing the Companions; and regarding no early Islamic government as fully Islamic except those of Imam Ali (A.S.) and Imam al-Hasan (A.S.).
Keywords
caliphate
Imamate
Haydar Ali Qalamdaran
texts of designation
separation of caliphate and Imamate
Subjects