Tracking the Thought of "the Divine Appointment of the Imams" in the Biography and Words Of Hazrat Zahra (PBUH)

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Graduated from Third Lessons in the Qom Seminary, Ph.D. Student in the History of Shiite Islam, Qom University of Religions, Iran.

Abstract

In the thought of Imamiyya, Imamah is a divine appointment like
Prophethood. Accordingly, the selection and appointment of the Imam
is considered to be exclusive to the ignorance and will of God, like
the selection and appointment of the prophet. The present study seeks
to demonstrate that the “divine appointment of the Imams” like other
authentic Islamic knowledge is rooted in the Qur’an and prophetic
tradition, by studying the library and the descriptive-analytical method,
relying on biography and the words of Hazrat Zahra (SA). The findings
show that Hazrat Zahra (SA) considered the event of Saqifa as a
deviation from the prescribed path of God and the Sunnah of the Prophet
(PBUH). In order to confront this deviation and in the defense of the
Amir al-Mu’minin (PBUH), she has placed the center of reasoning and
arguments and even his complaints in the divine position of Imamh.
The result is that “the idea of  the divine appointment of the Imams”, as
the basis of the theory of the Shi’ite Imamah, has been raised since the
early days of the Prophet’s revelation until the last moments of his life,
despite what is claimed by the critics of the theory of Imamah.

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