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Imamate in Twelver doctrine

Concept in the largest branch of Shia Islam

  • 16 min read
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Through Muhammad, Caliphate and Common Era

Shi'a believe that divine wisdom—'Aql—is the source of the souls of the Prophets and Imams and gives them esoteric knowledge—hikmah—and that their suffering is a means by which their devotees may acquire divine grace. The Imam is not the recipient of divine revelation, but has a close relationship with God, who guides him, allowing the Imam in turn to guide others. The Imamat, or belief in the divine guide, is a fundamental belief in Shia Islam and is based on the concept that God would not leave humanity without access to divine guidance.

According to the Twelvers, an Imam of the Age is always the divinely appointed authority on all matters of faith and law. Ali was the first Imam in this line and in the view of Twelvers the rightful successor to Muhammad, followed by the male descendants of Muhammad through his daughter Fatimah. Each Imam was the son of the previous Imam, with the exception of Husayn ibn Ali, who was the brother of Hasan ibn Ali. The twelfth and final Imam is Muhammad al-Mahdi, who is believed by the Twelvers to be alive and in hiding.

Function of imam

The office of imamate is bestowed upon the figure of imam (lit. 'leader' or 'master'), whose function in Sunni Islam is to implement the divine law and manage the community affairs. In this sense, imam is synonymous to caliph in Sunni Islam as the highest temporal authority, but this authority is limited and mundane.

In Shia Islam, the figure of imam dominates the belief system. Necessarily a descendant of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, imam is the supreme leader that combines both temporal and religious authorities, for the two were combined in Muhammad. Various Shia sects disagreed over the identity of these imams.

In Twelver Shi’ism, Muhammad is believed to have been succeeded by a line of twelve imams from his descent, who also inherited his divine knowledge of religion. Even though these twelve imams are thought to have been entitled, through a divine mandate, to the temporal authority to manage Muslim affairs, their status in Twelver Shi’ism does not depend upon it, as they instead owe their status to their divinely-sanctioned designation by their predecessors (nass). Temporal leadership only materialized for the first of the twelve imams, Ali ibn Abi Talib, who reigned from 661 CE until his assassination in 665.

Exoteric function

Whereas Muhammad brought divine revelation and taught divine law to his followers, the twelve imams interpreted the revelation and safeguarded the religion against innovations in their capacity as law-givers and guardians of religion. At this exoteric level, many teachings of these imams are general enough to be accepted by Sunnis, who regard many of the imams as outstanding religious scholars.

Esoteric function

In addition to their exoteric function, the twelve imams, by virtue of their divine knowledge, are regarded as the sole authoritative guides toward salvation, as they initiated a small group of their followers into esoteric aspects of the religion. This function of imams, as spiritual guides after Muhammad, is known as walaya or wilaya, which is described as the esoteric aspect of prophecy. In his capacity as an imam, Muhammad was also a spiritual guide. Walaya also denotes the exclusive religio-political authority of imams.

To sum, in Twelver Shi'ism, the twelve imams hold the ultimate religious authority, both in matters of law and spiritual guidance, as an extension of Muhammad's authority. Their duty is essentially threefold: first, rule the community as Muhammad's rightful successors, second, teach hidden aspects of the revelation and authoritatively interpret ambiguous verses of the Quran, and third, guide men in their spiritual life.

At an even more esoteric level, imams are often regarded as intermediaries between God and mankind. In this world, they are thought to be the cause for the creation, and the source of sustenance and divine blessings for creatures, thus maintaining all life on Earth. In the hereafter, they intercede for many, especially for their followers. By contrast, the prerogative of intercession is limited to the Islamic prophet in Sunni Islam. However, some Shia scholars reject such supernatural functions.

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