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The Twelve Imams (Arabic: ٱلْأَئِمَّة ٱلْٱثْنَا عَشَر, al-ʾAʾimmah al-ʾIthnā ʿAšar; Persian: دوازده امام, Davâzdah Emâm) are the spiritual and political successors to the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Twelver branch of Shia Islam, including that of the Alawite and Alevi.

According to Twelver theology, the Twelve Imams are exemplary human individuals who not only rule over the community with justice, but also are able to keep and interpret sharia and the esoteric meaning of the Quran. The words and deeds of Muhammad and the imams are a guide and model for the community to follow; as a result, they must be free from error and sin (known as ismah, or infallibility) and must be chosen by divine decree through Muhammad.

Imamah

It is believed in Twelver Shi’ism that the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his household are infallible, possessing Hikmah. Their oppression and suffering served greater purposes and were a means of divine grace to their devotees. The Imams are also guided by preserved texts in their possession, such as al-Jafr, al-Jamia, and unaltered past books the Torah and Injeel. Imamat, or belief in the divine guide, is a fundamental belief in the Twelver Shia doctrine and is based on the concept that God would not leave humanity without access to divine guidance.

According to Twelvers, there is at all times an Imam of the era who is the divinely appointed authority on all matters of faith and law in the Muslim community. Ali, a cousin and son-in-law of Muhammad, was the first of the Twelve Imams, and, in the Twelvers view, the rightful successor to Muhammad, followed by male descendants of Muhammad through his daughter Fatimah. Each Imam was the son of the previous Imam, with the exception of Al-Husayn, who was the brother of Al-Hasan. The twelfth and final Imam is Muhammad al-Mahdi, who is believed by the Twelvers to be currently alive, and hidden in the Major Occultation until he returns to bring justice to the world. It is believed by Twelver and Alevi Muslims that the Twelve Imams have been foretold in the Hadith of the 12 accomplishers. All of the Imams met unnatural deaths, with the exception of the last Imam who, according to Twelver and Alevi belief, is living in occultation.

Some of the Imams also have a leading role within some Sufi orders and are seen as the spiritual heads of Islam, because most of the Silsila (spiritual chain) of Sufi orders leads back to Muhammad through one of the Twelve Imams.

List

See also

• Ahl al-Kisa
• Succession to Muhammad
• Hadith of the Twelve Successors
• The Fourteen Infallibles
• Islamic leadership
• Salawat
• Sayyidat Nisa al-Alamin

Footnotes

1. Olsson, Ozdalga & Raudvere 2005, p. 65
2. Tabataba'i 1977, p. 10
3. Momen 1985, p. 174
4. Tabataba'i 1977, p. 15
5. Corbin 2014, pp. 45–51
6. ^ Gleave, Robert (2004). "Imamate". Encyclopaedia of Islam and the Muslim world; vol.1. MacMillan. ISBN 0-02-865604-0.
7. The Imam's Arabic titles are used by the majority of Twelver Shia who use Arabic as a liturgical language, including the Usooli, Akhbari, Shaykhi, and to a lesser extent Alawi. Persian titles are largely used by Iranian and South Asian Shias. Turkish titles are generally used by Alevi, a fringe Twelver group, who make up around 10% of the world Shia population. The titles for each Imam literally translate as "First Ali", "Second Ali", and so forth. Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle East and North Africa. Gale Group. 2004. ISBN 978-0-02-865769-1. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
8. The abbreviation CE refers to the Common Era solar calendar, while AH refers to the Islamic Hijri lunar calendar.
9. Except Twelfth Imam
10. ^ Nasr, Seyyed Hossein. "Ali". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Archived from the original on 2007-10-18. Retrieved 2007-10-12.
11. ^ Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle East and North Africa. Gale Group. 2004. ISBN 978-0-02-865769-1. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
12. Tabatabae (1979), pp.190–192
13. Tabatabae (1979), p.192
14. ^ Madelung, Wilferd. "ḤASAN B. ʿALI B. ABI ṬĀLEB". Encyclopaedia Iranica. Archived from the original on 2014-01-01. Retrieved 2012-07-06.
15. Tabatabae (1979), pp.194–195
16. Tabatabae (1979), p.195
17. ^ Madelung, Wilferd. "ḤOSAYN B. ʿALI". Encyclopaedia Iranica. Archived from the original on 2011-04-29. Retrieved 2008-03-23.
18. Tabatabae (1979), pp.196–199
19. ^ Madelung, Wilferd. "ʿALĪ B. ḤOSAYN B. ʿALĪ B. ABĪ ṬĀLEB, ZAYN-AL-ʿĀBEDĪN". Encyclopaedia Iranica. Archived from the original on 2017-08-05. Retrieved 2007-11-08.
20. ^ Tabatabae (1979), p.202
21. ^ Madelung, Wilferd. "BĀQER, ABŪ JAʿFAR MOḤAMMAD". Encyclopaedia Iranica. Archived from the original on 2011-04-29. Retrieved 2007-11-08.
22. Tabatabae (1979), p.203
23. "JAʿFAR AL-ṢĀDEQ, ABU ʿABD-ALLĀH". Encyclopaedia Iranica. Archived from the original on 2018-10-20. Retrieved 2014-07-07.
24. ^ Tabatabae (1979), p.203–204
25. ^ Madelung, Wilferd. "ʿALĪ AL-REŻĀ". Encyclopaedia Iranica. Archived from the original on 2012-09-21. Retrieved 2007-11-09.
26. ^ Tabatabae (1979), p.205
27. Tabatabae (1979) p. 78
28. Sachedina 1988, pp. 53–54
29. ^ Tabatabae (1979), pp.205–207
30. ^ Tabatabae (1979), p. 207
31. ^ Madelung, Wilferd. "ʿALĪ AL-HĀDĪ". Encyclopaedia Iranica. Archived from the original on 2015-11-17. Retrieved 2007-11-08.
32. Tabatabae (1979), pp.208–209
33. ^ Halm, H. "ʿASKARĪ". Encyclopaedia Iranica. Archived from the original on 2011-04-29. Retrieved 2007-11-08.
34. Tabatabae (1979) pp. 209–210
35. Tabatabae (1979), pp.209–210
36. "THE CONCEPT OF MAHDI IN TWELVER SHIʿISM". Encyclopaedia Iranica. Archived from the original on 2011-04-29. Retrieved 2014-07-07.
37. "ḠAYBA". Encyclopaedia Iranica. Archived from the original on 2014-08-09. Retrieved 2014-07-07.
38. "Muhammad al-Mahdi al-Hujjah". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Archived from the original on 2007-10-17. Retrieved 2007-11-08.
39. ^ Tabatabae (1979), pp.210–211
40. Tabatabae (1979), pp. 211–214

References

• Musavi Isfahani, Muhammad Taqi; Haeri Qazvini (2006). Mekyal al-Makarim. Qom: Intisharat Masjed Moqaddas Jamkaran.
• "Twelver Shiʿah". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
• "Encyclopedia Iranica". Encyclopædia Iranica. Center for Iranian Studies, Columbia University. March 1997. ISBN 1-56859-050-4.
• Martin, Richard C. (2004). "Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World: A-L". Encyclopaedia of Islam and the Muslim world; vol.1. MacMillan. ISBN 0-02-865604-0.
• Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle East and North Africa. Gale Group. 2004. ISBN 978-0-02-865769-1. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
• Corbin, Henry (2014) . History Of Islamic Philosophy, Translated by Liadain Sherrard, Philip Sherrard. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-135-19889-3.
• Momen, Moojan (1985). An Introduction to Shi'i Islam: The History and Doctrines of Twelve. Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-03531-4.
• Olsson, Tord; Ozdalga, Elisabeth; Raudvere, Catharina (2005). Alevi Identity: Cultural, Religious and Social Perspectives. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-135-79725-6.
• Pierce, Matthew (2016). Twelve Infallible Men: The Imams and the Making of Shi'ism. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0674737075.
• Sachedina, Abdulaziz Abdulhussein (1988). The Just Ruler (al-sultān Al-ʻādil) in Shīʻite Islam: The Comprehensive Authority of the Jurist in Imamite Jurisprudence. Oxford University Press US. ISBN 0-19-511915-0.
• Tabataba'i, Sayyid Mohammad Hosayn (1977). Shi'ite Islam. Seyyed Hossein Nasr (translator). SUNY press. ISBN 978-0-87395-390-0.

External links

• A brief introduction of Twelve Imams
• A Brief History Of The Lives Of The Twelve Imams a chapter of Shi'ite Islam by Allameh Tabatabaei
• The Twelve Imams Taken From "A Shi'ite Anthology" By Allameh Tabatabaei
• A Short History of the Lives of The Twelve Imams
• Hazreti Ali & the Twelve Imams – The Bektashi Order of Dervishes

• Twelve Imams
• Twelver theology
• Lists of Islamic religious leaders
• 12 (number)