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Debates on the question of who was best qualified to be the imam and whether a sinful leader might be removed from his position as the head of the community played an important role in the development of Sunni religious and political thought. Medieval Sunni jurists held the position of the imam to be deducible from revelation rather than reason, and considered this position to be essential for the defense of Islam and the implementation of the sacred law, the [https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-2/sharia-COM_1040 shari‘a]. In general, they required that the caliph/imam be a member of Muhammad’s tribe of Quraysh, be duly elected by the people or nominated by his predecessor, and possess moral probity, religious knowledge, and the physical faculties necessary for the discharge of his duties. With the decline of the [[caliphate]] and the rise to power of the military warlords, however, the jurists came to recognize that any ruler—and not necessarily the caliph—who wielded effective political power was the legitimate imam, as long as his actions did not flagrantly contravene the shari‘a. | Debates on the question of who was best qualified to be the imam and whether a sinful leader might be removed from his position as the head of the community played an important role in the development of Sunni religious and political thought. Medieval Sunni jurists held the position of the imam to be deducible from revelation rather than reason, and considered this position to be essential for the defense of Islam and the implementation of the sacred law, the [https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-2/sharia-COM_1040 shari‘a]. In general, they required that the caliph/imam be a member of Muhammad’s tribe of Quraysh, be duly elected by the people or nominated by his predecessor, and possess moral probity, religious knowledge, and the physical faculties necessary for the discharge of his duties. With the decline of the [[caliphate]] and the rise to power of the military warlords, however, the jurists came to recognize that any ruler—and not necessarily the caliph—who wielded effective political power was the legitimate imam, as long as his actions did not flagrantly contravene the shari‘a. | ||
==Shi’a Imams== | ==Shi’a Imams== | ||
To the Shi‘ites, the term imam has a different signification altogether. It refers to a member of the family of the Prophet ([[Ahl Al-Bayt]]), and usually to a member of “the family” as descended from Muhammad’s daughter [[Fatima]] (d. 633) and her husband [[ʿAli ibn Abi Talib| | To the Shi‘ites, the term imam has a different signification altogether. It refers to a member of the family of the Prophet ([[Ahl Al-Bayt]]), and usually to a member of “the family” as descended from Muhammad’s daughter [[Fatima]] (d. 633) and her husband [[ʿAli ibn Abi Talib|Ali ibn Abi Talib]] (d. 661). The history of Shi‘ism is marked by numerous disagreements on the precise identity and number of the imams, as well as on how to define the imam’s authority and functions; and many of these disagreements have continued to the present, as have distinct Shi'ite communities. The [[Ithna ‘Ashariyah|Imamis]], who came to be the most numerous group among the Shi‘ites, believe in twelve imams, hence their common designation as “Ithna Asharis” or “Twelvers.” | ||
The Twelver imams are believed to be sinless, the repository of authoritative knowledge, and indispensable for the guidance and salvation of the community. The last of these imams is believed to have gone into hiding in 874. While leading Twelver-Shi‘ite jurists (mujtahids) have continued the imam’s function of providing religious guidance and leadership to the community (even as they have long debated the scope of their own authority in his absence), belief in his eventual return is a cardinal feature of the Twelver religious system. | The Twelver imams are believed to be sinless, the repository of authoritative knowledge, and indispensable for the guidance and salvation of the community. The last of these imams is believed to have gone into hiding in 874. While leading Twelver-Shi‘ite jurists (mujtahids) have continued the imam’s function of providing religious guidance and leadership to the community (even as they have long debated the scope of their own authority in his absence), belief in his eventual return is a cardinal feature of the Twelver religious system. | ||