The principle of the Imamate relates to the Shi’a belief that the Holy Prophet appointed Imam Ali as his successor to the leadership of the Muslim community. During his prophethood, the Holy Prophet Muhammad fulfilled several functions. Upon receiving the first revelation, he became the receptacle of the Quran, God’s last revelation to humankind.
When he established the first Islamic community in 622, he also became a temporal ruler, managing the political, practical, and spiritual affairs of the community. Just before his death in 632, during the last pilgrimage he undertook, he assembled the Muslims and told them that his end was near, but that he was leaving them two things that would continue to guide them until the end of time: the Holy Quran and his household (Ahl-e Bait).
The means to their salvation lay in holding on to them both. Then he lifted the hand of Imam Ali, his cousin, who was the husband of Muhammad’s only daughter, Fatemeh (also spelled Fatima), and announced that whoever recognizes him as his leader should recognize Ali too, and whoever loves him should love Ali—in effect, appointing Ali as his successor. Then he prayed to God that may those who love and follow Ali enjoy God’s blessings and love, and that those who do not taste God’s wrath.
This event, the feast of Ghadir Khom, celebrated every year on the 18th of the lunar month Zil Hajjeh, marks the beginning of the divergence between the main Muslim denominations of Sunnis and Shi’as. Although both groups accept the authenticity of the traditions relating to this event, their interpretations differ. Sunni Muslims see the event only as a confirmation of Ali’s moral worth, whereas Shi’a Muslims view Ali and the chain of his eleven direct descendants, the Imams, as the Prophet’s vicegerents, who were not chosen by a consensus of believers but were divinely appointed and entrusted by God with the spiritual guidance of the Muslims.4 All the imams except the last one were killed by their political enemies, who disputed their legitimacy, resented their popularity, and schemed to destroy their spiritual succession.
The Prophet and Youth
