BELIEFS OF THE IMAMI RAFIDI SHIA PART 1

The Twelver Rafidi Shia believe that imamate is an important pillar of Islam and one
of the fundamentals of faith; a person's faith is not complete, and no deed may be
accepted from him, unless he believes in it. The first person who spoke of the
concept of imamate as believed in by the Rafidi Shia was Ibn Saba'. He spread the
idea that imamate was something about which the Prophet (saw) gave instructions,
that it is limited to the one whom he mentioned in those instructions (the appointed
heir), and that if anyone other than him takes the position of imamate (or
caliphate), he must be disavowed and regarded as a disbeliever.
The books of the Shia admit that Ibn Saba' was the first one to spread the idea of
'Ali's imamate being obligatory, openly disavowing his enemies, standing up to his
opponents and denouncing them as disbeliever. He was of Jewish origin, and he
believed that the one who was instructed by Moosa to take his place was Joshua;
when he became Muslim be applied this same idea to 'Ali ibn Abi Talib. This is what
was agreed upon by the shaykhs of the Rafidi Shia.
Ibn Bbawayh al-Qummi recorded the beliefs of the Shia in the fourth century AH,
and he said that they believed that every prophet had an appointed heir whom
Allah instructed should come after the prophet. He stated that the number of
appointed heirs was 124,000. Al-Majlisi stated in his Akhbar that 'Ali was the last of
the appointed heirs. One of the chapter headings in al-Kafi says: "Imamate is a
covenant from Allah, which is passed on from one to another." Another heading
says: "What Allah and His Messenger instructed with regard to the Imams and
mentioning their names one after another." He included a number of their reports,
which they regard as evidence beyond any shadow of a doubt.
Hence their shaykh Miqdad al-Hilli (d. 821 AH) said: "The one who is entitled to the
position of imamate has to be a man who is appointed by Allah and His Messenger,
not just by any man." Muhammad Husayn .l Kshif al-Ghata', one of the senior
religious authorities of the Twelver Shia in modem times, stated: "Imamate is a
divinely-appointed position like prophethood. Just as Allah chooses whomever He
wills among His slaves for prophethood and messengership and supports them with
miracles which are like a statement from Allah concerning him, so He also chooses
for imamate whomever He wills and enjoins His Prophet to mention him by name as
his successor and issue instructions that he should be a leader (Imam) for people
after he is gone."
So you see that the concept of imamate in their view is like the concept of
prophethood. Just as Allah chose prophets from among His creation, He also
chooses Imams, mentioning them by name, telling mankind about them,
establishing proof through them, supporting them with miracles, and sending down
Books and revelation to them. They do not say or do anything except by the
command and revelation of Allah. In other words, imamate is the same as
prophethood, and the Imam is a Prophet; the change is in name only.
Hence al-Majlisi said: "Trying to work out the difference between a Prophet and an
Imam based on these reports may be problematic." Then he said: "We do not know
the reason why they are not given the title of prophet except as a kind of respect to

the Seal of the Prophets; our minds cannot fathom the difference between
prophethood and imamate. This is what they say with regard to the concept of
imamate, and it is sufficient criticism of it that they have no support for this view
except (the words of) Ibn Saba', the Jew.
To be continued in part 2
MAY THE PEACE AND BLESSINGS BE UPON OUR BELOVED PROPHET, BELIEVERS OF
HIS FAMILY, HIS COMPANIONS AND LL THOSE WHO FOLLOWED THEM TILL ETERNITY.