Hawzah News Agency - There are two main viewpoints concerning the issue of Imamate: the first is that of the Sunnis, who hold that the Prophet, may God’s peace and blessing be on him and his descendants, did not introduce any successor and say that the community had to choose the Prophet’s successor and leader of the Muslims. The second viewpoint is that of the Imamiyyah Shi’ites, who consider Imamate as a divinely ordained position and as a continuation of prophet hood and say that God designates an Imam just as He appoints a prophet.
The Imamiyyah Shi’ites possess a large number of solid proofs confirmed by intellect, and evidence from the Qur’an and the Sunnah, included in theological, exegetic and hadith sources. The present preface explicates the Shi’ites’ intellectual viewpoint on the aforementioned issue (of succession) explores the following points about man’s nature and inclinations: ...