In these 15 powerpoint presentations you will get a simple introduction about Islam. www.al-islam.org is a very useful website thanks

1. AN INTRODUCTION
TO ISLAM
By:
Sayed Muhammad
Husaini Raqeb
Qom,Iran 2016
Part 11
In the Name of
Allah,
The Entirely
Merciful,
The Especially
Merciful

2. IMAMATE
• In the last episodes we spoke about 4 pillars or principles of faith in Islam:
• Tawheed (Monotheism)
• Adl (Divine Justice) “8th session”.
• Ma’ad (Resurrection day)
• Nubuwwah (Prophecy)
• And now the fifth one which is the Imamate or the Leadership of the people after
Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h.p) or the succession to the Prophet

3. THE CONTINUATION OF DIVINE
ASSISTANCE
• Some people imagine that since Muhammad (p.b.u.h.p) is the Last
Messenger, the divine guidance from God has stopped completely. This is
not valid because the meaning of the finality of prophecy is only that after
the Prophet of Islam, no other prophet, messenger, book or religion will
come. It does not mean that the connection between the unseen world
and this world has been cut. The divine guidance of God for human
society is everlasting and is continued, according to the Shi‘a Muslims, by
means of the twelve Imams of Ahlu 'l-bayt.

4. DEFINITION
• Imamate or Al-Imamah literally means 'to lead ‘
• Imam means 'the leader'.
• Imamate means leadership and Imam is attributed to someone –either righteous or
vicious– whose conduct and ideas are followed by the people. The leader of the pious
and the leader of the evildoer are both called Imam.
• In Islamic Shia terminology al-imamah (Imamate) means 'universal authority in all
religious and secular affairs, in succession to the Prophet'. al-Imam means 'the man
who, in succession to the Prophet, has the right to the absolute command of the Muslims
in all religious and secular affairs '.

5. THE BEGINNING OF A DIVISION
• Imamate has been a fundamental Islamic belief since Early Islamic Era. It has divided the Islamic
Ummah (nation) into two groups:
• Shi’ites and Sunnis
• The Sunni Muslims consider Imamate a worldly position, and an Islamic fundamental. They
regard the necessity of appointing Imam a jurisprudential issue and appointment of him the duty
of Islamic Ummah, unlike the Shi’ites, who know Imamate as an Islamic fundamental after
Prophecy and that the appointment of Imam is solely done by Allah(s.w) and declared by His
Prophet. Qur’an says:
ِ‫اس‬َّ‫ن‬‫ل‬ِ‫ل‬ َ‫ك‬ُ‫ل‬ِ‫ع‬‫جا‬ ‫ي‬ِ‫ن‬ِ‫إ‬ َ‫ل‬‫قا‬‫مام‬ِ‫إ‬‫ا‬
Allah stated to Abraham:" Verily, I will appoint you a Divine Leader for Mankind(2:124)
The Shias define Imamate as succession and caliphate of the Messenger of Allah(s.w) in all prophetic
duties and tasks, except receiving revelation, which is only for the prophets .

6. WHY IS IT RECKONED AS ONE OF THE
PRINCIPLES OF FAITH?
• 1- It’s the succession of the prophet, so it’s among the prophetic affairs that the belief in
it is obligatory for all, so without a single doubt, it’s one of the principles of faith.
• 2-According to the famous narration of Prophet Muhammad(p.b.u.h.p):
ً‫ة‬َ‫ت‬‫مي‬ َ‫مات‬ ِ‫ه‬ِ‫ن‬‫زما‬ َ‫مام‬ِ‫ا‬ ْ‫ف‬ ِ‫ر‬ْ‫ع‬َ‫ي‬ ْ‫م‬َ‫ل‬ َ‫و‬ َ‫مات‬ ْ‫ن‬َ‫م‬ً‫ة‬َّ‫ي‬‫ل‬ِ‫ه‬‫جا‬
The one who dies without knowing the Imam of his time, has died like those dying in the
Jahiliyyah (Ignorance era) and it means that he has died like an infidel. And something
that is in the direct connection with Imaan(belief) and Kufr(infidelity) is surely assumed
as one of the principles of faith. Otherwise being ignorant towards the ancillaries of faith
doesn’t take him to that point.

7. A VERY IMPORTANT POINT
• We believe that those who have faith in Monotheism and Prophecy of the
prophet of Islam and say the Sahadatain(declaration of faith) join the Islamic
nation but there needs to be some other elements like believing in
Adl(divine justice) and Imamate as two important principles of faith to complete
their Imaan with them.
Conclusion
It’s better to say that Tawheed(monotheism) and Nubuwwah(prophecy) and
Ma’ad(resurrection day) are called the principles of the religion and Adl(Divine
Justice) and Imamate are the principles of the Mazhab (Shia school of thought).

8. THE NECESSITY OF IMAMATE
• It is proved that the Prophet of Islam (p.b.u.h.p) had several positions during his
lifetime:
• 1.Having relation with the invisible world and getting revelation from the Almighty
Allah,
• 2.Maintaining religious knowledge, teachings, commandments, and laws descended as
revelation,
• 3.Propagating this heavenly collection among the people, answering their questions, and
fighting superstition,
• 4.Enforcing political, social, judiciary, economic, legal, and punitive Islamic
commandments, defending Islam and the Muslims, and establishing Islamic
government.

9. Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h.p) was always away from mistakes and forgetfulness
in fulfilling these duties. He was also infallible and away from committing sins and
crimes. If a prophet is not infallible, religious commandments and rules are not
guaranteed and Divine Mercy is not accomplished. (we spoke about infallibility of prophets in
the last episode)
This is, in fact, the Shia viewpoint, who believe that just as human being needs
Divine knowledge, teachings, and rules revealed to prophets for reaching material
and spiritual perfection, he needs to have an infallible leader who undertakes the
Prophet’s responsibilities and follows his goals in the absence of the Prophet
throughout history. Otherwise, the prophets’ mission in guiding human beings will
remain incomplete.
Human need for religious sciences and teachings is not limited to the Prophet’s
age; humans need this Divine Source of knowledge in all ages. The short time of
Prophet Muhammad’s prophetic mission did not secure this continual need;
especially because of termination of prophetic missions ever.

10. SO
• The Shia Muslims know the Imam as a brilliant
complete human, who succeeds the Prophet of
Islam and undertakes all his duties, except
receiving revelation.

11. IMAM MUHAMMAD AL-BAQIR, OUR FIFTH IMAM,
EXPLAINING WHY THE IMAMS ARE NEEDED,
STATES:
• "So that the world may remain in righteousness, thus Allah withholds chastisement from
the world while a Prophet or Imam is upon it, for Allah has said 'Allah will not chastise
them while you are among them' (Qur’an,8:33)
• and the Prophet had said ' the stars are safety for the people of the heaven and the
members of my family are safety for the people of the earth. By members of my family is
meant the Imams....Through them Allah gives sustenance (Rizq) to His servants and
through them His lands prosper and the rain falls from the heaven and the earth gives
out its blessings"

12. BESIDES THAT
• The prophetic mission must be followed by a keeper of the Quran because
it contains esoteric depth, superficial contradictions and hidden meaning.
The meaning can be manifested not by ordinary knowledge, but by an
inspired heir who is the Hujjah or an Imam appointed by Allah. Divine
knowledge is attainable only through divine revelation or inspiration.
• There are many historical instances of mistakes, those so called caliphs
made in interpretation of Qur’an and Imam Ali as the true interpreter of
Qur’an corrected them and didn’t let catastrophes take place.

13. TO BE CONTINUED
• Due to the importance of this topic we will
continue it in the next session
• so once again I ask you to contact us at:
• info@onlinehawzah.com
• Or use the mobile messengers like Whatsapp
or Telegram on this number:
+989357467202
www.onlinehawzah.com/en

14. ‫رحم‬ ‫و‬ ‫عليکم‬ ‫السالم‬‫بركاته‬ ‫و‬ ‫هللا‬ ‫ة‬