Eligibility for Imamat

Precisely speaking, it is understood from the above mentioned verse that the position and rank of Imamat which was bestowed upon Abraham (a.s.), only after successfully enduring those frequent difficult trials, was above and beyond the rank of prophethood.

The primary sense of meaning of the term / Imam / is that of being foremost, but it also has other different meanings including:

A) leadership in the worldly social affairs of people, (as the sunnite school of thought believes).

B) Authority over the religious affairs of people in this world (as some others of them have interpreted).

C) Responsibility of bringing religious duties into action, whether it is through the establishment of government in its vast meaning or performing the commandments and ordinances of Allah, and the execution of social justice along with the training of souls, both outwardly and inwardly. the rank of Imamat is higher than the rank of prophethood, because prophethood and messengership is only a matter of receiving some commandments from Allah and preaching them as glad tidings and warnings. all of these are true in the case of Imamat, in addition to practicing the divine ordinances and training the souls of individuals, outwardly and inwardly. (it is clear, of course, that many of the prophets had had the rank of Imamat, too.)

Imamat, in fact, is the position of presenting the aims of religion practically, and guidance is ' attaining the ideal ' not merely ' showing the way '.

Besides that, Imamat includes ' divine guidance ', too. it means the innate quality of the Imam's spiritual influence and the attracting glow of his pureness encompassing, deeply touching, and truly effecting the realm of receptive people's hearts which results in their spiritual guidance.

From this point of view, an Imam is just like the sun that, with its life-giving light, fosters and gives vitality to all living creatures. the function of an Imam in spiritual aspects is the same as the physical function of the sun.

The holy Qur'an says: " he it is who sends blessings on you, as do his angels, that he may bring you out from the depths of darkness into light: and he is full of mercy to the believers ", ( sura al-ahzab, No. 33, verse 43).

It is well understood from this verse that the special mercies of Allah and the hidden aid given by his angels can lead the believers and those who trust in him to come out from ' darkness ' into ' light '.

This is also true about an Imam. the innate authority of an Imam and the great prophets (a.s.) who had also possessed the rank of Imamat as well as their vicegerents, had a deep effect on receptive individuals by which they could train them and therefore bring them from the depths of ignorance and error into the light of guidance.

There is no doubt that the purpose of Imamat in this verse is the third meaning, because it is understood from many of the verses of the Qur'an that the concept of ' guidance ' lies within the meaning of Imamat, as sura as-sajdah, No. 32, verse 24 says:

" And we appointed, from among them, leaders, giving guidance under our command, so long as they persevered with patience and continued to have faith in our signs."

This guidance does not mean merely ' showing the way ', because, in principle, Abraham (a.s.) had the rank of prophethood and messengership for giving guidance in the sense of ' showing the way ' before becoming an Imam.

However, the Qur'an clearly attests to this fact that Imamat was bestowed on Abraham (a.s.) when he persevered with patience in tolerating the difficulties which he encountered as he paved the path of certitude alongside his faith, and passed his various great tests successfully. this rank was above and beyond the rank of guidance with the meaning of preaching glad tidings and warning people.

Therefore, guidance within the concept of Imamat is nothing save ' attaining the ideal ', cherishing the soul of religion and bringing forth training programmes for the individuals who are prepared to grasp them.

This meaning is cited in an expressive tradition from Imam sadiq (a.s.) which says: " verily, Allah, the blessed, the sublime, took Abraham(a.s.) as his slave before he took him as a prophet. and verily Allah took him as his prophet before he took him as a messenger. and Allah took him as his messenger before he made him a confident (khalil). Allah took him as a confident before he appointed him as an Imam. when he had brought all these things together in him: he (Allah) said: ' verily, i have appointed you an Imam (leader) for mankind'."

The Imam (a.s.) continued: " since this was something very great in the eyes of Abraham, he said: ' and of my offspring (as well)? ' he (Allah) said: ' my covenant does not include the unjust '."

The Imam (a.s.) concluded: " a stupid person cannot be the Imam of the pious." (1) this means that only those seed of Abraham (a.s.) who were pure and infallible were worthy of being Imam.