The Concept of Imamate
بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ Shaykh Nur ad-Din Abu ‘Ubadah ‘Ali ibn Juma’ah wrote, examining the Imamate according to Shi‘ism, that lexically, the word, “Shi’ah” means, “ answar ”, “adherent”, such that the related word, “ tashayyu ”, “partisanship”, denotes “ al-intiswar ”, “the victory of one over another”. Historically, the word, “Shi’ah” refers to the supporters of Sayyidina ‘Ali ibn Abu Thalib ( k.w. ). In the sectarian sense, the term refers to the explicit conviction that the right to the caliphate fell only to Sayyidina ‘Ali ( k.w. ) and his children. They differed thereafter as to which among his descendants had priority: the Zaydiyyah asserted the Imamate through the third-generation descendent, Imam Zayd ibn ‘Ali ash-Shahid ( q.s. ); the Isma’iliyyah asserted the Imamate through the seventh-generation descendent, Imam Abu Muhammad Isma’il al-A’araj ibn Ja’far asw-Swadiq ( q.s. ) and the Itsna’ Ash’ari , Twelver, Shi’ah asserted t...