Imamate (The Vicegerency of the Prophet)

Author:  Sayyid Sa’eed Akhtar Rizvi

Translator: Sayyid Muhammad Rizvi

Published by Ansariyan Publications

► The author discusses Imamate and Khilafah, where an Imam is the head or leader of an Imamate and is similar to a caliph or khalifah with one major difference: while a caliph is more of a political head of a state, the imam (in imamate) is a religious as well as a political head of a group of people. While the caliph cannot change the religious laws and their jurisprudence, an imam also cannot change the original religious laws but can derive verdicts based on Quran, Tafseer, Ahadith and Prophet's Sunnah as per new requirements or new problems faced. These as well as Shi'i and Sunni views on topics such as necessity of Imamate, infallibility, and Shura are explained.