The structure of Imamate Teaching in Shiite thought: a developmental approach

In this paper I try to present an overview of the idea of Imamate in the Shiite thought and its development through Kalami debates and books. To achieve this goal, I have limited myself to the early basic books and divided my discussion into five parts: (۱) the structure of Imamate discussion among Shiite and the Sunni communities. (۲) The concept of Imamate, (۳) the relation between Imamate and the principles of faith, (۴) the necessity of imamate, and (۵) who is the Imam, in person, and the traits of the Imam. Indeed, we cannot discus, nor understand the Shia thought and theology without understanding the Imamate Idea. Therefore, this idea has hold the central position in Shia thinking throughout Islamic history and many books have been written defending and also criticising this idea. In this paper, taking a semi-phenomenological and developmental approach I have tried to give a clear and detailed picture of the Imamate idea using the main Shia sources. Furthermore, I have tried to open a new area for approaching this very Shiite idea through deferent lenz.

کلیدواژه ها:

Shiite ، Imamate ، Shiite theology ، the proofs of Imamate ، Shia Kalam