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Shia believe in the trilateral structure of authority; authority of God which is absolute and universal as the verse 3: 26 implies, authority of Muhammad which is legitimized by the grace of God as the verse 7: 158 points to it and the authority of the Imams who are blessed for the leadership of the community through Muhammad as the verses 5: ...
Those clerics who reach the apex in the hierarchy of theological rank in the centers of Shi'a learning become marja-i taqlids. [ 2 ] [ 4 ] Since around 1940, marja-i taqlids are often referred to by their followers with the honorific title of Ayatollah al-`Uzma (Grand Ayatollah – "ayatollah" meaning "sign of God"). [ 2 ]
Shia Islam places great importance on the guidance of clergy, and each branch of Shi'ism maintains its own clerical structure. The most well-known Shia clergy belongs to the largest branch of Shia Islam, Twelver Shi'ism. As in other branches of Islam, Shia scholars are collectively known as the ulema.
Imamat, or belief in the divine guide, is a fundamental belief in the Twelver Shia doctrine and is based on the concept that God would not leave humanity without access to divine guidance. [6] According to Twelvers, there is at all times an Imam of the era who is the divinely appointed authority on all matters of faith and law in the Muslim ...
Shia Muslim scholars emphasize that the notion of authority is linked to the family of the Abrahamic prophets as the Quranic verses 3:33 and 3:34 show: "Indeed, Allah chose Adam, Noah, the family of Abraham, and the family of ’Imrân above all people. They are descendants of one another. And Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing." [12]
In Shia Islam, the figure of imam dominates the belief system. [9] Necessarily a descendant of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, [10] imam is the supreme leader that combines both temporal and religious authorities, [11] for the two were combined in Muhammad. [12] Various Shia sects, however, disagreed over the identity of these imams. [10]
In the 7th century some early Muslims expected Ali to become a first caliph, successor to Muhammad.After ascension of Abu Bakr, supporters of Ali (and future Shia) continued to believe only people from Muhammad's family to qualify as rulers and selected an imam, from each generation (the proto-Sunni, in contrast, recognized Abu Bakr as a legitimate first caliph). [5]
In Twelver Shia Islam, the Ancillaries of the Faith (Arabic: فروع الدين furūʿ ad-dīn) are a set of practices that Shia Muslims have to carry out. [1] [2] [3] According to Twelver doctrine, what is referred to as pillars by Sunni Islam are called the practices or secondary principles or obligatory acts.