Is Imamate Like Prophethood?

The Twelver Shia believe: besides apparent revelation

Imamate is like Prophethood. Muhammad Hussain Aal Ka Shaf al-Ghita: A contemporary Shia Marja says:
“Imamate is also a divine office like Prophethood: just as Allah Almighty selects from among His servants whomever He wills for Prophethood and Messengership and then supports them with miracles which are like clear texts from Allah Almighty. Similarly, Allah Almighty selects whomever He wills for Imamate. And He commands His Prophet to appoint an Imam after him so that he becomes the leader of the people after him.”

A brief glance at the statement of Aal Kashif al-Ghita:

Why does Allah Almighty not command the appointment of an Imam? Why does Allah not give a wise command about this in the Quran itself? While your belief is that Imamate is like Prophethood.
Allah, the Exalted, has revealed clear texts for His Prophet. Your belief is that the Imam is like the Prophet. If Imamate were truly as your belief states, then Allah Almighty would certainly have revealed texts regarding it.
And this admission invalidates the claim that: there are texts about Imamate in the Quran, as many Shia scholars believe. It also refutes the claim that Imamate is like Prophethood. If that were truly the case, Allah Almighty would have revealed verses about it, just as He revealed verses about Prophethood.

If Prophethood is like Imamate, then its support is necessary:

We ask: When Imamate is like Prophethood, as the Shia believe, then it necessarily follows that Allah Almighty would assist and support the bearer of Imamate. Undoubtedly, Allah Almighty supported His Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, among his people. The Divine command is:

إِلَّا تَنصُرُوهُ فَقَدْ نَصَرَهُ اللَّهُ إِذْ أَخْرَجَهُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا ثَانِيَ اثْنَيْنِ إِذْ هُمَا فِي الْغَارِ إِذْ يَقُولُ لِصَاحِبِهِ لَا تَحْزَنْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ مَعَنَا ۖ فَأَنزَلَ اللَّهُ سَكِينَتَهُ عَلَيْهِ وَأَيَّدَهُ بِجُنُودٍ لَّمْ تَرَوْهَا وَجَعَلَ كَلِمَةَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا السُّفْلَىٰ ۗ وَكَلِمَةُ اللَّهِ هِيَ الْعُلْيَا ۗ وَاللَّهُ عَزِيزٌ حَكِيمٌ ‎

“If you do not help the Prophet, Allah has already helped him when the disbelievers expelled him; there were only two of them when they were in the cave, and the Prophet, peace be upon him, was saying to his companion: Do not grieve; indeed, Allah is with us. So Allah sent down His tranquility upon them and supported them with soldiers you did not see, and He made the word of the disbelievers the lowest. And the word of Allah is the highest, and Allah is Exalted in Might and Wise.”

So do you believe that Allah Almighty supported His Prophet?
If you say yes, He did support him,
then we ask why was the deputy of Prophethood not supported? While in your belief, the command of both is the same.
And if you say that Allah did not support His Prophet,
then we say: circumstances and events refute this statement of yours.
Then if you say that He did support,
we ask: by whom?
If you say: by the companions, may Allah be pleased with them,
then we ask: who were the companions who supported?
If you say: they were four or seven persons,
then we say: rationally this is not correct. How is support possible with the accompaniment of seven individuals when there were hundreds of people with you in Mecca, yet you did not receive support?
If you say: these people were more,
then we say: then name them.
If you say: many of them were unknown,
then we ask: how did you come to know about them?
If you say that Allah Almighty supported you through the sword of Hazrat Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, as your traditions say,
then we say: the sword of Hazrat Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, was one of those who supported, but Islam was not supported by Hazrat Ali alone. If Islam had been supported solely by the sword of Hazrat Ali, then your sword would also have supported Hazrat Amir Muawiyah, may Allah be pleased with him. Yet at that time, he was in great need of victory and support, so what happened that Hazrat Amir Muawiyah did not receive support, while it was the same sword?
Then we ask: Did Allah Almighty support His Prophet during his lifetime or also after his death?
If you say that this help was only during his life,
then we say: what benefit was that support which was lost after the death of the Prophet, peace be upon him? And what is meant by your support of the Prophet, peace be upon him: the support of his religion or the support of his personality?
Then we ask: Why did Allah Almighty reveal this religion?
If you say: so that it may be followed and nearness to Allah may be attained,
then we say:
According to your religion, this has happened very little.
So where is the benefit of the revelation of this religion?
Because according to your belief, after the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him, the Imam is responsible for the protection of the religion and its implementation in society. And the later Imams, whom you consider Imams, according to your belief, could not enforce this religion; even their lineage ended or they took the path of escape. This is the correct belief according to your religion.

Escape with Religion:

If you say: The dominance of religion will be in the hands of the Hidden Mahdi in the end times.
Then we ask: The light that Allah Almighty sent down from the heavens, was it for the greatest religion, the greatest Prophet?
In the form of the greatest book,
It was revealed in the most magnificent place.
It is not kept in a cellar with the Mahdi so that the Imam’s emergence happens. Until then, humanity has been deprived of this Quran for over a thousand years, and this situation continues. Because suitable personalities were not available for it. Or did the Imam run away with the religion?
Or then how is it possible for the Imam Mahdi to declare and enforce this religion?
If you say that Allah Almighty will provide you with helpers and supporters.
Then we ask: Is this Imam more honored with Allah than Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), or even more than the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), that they were not given those helpers who would support the religion? Rather, their help was shown temporarily and then this virtue was reserved for that offspring who, according to their belief, has been hidden for a thousand years. If the one who helps and supports is Allah Almighty, then why did the greatest human beings of humanity not help their Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)? And after him, why did they not help Imam Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), as your belief holds? And then in this regard, you people have narrated thousands of traditions in which Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) is made a partner in all characteristics and virtues except for apparent prophethood.
If you had so many virtues, would you not have deserved that divine support which would have comforted your eyes and from which the believer would gain honor and dominance and the disbeliever would be humiliated and disgraced?
What is the reason that you lived a life of weakness and oppression as your traditions say, while you were certainly free from these things?
Then what is the benefit of this Imamate from which the intended purpose cannot be achieved?

Contradictory Positions on the Claim of Imamate:

Then we ask this question: When Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) was an Imam appointed by Allah Almighty and he knew this, and Imamat was one of the principles of religion without which the religion is not complete and one who does not believe in it is a disbeliever. Majlisi has narrated from his Sheikh, Sheikh Mufid, who says:
“The Imamiya have consensus that whoever denies the Imamat of any one Imam, and whose obedience Allah has made obligatory, is a disbeliever who deserves Hell forever.”

Tusi said: “Denying Imamat and not accepting it is like denying Prophethood and not accepting it.”

So what happened to you that you spent your whole life with the three Caliphs (may Allah be pleased with them) and did not migrate anywhere in the land of Allah to seek a helper as the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) migrated. When your people in Mecca did not help you, the Prophet (peace be upon him) migrated to Medina.
❀ Then how did Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) pledge allegiance to the three Caliphs (may Allah be pleased with them) when they not only denied your service but also persecuted you? And according to your Sheikh Mufid, they are disbelievers.
❀ Then how did you continue to pray behind them and with them for so long when they (according to your belief) were disbelievers?
❀ Then how did you marry one of the captive women of Banu Hanifa brought by Hazrat Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him)? When the commands of a disbelieving ruler are not enforced.
❀ From this woman, Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) had a son named Muhammad.
❀ Then what happened to you that you married your daughter Umm Kulthum to Hazrat Umar (may Allah be pleased with him)? According to your faith, Hazrat Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) was a disbeliever. Can any ordinary Muslim or an Imam appointed by Allah be pleased to marry his daughter to a disbeliever, whether willingly or unwillingly, and not help his daughter?

Names of the Children of Ali رضي الله عنه after the Names of the Caliphs:

❀ Then Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) did not stop at just this, but named his children after these personalities. According to Sheikh Mufid and those who follow his belief, the three Caliphs (may Allah be pleased with them) were disbelievers. They usurped the Caliphate and became obstacles in the implementation of the wills made to you. This is your belief.
But Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) named his children Abu Bakr, Umar, and Uthman (may Allah be pleased with them).
Who forced you to do this?
Here, we consider it sufficient to mention only to what extent the names of Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) and his daughter Aisha Siddiqah (may Allah be pleased with her) were given to your offspring. This material is being presented from the most important books of your religion. Because you people think that the Caliphate was snatched away from Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him).
Shi’a Ithna Ashari scholar: Sheikh Mufid, while mentioning the names of Hazrat Ali’s (may Allah be pleased with him) children, also included the name Abu Bakr. (He has established a chapter and) he says:

ذكر أولاد أمير المومنين عليه السلام و عددهم و أسمائهم و مختصر من أخبار هم .

“The mention of the offspring of the Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him), their number, their names, and brief accounts.”
Muhammad al-Asghar, kunya Abu Bakr, and Ubaidullah who was martyred alongside his brother Hazrat Hussain (may Allah be pleased with him). His mother was Layla bint Mas’ud al-Daramiya.

Ya’qubi, the Shi’a historian, says about Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him):
“His male offspring numbered fourteen. Ubaidullah and Abu Bakr left no progeny. Their mother was Layla bint Mas’ud al-Hanzaliya, from Banu Tamim.”

Asfahani established a chapter in Maqatil al-Talibin:

ذكر خير حسين بن على رضی اللہ عنہ ، بن ابي طالب و مقتله ومن قتل معه من أهله .

“Among them was Abu Bakr as well. His mother was Layla bint Mas’ud. Abu Ja’far mentioned that the one who killed him was a man from Hamdan. It is also mentioned that he was found killed on foot in a group. The identity of his killer could not be known.”

Is this not proof of true love and brotherhood among them and the respect and honor shown by Hazrat Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) towards Hazrat Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him)?
Then your beloved son Fatimah’s son, the grandson of the Prophet (peace be upon him), Hazrat Hasan ibn Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), the second infallible Imam (according to your belief), named one of his sons after Hazrat Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him). As Ya’qubi said:
“The male offspring of Hazrat Hasan (may Allah be pleased with him) were eight in total. Their mother’s name was Khawla. Abu Bakr and Abdul Rahman were children of a different mother. Likewise, Talha and Abdullah were also.”

Asfahani said:
“Abu Bakr ibn Hasan ibn Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) was among those who were martyred with Hazrat Hussain (may Allah be pleased with him) in Karbala. He was killed by Uqbah Ghannawi.”

Hazrat Hussain ibn Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) also named one of his sons Abu Bakr, as mentioned by the Shi’a historian Mas’udi. While mentioning those martyred with Hazrat Hussain (may Allah be pleased with him) in Karbala in التنبيه والا شراف, he writes:
“Three sons of Hazrat Hussain (may Allah be pleased with him) were martyred in Karbala: Ali Akbar, Abdullah al-Sabi, and Abu Bakr. These three were sons of Hazrat Hussain.”

“And it is also reported that Zain al-Abidin ibn Hasan’s kunya was Abu Bakr.”

Furthermore, Hasan ibn Hasan ibn Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), the grandson of Hazrat Ali ibn Abi Talib (may Allah be pleased with him), named one of his sons Abu Bakr. As Asfahani narrated from Muhammad ibn Hamza Alawi, among those with Hazrat Ibrahim ibn Hasan ibn Hasan ibn Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) ibn Abi Talib was also Abu Bakr ibn Hasan ibn Hasan. Similarly, among the Shi’a, the seventh Imam Musa ibn Ja’far al-Kadhim named one of his sons Abu Bakr. As Asfahani said:
“His son Ali, the eighth Imam of the Shi’a, had the kunya Abu Bakr.”
And Isa ibn Mehran Abu Salat narrated that he said:
“One day Ma’mun asked me a question, I said: Among them is also our Abu Bakr.”
Isa ibn Mehran says:
“I asked Abi Salat, who is your Abu Bakr? He said Ali ibn Musa al-Ridha, that was his kunya and his mother was Umm Walad.”

As for the name Aisha, the seventh Imam Musa al-Kadhim named a daughter Aisha after Siddiqah bint Siddiq, as Mufid mentioned in the number and accounts of Musa ibn Ja’far al-Sadiq’s offspring. He says:
“Abu al-Hasan Musa (peace be upon him) had thirty-seven children, among them were Ali ibn Musa al-Ridha, Fatimah, Aisha, and Umm Salama as well.”

“And his son Ali ibn Husain also named one of his daughters Aisha.”

Similarly, according to them, the tenth Imam Ali ibn Muhammad al-Hadi Abu al-Hasan also named one of his daughters Aisha. Sheikh Mufid says:
“Abu al-Hasan passed away in the month of Rajab in 45 AH. He was buried in his house (Sari min Ray). He left behind a son Abu Muhammad Hasan and a daughter Aisha.”

These are the books of Shi’a authorities that confirm that there was no animosity in the hearts of Ahl al-Bayt towards Ahl al-Siddiq; that is why they named their sons and daughters after you and your daughter.
If the Caliphate had been snatched away, they would not have allowed their names to be mentioned on their tongues all the time, nor would they have named their daughters and sons after them. Rather, they named their offspring in their homes after those who were most beloved to them.
This is the greatest proof that the traditions of your belief about these people are fabricated. Otherwise, naming their sons and daughters after their enemies would have led to accusations of hypocrisy against them, as your belief holds. But these people are free from hypocrisy before Allah.
If they admit that any Shi’a dared to interpret this as taqiyya, it would be the greatest insult to these noble and virtuous people. Because such an act is not befitting of them. These people are the progeny of the daughter of the Prophet and were nurtured in the Islamic fold, so how could they say such things?

Hazrat Hasan (may Allah be pleased with him) and the Abdication of Imamate:

Then what happened to Hazrat Hasan (may Allah be pleased with him) that he abdicated the Imamate? Whereas according to your belief, the religion cannot be established without it. And you agreed that during his lifetime and with your consent, a decision would be made according to disbelief, and your life would be saved, while you had a large army of more than forty thousand with you?

❀ When according to your belief you were the Imam appointed by Allah, was it possible for you to abandon the responsibility assigned by Allah to save your life, even if people remained in disbelief?

❀ When you made peace with Hazrat Amir Muawiya (may Allah be pleased with him) and abdicated in his favor, if all people believed in your Imamate, then they also believed that this abdication did not affect their faith. If this abdication were effective, then Hazrat Hasan (may Allah be pleased with him), the grandson of the Prophet (peace be upon him), would never have agreed to it, especially when you were an Imam appointed by Allah. And according to your belief, the Imam is infallible from forgetfulness, error, and mistake. How could he be the cause of the community’s disbelief so that you could live for many years and abandon one of the fundamental principles of religion?

❀ Can anything be dearer to a Muslim, indeed to an Imam, than this religion?

❀ It was Mr. Khomeini who risked his life to establish his government. Was Khomeini braver than Hazrat Hasan (may Allah be pleased with him)?

❀ Then these soldiers who serve in armies worldwide and face death openly, and who keep advancing to support their governments, most of which are disbelievers, was Hazrat Hasan’s (may Allah be pleased with him) sacrifice and satisfaction with his Imamate any less than theirs?

Has the time not yet come for the awakening of reason and intellect?