Is Imāmah Superior to Prophethood?
Source: Fatāwā Amun Pūrī by Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Amun Pūrī
The Question
Is imāmah (leadership of the Ummah) superior to nubuwwah (prophethood)?
The Answer
No. The belief that imāmah is superior to prophethood is a Rāfiḍī creed, and it is considered pure disbelief (kufr).
Scholarly Consensus
❀ ʿAllāmah Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Bīchī Zund Wistī al-Ḥanafī (382H):
“The Ummah has consensus that the most superior of creation are the prophets, and our Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ is the most superior among them.”
(al-Baḥr al-Rāʾiq by Ibn Nujaym: 1/353; Ḥāshiyat al-Ṭaḥṭāwī: 1/184; Fatāwā Shāmī: 1/527)
❀ ʿAbd al-Qāhir ibn Ṭāhir al-Baghdādī (429H):
“Our scholars, along with the majority of the Ummah, have consensus that every prophet is superior to every non-prophet walī. The extremist Rāfiḍah, however, claim that their imāms are superior to the prophets.”
(Uṣūl al-Dīn, p. 298)
❀ Qāḍī ʿIyāḍ (544H):
“We categorically declare the extremists among the Rāfiḍah as disbelievers, those who claim that their twelve imāms are superior to the prophets.”
(al-Shifāʾ bi-Taʿrīf Ḥuqūq al-Muṣṭafā, p. 290)
❀ Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah (728H):
“The Muslims are unanimous that the prophets are the most superior of creation.”
(Minhāj al-Sunnah: 2/417)
❀ Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Kathīr (774H):
“Without doubt, prophethood is the highest rank, and there is no difference of opinion about this.”
(Tafsīr Ibn Kathīr: 1/222)
Conclusion
- Belief in the superiority of imāmah over nubuwwah is a Rāfiḍī innovation and disbelief.
- By consensus of the Ummah, prophets are the most superior of all creation, and among them, the Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ is the most superior.
