It is also important to note the statement given by many Shia scholars with respect to the one who denies Imāmah. For example, the Shia scholar, Sheikh al-Sadooq writes:
And our belief concerning him, who denies the Imāmat to the Prince of Believers 'Ali b. Abi Talib, on whom be peace, and the Imāms after him, is that he is the like of him who denies the apostleship of all the prophets, on whom be peace. And our belief concerning
him, who believes in (the
Imāmat of) the Prince of Believers and denies a single one of the Imāms
after him, is that he is in the same position as one who accepts all
the prophets but denies the apostleship of our Prophet Muhammad. And
Imām Ja'far as-Sadiq said: He who denies the least among us is like him
who denies (the claims of) the first among us.
And the Prophet said: The Imāms after me are twelve, the first of them is the Prince of Believers `Ali b. Abi Talib, and the last of them is the Mahdi (rightly guided), the Qd'im (the upholder of the true religion); obedience to them is obedience to me and disobedience to them is disobedience to me; and he who denies one of them has verily denied me. And Imām Ja'far as-Sadiq said: He who doubts in the infidelity (kufr) of our enemies who have wronged us is himself an infidel (kafir).23
Sheikh Mufid (a student of Al-Sadooq) comments:
There is consensus amongst the Imāmiyyah that whoever denies the Imāmah of anyone of the Imāms, and denies the duty of obedience to them that Allah has decreed, that such a person is a kafir, misguided, and that he deserves everlasting torment in Hell.24
These and similar declarations are the rational outcome of the Shia insistence on Imāmah being a fundamental of belief and that a person’s faith is incomplete without it. Even though these declarations may seem to be very strong for the average Sunni, yet they form the nucleus of Shia thinking with respect to Imāmah, and should be properly examined by the objective researcher.
☞ ACKNOWLEDGMENT
▶ Why look into Imamah as a doctrine?
☞ LOOKING INTO IMAMAH IN SHIAISM▶
Usul-e-Deen and Imamah
▶ Method
of Imam’s
appointment
▶ Existence
of an Imam
more Important for Humankind than Existence of a Prophet
▶ The
Imams superiority
in
comparison to all Creation, the Shia view
▶ Testimony
from
Ayatollah
Lankarani’s office
▶ Ayatollah
Khomeini’s
comments
▶ The statement
from Allamah
Majlisi
▶ Shia
Encyclopedia’s
statement
▶ The
statement from
Peshawar Nights
▶ Denying
Imamah
and its
consequences
▶ What
we can conclude about
Imamah in Shiaism
☞ THE
QURAN AS OUR
REFERENCE
☞ "IMĀMS"
IN THE QURAN
☞ "NABIS"
AND "RASOOLS" IN
THE QURAN
☞ GENERAL
AND
SPECIFIC VERSES
OF THE QURAN AND PROBLEMS WITH IMĀMAH
☞ MUHAMMAD
(Salla Allahu
Alayhi wa Sallam) AS "IMĀM"?
☞ CONCLUSION
☞ BIBLIOGRAPHY