Imamah and the Quran - An Objective Perspective

The Imāms superiority in comparison to all Creation, the Shia view

A person doing research into Shiaism will find that many Shia scholars, writers, and propagandists have placed the position of the “12 Imāms” above that of all Prophets, with the exception of Prophet Muhammad (Salla Allahu Alayhi wa Sallam). It can be said that some Shia scholars have taken a different view, as can be seen from the following quote:

Sheikh Mufid¹¹ –Rahimahu Allah – said in the book of Maqalat: A group of Imāmis affirmatively believe in the preference of the Imāms from Ale-Muhammad (A.S) over the rest of the preceding Messengers and Prophets except our Prophet Muhammad (Salla Allahu Alayhi wa Sallam) , and a group of them obligated their preference over all prophets , save Ouli Al-Azm (i.e Noah, Ibrahim, Musa, Essa, Muhammad (Salla Allahu Alayhi wa Sallam)). And a group of them rejected both opinions and affirmatively believed that all prophets are better than the Imāms (A.S).¹²

It can be seen that this is a matter of Ijtihad among the Shia scholars¹³. Notwithstanding, the first view persists in the minds of many contemporary Shia scholars and writers, and by consequence is reflected in the Shia laity. I believe it is of importance for the reader to go through some of the Shia scholars and writers who have held the view that “The Imāms are higher than all Prophets except Muhammad (Salla Allahu Alayhi wa Sallam)”, because it will bring to the forefront just how highly placed the position of Imāmah is in the Shia faith.