Encyclopedia of Islam

imam

  

347  J

---

group prayer gatherings is beginning to be chal-

lenged by liberal Muslim organizations and com-

munities, such as the Progressive Muslim Union. 

Also, women have begun to be trained as imams 

at a recently established 

madrasa

 (legal college) 

in  m

orocco

. Having women imams is still con-

sidered problematic by the majority of Muslim 

scholars and conservative Muslims worldwide.

Sunnis also use the term imam as an honor-

ific title for the eponymous founders of the chief 

schools of Islamic law. Thus, a

hmad

 

ibn

 h

anbal

,

the namesake for the h

anbali

  l

egal

  s

chool

, is 

known as Imam Ahmad. In such contexts, the title 

indicates that he is an exemplar, or leader to be 

followed in matters of law.

For Shii Muslims imam is associated with 

a fundamental doctrine concerning charismatic 

male leadership that comes from m

Uhammad

 via 

his daughter, F

atima

, and son-in-law and cousin, 

a

li

, through his twin grandsons, Hasan and 

h

Usayn

, and their descendants (known collec-

tively as the 

ahl

 

al

-

bayt

, “Family of the House”). 

Muslims who follow the guidance of these Imams 

are known as shiat Ali (the party of Ali). Forming 

a dissenting minority after the death of Muham-

mad, the party of Ali believed that only a descen-

dant of Muhammad could lead the 

umma

 with the 

necessary grace and spiritual 

aUthority

. There are 

three major groups of Shia who divide according 

to the number of descending Imams they follow, 

Twelve-Imam Shia (or the Imamiyya), Seven-

Imam Shia (or the Ismailiyya), and Five-Imam 

Shia (or the Zaydiyya). Of the three groups, the 

Twelve-Imam Shia is the largest community, today 

found principally in i

ran

 and i

raq

. Ismaili Shiis 

are numerous in northern i

ndia

, while Zaidi Shiis 

are a significant minority in y

emen

.

The doctrine of imama, the Shii 

theology

concerning the Imams, institutionalizes the pro-

phetic authority and charisma of Muhammad 

and his family. Spiritual attributes of the Shii 

Imams include divinely inspired knowledge, or 

knowledge of the unseen (ilm al-ghayb); divine 

investiture (nass) rather than human election; 

sinlessness (isma) and infallible judgment; and 

divine intimacy and friendship (

wilaya

). These 

superhuman qualities make the Imams spiritual 

mediators who are described in Shii hadith as 

“pillar[s] of light” between Earth and heaven 

and “witnesses for God to his creation.” Imams 

provide the esoteric interpretation of revelation 

(tawil) that guides the Shii community toward 

salvation.

See also i

smaili

 s

hiism

; s

Unnism

; z

aydi

 s

hiism

.

Kathleen M. O’Connor