Imámate

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For a description of the names and fate of the 12 Imáms, see http://bahai-library.com/books/dawnbreakers/preface/prefislam.html

Contents

The Twelve Imáms

The Imams had unqualified infallibility in their laws and institutions from the Manifestation

"The guidance vouchsafed to the Imams regarding the laws and institutions of Islam was absolute and unqualified. Their infallibility was derived directly from the Manifestation."

(From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer, July 30, 1941, quoted in Lights of Guidance, no. 1665, p. 497)

A prerequisite of admittance into the Bahá'í fold is the acceptance of the legitimacy of the institution of the Imamate

"...the essential prerequisites of admittance into the Bahá'í fold of Jews, Zoroastrians, Hindus, Buddhists, and the followers of other ancient faiths, as well as of agnostics and even atheists, is the wholehearted and unqualified acceptance by them all of the divine origin of both Islám and Christianity, of the Prophetic functions of both Muhammad and Jesus Christ, of the legitimacy of the institution of the Imamate, and of the primacy of St. Peter, the Prince of the Apostles. Such are the central, the solid, the incontrovertible principles that constitute the bedrock of Bahá'í belief, which the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh is proud to acknowledge, which its teachers proclaim, which its apologists defend, which its literature disseminates, which its summer schools expound, and which the rank and file of its followers attest by both word and deed."

(Shoghi Effendi, Promised Day is Come, par. 270)

The Sultanate had challenged the inalienable rights of the Imáms

(written in reference to the collapse of the Sultanate)

"This institution that had challenged the inalienable, divinely appointed rights of the Imáms of the Faith of Muhammad, had, after the revolution of thirteen centuries, vanished like a smoke, an institution which had dealt such merciless blows to a Faith Whose Herald was Himself a descendant of the Imáms, the lawful successors of the Apostle of God."

(Shoghi Effendi, Promised Day is Come, par. 243)

The attitude toward and expressed by the Herald of the Faith (The Báb) and Bahá'u'lláh toward the Imáms proclaims the true attitude of the Bahá'í Faith towards its parent religion Islám

"The lineage of the Báb, the descendant of the Imám Husayn; the divers and striking evidences, in Nabíl's Narrative, of the attitude of the Herald of our Faith towards the Founder, the Imáms, and the Book of Islám; the glowing tributes paid by Bahá'u'lláh in the Kitáb-i-Iqán to Muhammad and His lawful Successors, and particularly to the "peerless and incomparable" Imám Husayn; the arguments adduced, forcibly, fearlessly, and publicly by `Abdu'l-Bahá, in churches and synagogues, to demonstrate the validity of the Message of the Arabian Prophet; and last but not least the written testimonial of the Queen of Rumania, who, born in the Anglican faith and notwithstanding the close alliance of her government with the Greek Orthodox Church, the state religion of her adopted country, has, largely as a result of the perusal of these public discourses of `Abdu'l-Bahá, been prompted to proclaim her recognition of the prophetic function of Muhammad-- all proclaim, in no uncertain terms, the true attitude of the Bahá'í Faith towards its parent religion."

(Shoghi Effendi, Promised Day is Come, par. 266)

References to "those invested with authority" in the sacred verses was to the Imáms (and then the kings and rulers)

"In His "Epistle to the Son of the Wolf" [Ed. - pp. 89-90] He indicates the true source of kingship: "Regard for the rank of sovereigns is divinely ordained, as is clearly attested by the words of the Prophets of God and His chosen ones. He Who is the Spirit {Jesus}--may peace be upon Him-- was asked: `O Spirit of God! Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or not?' And He made reply: `Yea, render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.' He forbade it not. These two sayings are, in the estimation of men of insight, one and the same, for if that which belonged to Caesar had not come from God He would have forbidden it. And likewise in the sacred verse: `Obey God and obey the Apostle, and those among you invested with authority.' By `those invested with authority' is meant primarily and more specially the Imáms--the blessings of God rest upon them. They verily are the manifestations of the power of God and the sources of His authority, and the repositories of His knowledge, and the daysprings of His commandments. Secondarily these words refer unto the kings and rulers--those through the brightness of whose justice the horizons of the world are resplendent and luminous."

(Shoghi Effendi, Promised Day is Come, par. 177)
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