Imamate according to the People of Shariah, Tariqah and Haqiqah

In an absolute sense imamate refers to a religious governance which includes an exhortation to the common people to safeguard what is of benefit to them (with respect to their religion and their worldly affairs) and aims to protect them from that which might harm them.

i) According to the people of shari`ah
For the people of the shari`ah imamate is an obligatory matter both with respect to the intellect and in the light of the legal code, in the same way as prophethood is an obligatory matter for a person in a state of fitrah (the natural harmonious condition of man) and in the state of Islam, both from the point of view of the intellect and in the light of the narrated evidence. As for the obligation with regard to the intellect, it arises from the people's need of an Imam who is necessarily infallible and who preserves the laws of the shari`ah for them, exhorts them to respect these laws by means of the promised reward and the threatened torment, and who carries out the legally prescribed punishments in this world. This need is similar to their need for a prophet who discriminates between that which is permissible and that which is forbidden. just as men were in need of the establishment of the shari`ah in the beginning, so they are also in need of its continued maintenance and preservation.
Likewise, if the sending of the prophet is a divine obligation ‑ a necessary act of grace by the Deity and a necessary means of establishing certainty of faith ‑ then so too is the establish­ment of the Imam: it is necessary so as not to invalidate Allah's proofs and demonstrations (which were made manifest originally by way of the prophetic message and revealed books).
One may express this in another way by saying that the establishment of the Imam is a divine grace and grace is incumbent on Him. Thus the Muslim who chooses the way of obedience to the Imam possesses divine grace. If he does not choose this way, then there will be no grace for him, despite his firmness in both states; moreover, by his choice of obedience, evil ceases to exist in his life.
There is no doubt that when there exists a respected leader who unwaveringly carries out that which is necessary for correct governance, who aids the ignorant and the weak and treats the oppressed justly, then all corruption and injustice disappears (or at least the greater part of it). Thus it is necessary that his existence be full of grace just as others are full of such grace. We have said that this grace and kindness is incumbent upon Allah. If He were not full of grace, and the duties still remained in force then the duty bound Muslim would have no rational reason to comply: the Real would then be defeating His purpose and this is impossible with respect to Him. Since we have de­monstrated the truth of the two premises, we have also shown that the establishment of the Imam is obligatory upon Allah ‑ this with respect to the intellect and rational proofs.
If we now examine the narrated evidence, we may refer to Allah's words: `O you who believe! Obey Allah and obey the Apostle and those in authority from among you.' These words may be used as proof ‑ in the sense that Allah has commanded the Muslims to be obedient to those in authority, just as He has commanded to obedience of Himself and to His Messenger. If obedience to Himself and to His Messenger is obligatory, then obedience to `those in authority' is likewise obligatory. Either this phrase refers to particular persons or it does not: the second of these two possibilities is invalid since, if it were true, then the term used would refer to all people and would thus be devoid of meaning. As for the first of the two, it either refers to all the nations of Muslims or to some of them. The first of these is necessarily false; the second stands and thus it must be that there exists within the nation of Muslims a particular infallible person, for whom it is not permissible to make mistakes and who is known as one of `those in authority'.
We thus arrive at the point of our argument: that it is necessary that the imamate be an obligatory religious doctrine both with respect to the intellect and to the shari`ah. This, however, is in opposition to the majority of the Muslim nation. Most, because of their lack of understanding of religion and Islam, do not count imamate as one of the pillars of Islam. They claim that it is permissible for the person from `those in authority' to be any person from among the sultans or kings of this world, even if they are known for their oppression and corruption.
Moreover, this majority do not permit that this person be the infallible Imam from the family of the Prophet, despite the validity of the Imam's claim, supported as it is by textual evidence from the Qur'an and from the Messenger. They do not recognize that because `those in authority' from among the sultans and kings rule by force and coercion, it is not then permitted for Allah to command His creation to absolute obedience of them: to com­mand to obedience of an oppressor or evil person is in itself an act of oppression and evil, may Allah be exalted above such a notion. It is for this reason that the Imami sect believe that the prophet and the Imam must be infallible: if they were not, then the commanding of obedience to them would imply evil and oppression on the part of Allah, may Allah be elevated above such a description of Himself. We have clear evidence from both narrated sources and from the intellect that He is in a state of sanctity and holiness, far removed (from the impurities of crea­tion).
It is necessary that the Imam be exempt of all wrong action, just as the prophet is infallible. This is so because the reason for the necessity of infallibility for the prophet and the Imam is one and the same: if the infallibility of the prophet is obligatory, then so too must the Imam be infallible; the reason for this has already been mentioned. It is necessary that the prophet be free of all wrong action, both minor and major, both before the beginning of his prophethood and after it (the question of whether an action is done knowingly or inadvertently is therefore irrelevant); if he were permitted to commit wrong action, then the intellect would be repulsed from following him.
Furthermore, it is not fitting that the Wise should make obedience necessary to someone dis­dained by the intellect. And the person who is known as being from `those in authority' must be appointed and established in authority at the time of the Prophet ‑ so the term is not applied to all: if the Imam were not appointed, then it would mean that Allah were deficient in that which was incumbent upon Him, as would the Prophet. Such a notion may not even be entertained according to the consensus of scholars. Indeed Allah has ap­pointed him in clear terms when He says, `Only Allah is your Wali and His Apostle and those who believe, those who keep the prayers and pay the poor‑rate while they bow;' no other person but the Commander of the Faithful (`Ali) has given the poor‑rate while bowing, according to the consensus of the commentators, thus it is he who is meant by `those in authority' ‑ by Allah's appointment of him and no other.
Likewise, no others may be­come Imam but his infallible sons and progeny: infallibility is a condition of imamate and wilayah and there are no others but these who may be described as possessing infallibility, even ac­cording to their opponents. The Real has also indicated them when He says, `Allah only desires to keep away uncleanliness from you, O people of the House! and the purify you a (thorough) purifying' and also His words, `Then Allah will bring a people, he shall love them and they shall love Him, lowly before the believers, mighty against the unbelievers, they shall strive hard in Allah's way and shall not fear the censure of the censurer; this is Allah's grace, He gives it to who He pleases and Allah is Ample‑giving, knowing.'
These words refer specifically to the future and to no other time. Likewise His words: `And we desired to bestow a favour upon those who were deemed weak in the land, and to make them the Imams and to make them the heirs:' none other than they merit the prophetic inheritance and divine gnoses. An indication of the truth of Allah's words is their weak­ness at the time of the Marwan and 'Abbasid dynasties and even up to the present day, in view of the number of their enemies and their lack of supporters. If the Mahdi did not fear his enemies, then it would be incumbent upon him to become manifest. If he were not to become manifest, then he would failing in his obliga­tion; yet this is not possible as is explained in the books of theology.
Allah also mentions the Imams when he says: `Surely Allah has bought of the believers their persons and their property for this, that they shall have the Garden; they fight in Allah's way, so they slay and are slain; a promise which is binding on Him in the Torah and the Gospel and the Qur'an; and who is more faithful to his covenant than Allah? Rejoice therefore in the pledge which you have made; and that is the mighty achievement. They who turn to Allah, who serve (Him), who praise (Him), who fast, who bow down, who prostrate themselves, who enjoin what is good and forbid what is evil, and who keep the limits of Allah; and give good news to the believers.' On examination we realize that the qualities referred to belong to no others‑ but the Imams. There are numerous examples of this in the Qur'an and the body of Prophetic traditions and the reader should look for them in the appropriate places. Allah it is Who says the Truth and guides to the correct path.

ii) According to the people of tariqah
According to the people of this station, imamate refers to the caliphate which issues from Allah and the Pole of the Age. The Imam is the possessor of that caliphate and is called the wali. There are two types of wali: there is the; wali whose wilayah (governance) is real and essential and which issues from before endless‑time, as such he is called the Absolute Wali; he is the Greater Pole. The other kind is he whose wilayah draws its power from the Absolute Wali, by this I mean an acquired wilayah, received by inheritance and incidental (with respect to the abso­lute): the wali of such a wilayah is called the dependent wali; he is the Imam or the caliph. Both types are dependent upon our Prophet and upon whoever of the people of His House inherits from him ‑ that is the Commander of the Faithful and his progeny. In the light of this we may say that this station is recognized by three signs: the first, the designation of wilayah, the second, the appointment of the Absolute Wali and the third, the appointment of the dependent wali.
As for the first, wilayah is the act of living among created beings after annihilation in the Real and subsistence in Him: in reality, it is nothing but the inward dimension of prophethood whose outward manifestation is the bringing of news and whose inward is their imposition of the laws. Prophethood is sealed, since there are no new tidings from Allah and no prophet after Muhammad. Only wilayah continues among men until eternity; the souls of the awliya' (plural of wali) from the people of Muhammad are the bearers of responsibility for the execution of the wilayah; thus wilayah is executed by them in creation until the Final Day or rather, for­ever without end. An indication of the authenticity of the wall is that he outwardly confirms with the Prophet: both derive their pattern of behaviour from one source, the wali being a manifes­tation of the behaviour of the Prophet. Some have spoken of themselves as having the qualities of a prophet in a poetic sense: they see. themselves as descending upon the station of the prophet in a divine way; thus Ibn al‑Farid has said: I was sent from myself as a messenger to myself And my essence testified to myself by my signs.
Prophethood, in the exoteric sense, is a cycle which is composed of a line of points marking the lives of the prophets. This line is perfected by the Muhammadi point, since prophethood is like a wall of bricks which is completed, except that it needs one more brick, that brick being the appearance of the Prophet Muham­mad. In a similar way wilayah, in the exoteric sense, is also a cycle composed of a line of points marking the lives of the awliya` this line is completed by the point which seals the wilayah, namely the existence of Muhammad ibn al‑Hasan, the master of the age, also known as the Mahdi.
One of the agnostics, after demonstrat­ing the truth of this by means of the intellect, the Prophetic sayings and unveilings, says, `The station of the Greater Pole is the rank of the pole of the poles and it corresponds to the inward aspect of the prophethood of Muhammad; it does not exist but by inheritance from him and by the fact that Muhammad is the perfection (of the prophetic cycle). The seal of the wilayah and the pole of the poles do not exist but by the inward aspect of the seal of prophethood.' The same gnostic has also said, `The seal of prophethood is the person by whom Allah has sealed prophethood: it is one person alone, namely our Prophet Muham­mad. The matter is similar in the case of the seal of wilayah: by it the good of this world and the next is brought to final perfection; with his death the order of this world is plunged into disorder. He is the Mahdi, whose return is promised for the end of time.
Another aspect of the wilayah of the wali has also been described in the following way: `Wilayah is the establishment of the slave by means of the Real after annihilation of the self. This takes place by the turning of the Real to him and by His bringing him to the furthest. station of intimacy and certainty. The wali is the person whose affairs have been taken over by the Real, Who safeguards him from disobedient action and does not leave him nor his soul until He brings him to the highest perfection in the realm of man.' Allah has said, `And He befriends the good' and also, 'Thou art my guardian in this world and the hereafter. Make me die a Muslim and join me with the good.'
The Shaykh ai‑A'zam (Ibn 'Arabi) has divided the subject of wilayah into different sections; his own words on the matter provide a clearer description than any other: `Know that wilayah may be divided into absolute and dependent wilayah, in other words common wilayah and wilayah of the elite. If we consider wilayah with respect to itself, then it is a divine attribute in an absolute sense; if we consider it as being related to the prophets and the awliya', then it is dependent. Moreover, the dependent is fortified and given validity by the absolute and the absolute finds manifestation in the dependent: thus the wilayah of all the prophets and the awliya' is part of the absolute wilayah, just as the prophethood of the prophets is part of the absolute prophet­hood. Since absolute prophethood from the outset is particular to Muhammad and his reality, and this is a continuation of the original reality particular to the prophets and the messengers from Adam to Jesus (who are in fact different manifestations of the Muhammadi reality), so absolute wilayah is particular to 'Ali ibn Abi Talib and to his reality (by way of the essential and inherited spiritual legacy from pre‑eternity) and thereafter (by way of a continuation of the original reality) to his infallible progeny. This spiritual line extends until Allah seals it with the Mahdi.'
The reason why 'Ali is singled out for the absolute wilayah may be found in the saying of the Prophet related with an authen­tic chain of narration by Akhtab Khawarazam and Ahmad ibn Hanbal, they being amongst the most eminent and trusted of the jurists (fuqaha') and narrators respected by the majority of the Muslims, `Allah has created my soul and the soul of 'Ali ibn Abi Talib a thousand thousand years before He created Adam.'
Shaykh Muhyi al‑Din ibn 'Arabi also refers to the Prophet after a long study of the matter in this Futuhat: `He was the lord of the whole world and the first manifestation in existence; his existence was from the divine light, motes of dust and the Uni­versal Truth; his very being came into being in these motes of dust as did the world in its entirety; the closest person to him was 'Ali ibn Abi Talib, the secret embracement of the secret of all the prophets.'
As for the second and the third of the above‑mentioned divi­sions, that is, the appointment of the absolute seal of the awliya' by means of the absolute wilayah and the appointment of the seal of the dependent awliya' by dependent wilayah, these will be explained in the following chapter. It is thus necessary to re­capitulate: the wali and the Imam according to the people of tariqah are the dependent wali and the Imam who follows the absolute wali; moreover, according to them, the prophet is both the dependent prophet and the messenger who follows the abso­lute prophet. Thus we reach the aim of this study, namely to establish the inter‑relationship of the rank of prophethood with the rank of wilayah and the rank of the absolute with that of the dependent; and Allah is more Knowing and more‑Wise ‑ He it is Who says the truth and guides to the right path.

iii) According to the people of haqiqah
According to this group the Imam and the wall are the Great Imam and the Absolute Wali, also known as the Pole and the Imam of the Imams who is responsible for the ordering of existence, the establishing of the shari`ah, tariqah and haqiqah. The ranks of all, from the prophet, the messenger and the wali have their source in him. Shaykh al‑A'zam (Ibn 'Arabi) has referred to him in his Fusus: `This knowledge only belongs to the Seal of the Messengers and the Seal of the Saints (khatim al‑awliya'); none of the prophets or messengers imbibes it anywhere else than in the niche of the messenger who is their Seal. Again, none of the saints imbibe it elsewhere than in the niche of the saint who is their seal; indeed even the messengers only imbibe it, in so far as they do imbibe it, from the niche of the Seal of the Saints.'
Risalah ‑ messengership ‑ and prophethood (by this I mean the prophethood which is concerned with the establishment of the shari`ah and the corresponding message or calling of the people) are interrupted; wilayah, however, is never interrupted. Thus those sent as bearers of the message, being by nature saints (awliya'), do not imbibe this knowledge except from the niche of the Seal of the Saints or Walis. It is not surprising that those of the Saints beneath them imbibe less, despite the fact that, with respect to governance and judgment, the Seal of the Walls follows the shari`ah ‑ namely that which is brought by the Seal of the Messengers. This does not imply any criticism of his station and does not contradict what we have been describing: from one point of view he is inferior and from another superior.
Thus he (Ibn 'Arabi) continues after a few words by saying: `All prophets, without exception, since Adam to the last, take from the niche of the Seal of the Prophets: even if the clay of the latter was formed after them, he is no less present by his spiritual reality. It is for this reason that it has been said: "He it is Who bestows on all the prophets, messengers and saints, their stations in the world of light, the world of the souls and the world of forms." Hence the saying of the Prophet, "I was a Prophet when Adam was still in a state between water and clay" means that Adam and all the prophets were only prophets at the time of their mission. In the same way, the Seal of the Saints was a wall `when Adam was still in a state between water and clay;' whereas other saints only became saints after having realized the condi­tions of saintliness (wilayah), that is, when they had assimilated the divine qualities of Allah expressed in this Names, the Saint (al‑Wali), the Adored.
Thus the relationship of the Seal of the Messengers to the Seal of the Saints is similar to that of the saints and the messengers with respect to him: he is simultane­ously the saint (wall), the messenger and the prophet. As for the Seal of the Saints (awliya'), he is the saint, the heir, who imbibes his strength from the source; he is the one who contemplates all ranks, this contemplation being just one of the good qualities from among the bounty and blessings of the Seal of the Messen­gers, Muhammad, the leader of this group, the lord of the progeny of Adam and the one responsible for the task of mediation (on the Final Day).'
These words, occurring as they do after his demonstration of the existence of the Seal of the Saints and the truth of all that we have said on the matter, show that the absolute Seal of the Saints, is the Commander of the Faithful `All: he is described with the same good qualities ascribed to the Lord of the Messen­gers. Such qualities as are mentioned by the commentator of the fusus with respect to the Lord of the Messengers can only be ascribed to him. As we have now concluded our investigation of imamate with respect to the three levels, then we shall now begin our study of ma`ad, namely the last of the five principles outlined above; and success is by Allah.