Imámate

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

The Twelve Imáms[edit]

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

"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[edit]

"...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[edit]

(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 Khalifs disregarded the Prophet's oral statements regarding Alí's appointment, immediately after the Prophet's death[edit]

"Ali's appointment was clear to the Khalifs, who actually disregarded the Prophet's oral statements.

"The usurpation occurred immediately after the Prophet's death.

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

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[edit]

"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)[edit]

"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)

(Imams referred to as Suns of immaculacy and Moons of majesty)[edit]

"Be not veiled by aught that hath been revealed in the Qur'án, or by what thou hast learned from the works of those Suns of immaculacy and Moons of majesty,[22 The Imáms of Shí'ih Islám] regarding the perversion of the Texts by the fanatical or their alteration by their corrupters. By these statements only certain specific and clearly indicated passages are intended."

(Bahá'u'lláh, Gems of Divine Mysteries, p. 23)

Number being twelve[edit]

Laudatory reference to the twelve Imáms made in preface of Persian Bayán[edit]

"The Báb was still in Máh-Ku when He wrote the most detailed and illuminating of His Tablets to Muhammad Sháh. Prefaced by a laudatory reference to the unity of God, to His Apostles and to the twelve Imáms...this historic document resembles, in many of its features, the Lawh-i-Sultán, the Tablet addressed, under similar circumstances, from the prison-fortress of Akká by Bahá'u'lláh to Násiri'd-Dín Sháh, and constituting His lengthiest epistle to any single sovereign."

(Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By, p. 26)

References in the Bible (to twelve Imams)[edit]

"Deuteronomy 33:2; Genesis 21:21; Numbers 12:16; Numbers 13:13; Genesis 17:20 refer to the twelve Imams..."

(On behalf of Shoghi Effendi, Messages to the Antipodes, p. 179)

"Afterward it is said: "upon her head is a crown of twelve stars." [Rev. 12:1] These twelve stars are the twelve Imáms, who were the promoters of the Law of Muhammad and the educators of the people, shining like stars in the heaven of guidance."

('Abdu'l-Bahá, Some Answered Questions, p. 68)

Number of Imams being twelve[edit]

"Twelve is the original number of significance and completion...the Imams of Muhammad were twelve..."

('Abdu'l-Bahá, Promulgation of Universal Peace, pp. 196-197, 1982 ed., in Lights of Guidance, no. 1377)

Past cycles having 12 holy souls including twelve Imáms in the time of Muhammad[edit]

"In each cycle the guardians and holy souls have been twelve....in the time of Muhammad there were twelve Imáms"

('Abdu'l-Bahá, Some Answered Questions, p. 57)

An excessive attention by the followers of Shí'ih Islám upon the mere "revealers of the potency of His Word" (and thus joining partners with God)--as opposed to the Manifestation Who is God's mouthpiece--caused the early joy and fervor of its faith to be dulled and its followers to become weakened/ashamed/fearful[edit]

"Behold, O Muhammad, how the sayings and doings of the followers of Shí'ih Islám have dulled the joy and fervor of its early days, and tarnished the pristine brilliancy of its light. In its primitive days, whilst they still adhered to the precepts associated with the name of their Prophet, the Lord of mankind, their career was marked by an unbroken chain of victories and triumphs. As they gradually strayed from the path of their Ideal Leader and Master, as they turned away from the Light of God and corrupted the principle of His Divine unity, and as they increasingly centered their attention upon them who were only the revealers of the potency of His Word, their power was turned into weakness, their glory into shame, their courage into fear. Thou dost witness to what a pass they have come. Behold, how they have joined partners with Him Who is the Focal-Point of Divine unity. Behold how their evil doings have hindered them from recognizing, in the Day of Resurrection, the Word of Truth, exalted be His glory. We cherish the hope that this people will henceforth shield themselves from vain hopes and idle fancies, and will attain to a true understanding of the meaning of Divine unity.

"The Person of the Manifestation hath ever been the representative and mouthpiece of God. He, in truth, is the Day Spring of God's most excellent Titles, and the Dawning-Place of His exalted Attributes. If any be set up by His side as peers, if they be regarded as identical with His Person, how can it, then, be maintained that the Divine Being is One and Incomparable, that His Essence is indivisible and peerless? Meditate on that which We have, through the power of truth, revealed unto thee, and be thou of them that comprehend its meaning."

(Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings, sec. 28)