thumb|Imam presiding over prayer, [[Nasreddine Dinet, circa 1922]]
Imam (; , '; : , ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Muslims, imam is most commonly used as the title of a prayer leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Islamic prayers, serve as community leaders, and provide religious guidance. Thus for Sunnis, anyone can study the basic Islamic teachings and become an imam.
For most Shia Muslims, the imams are absolute infallible leaders of the Islamic community after the Prophet. Shias consider the term to be only applicable to the members and descendants of the Ahl al-Bayt, the family of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. In Twelver Shi'ism there are 14 infallibles, 12 of which are imams, the final being Imam Mahdi who will return at the end of times. The title was also used by the Zaidi Shia imams of Yemen, who eventually founded the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen (1918–1970).
Sunni imams
Sunni Islam does not conceive of the role of imams in the same sense as Shia Islam: an important distinction often overlooked by non-Muslims. In everyday terms, an imam for Sunni Muslims is the person charged with leading formal Islamic prayers (Fard)even in locations besides the mosquewhenever prayer is performed in a group of two or more. The imam leads the worship and the congregation copies his actions. Friday sermons are most often given by an appointed imam. All mosques have an imam to lead the congregational prayerseven though it may sometimes just be a member from the gathered congregation rather than an officially appointed, salaried person. Women cannot be imams when men are present but are allowed to be when no men are present. An imam should be chosen, according to Hadith, based on his knowledge of the Quran and Sunnah and his moral character.
Title of scholarly authority
Another well-known use of the term is as an honorary title for a recognized religious scholarly authority in Islam. It is especially used for a jurist (faqih) and often for the founders of the four Sunni madhhabs or schools of jurisprudence (fiqh), as well as an authority on Quranic exegesis (tafsir), such as Al-Tabari or Ibn Kathir.
It may also refer to the Muhaddithūn or scholars who created the analytical sciences related to Hadith; due to their scholarly authority, the term may also refer to the heads of Muhammad's family in their generational times.
The position of imams in Turkey
Imams are appointed by the state to work at mosques and they are required to be graduates of an İmam Hatip high school or have a university degree in theology. This is an official position regulated by the Presidency of Religious Affairs in Turkey and only men are appointed to this position, whilst female officials under the same state organisation work as preachers and Qur'an course tutors, religious services experts, etc. These officials are supposed to belong to the Hanafi school of the Sunni sect.
A central figure in an Islamic movement is also called an imam, like Imam Nawawi in Syria.
Shia imams
In the Shi'a context, an imam is not only presented as the man of God par excellence, but as participating fully in the names, attributes, and acts that theology usually reserves for God alone. Imams have a meaning more central to belief, referring to leaders of the community. Twelver and Ismaili Shi'a believe that these imams are chosen by God to be perfect examples for the faithful and to lead all humanity in all aspects of life. They also believe that all the imams chosen are free from committing any sin, impeccability which is called ismah. These leaders must be followed since they are appointed by God.
Twelver
Here follows a list of the Twelvers Shia imams:
{|class="wikitable"
|-
! Number !! Name<br />(Full/Kunya) !! Title<br />(Arabic/Turkish)!! Birth–Death<br />(CE/AH)!! Importance !! Birthplace (present day country) !! Place of death and burial
|-
|1
|Ali ibn Abi Talib<br /><hr>Abu al-Hassan or Abu al-Husayn<br /> or
|Amir al-Mu'minin<br />(Commander of the Faithful)<hr>Birinci Ali
|600–661
|The first imam and successor of Muhammad in Shia Islam; however, the Sunnis acknowledge him as the fourth Caliph as well. He holds a high position in almost all Sufi Muslim orders (Turuq); the members of these orders trace their lineage to Muhammad through him. Buried at the Imam Ali Mosque in Najaf, Iraq.
|-
|2
|Hassan ibn Ali<br /><hr>Abu Muhammad<br />
|al-Mujtaba<hr>İkinci Ali
----3–50
|He was the eldest surviving grandson of Muhammad through Muhammad's daughter, Fatimah Zahra. Hasan succeeded his father as the caliph in Kufa, and on the basis of peace treaty with Muawiya I, he relinquished control of Iraq following a reign of seven months.
|Medina, Saudi Arabia Buried in Jannat al-Baqi.
|-
|3
|Husayn ibn Ali<br /><hr>Abu Abdillah<br />
|Sayed al-Shuhada<hr>Üçüncü Ali
----4–61
|He was a grandson of Muhammad. Husayn opposed the validity of Caliph Yazid I. As a result, he and his family were later killed in the Battle of Karbala by Yazid's forces. After this incident, the commemoration of Husayn ibn Ali has become a central ritual in Shia identity.
|Medina, Saudi Arabia
----Dördüncü Ali
----38
----Beşinci Ali
|Medina, Saudi Arabia
<br />(the Trustworthy)
----Altıncı Ali
|Medina, Saudi Arabia
|al-Kazim
----Yedinci Ali He established the network of agents who collected khums in the Shia community of the Middle East and the Greater Khorasan.
|Medina, Saudi Arabia
----Sekizinci Ali
----Dokuzuncu Ali
----Onuncu Ali Buried in the Al Askari Mosque in Samarra.
|-
|11
|Hassan ibn Ali<br /><hr>Abu Muhammad<br />
|al-Askari
----Onbirinci Ali
|Medina, Saudi Arabia
|-
|12
|Muhammad ibn al-Hassan<br /><hr>Abu al-Qasim<br />
|al-Mahdi, Hidden Imam, al-Hujjah
----Onikinci Ali
----255–unknown
|Samarra, Iraq The Imamate of Futa Jallon (1727–1896) was a Fulani state in West Africa where secular power alternated between two lines of hereditary imams, or almami. In the Zaidi Shiite sect, imams were secular as well as spiritual leaders who held power in Yemen for more than a thousand years. In 897, a Zaidi ruler, al-Hadi ila'l-Haqq Yahya, founded a line of such imams, a theocratic form of government which survived until the second half of the 20th century (See details under Zaidiyyah, History of Yemen, Imams of Yemen). Saudi leaders were also referred to as "imams", until that term was retired by Ibn Saud to be replaced by "king".
Ruhollah Khomeini is officially referred to as imam in Iran. Several Iranian places and institutions are named "Imam Khomeini", including a city, an international airport, a hospital, and a university.
Gallery
Imams
<gallery>
File:Asif muharram 1795 1.jpg|An imam reads verses from the Quran after Isha' (night prayers) in the Mughal Empire
File:Govardhan. A Discourse Between Muslim Sages ca. 1630 LACMA.jpg|Discourse between Islamic imams in the Mughal Empire
File:Карло Боссоли. Татарская школа для детей.jpg|Crimean Tatar imams teach the Quran. Lithograph by Carlo Bossoli
File:Pirosmani. Shamil with a Bodyguard. Oil on oil-cloth, 112x90 cm. The State Museum of Fine Arts of Georgia, Tbilisi.jpg|Imam Shamil, Caucasus
File:Bruner-Dvorak, Rudolf - Bosna, imam (ca 1906).jpg|Imam in Bosnia,
File:Mahdist in the Khalifa's house, Omdurman, Sudan.png|An Imam in Omdurman, Sudan
File:Constantinople(1878)-begging dervis.png|An Ottoman imam in Constantinople
File:Bosniak imam.jpg|A Bosniak military imam in the Austro-Hungarian Army
File:Imam ndiawar.JPG|Imam Thierno Ibrahima Thiello
</gallery>
See also
- Ayatollah
- Imam of Friday Prayer
- Imamate
- Mufti
- Twelver Shia holy days
Notes
Citations
Works cited
- Encyclopædia Britannica Online by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.