Infallibility of Imams: Difference between revisions

The infallibility ('isma) of the Shiite Imams and their immunity to any sins, errors, and forgetfulness is, according to the Imami and Ismaili perspectives, a requirement of Imamate and an attribute of the Imams. The infallibility of the Imams is an exclusive Twelver Shiite belief, upon which there is consensus. According to Abdollah Javadi Amoli, just as the Imams are infallible in their conduct, their knowledge is also immune to error.

Shiite scholars have appealed to numerous Quranic verses, such as the Verse of Uli al-Amr, the Verse of al-Tathir, the Verse of the Trial of Abraham, the Verse of al-Sadiqin, the Verse of al-Mawadda, and the Verse of al-Salawat, to argue for the infallibility of the Imam. In hadith sources, there are numerous traditions transmitted in this regard. Hadith al-Thaqalayn, Hadith al-Aman, and Hadith al-Safina are among those cited to establish the infallibility of the Imams. Despite the numerous arguments for their infallibility, Wahhabis and Ibn Taymiyya al-Harrani, a leader of Salafism, have denied it and raised objections. Shiite scholars have responded to these objections.

Books have been written on the infallibility of the Imams, including A study of the knowledge and infallibility of Imams by Jafar Sobhani, The infallibility of Imams in Imami intellectual history until the end of the fifth century AH by Mohammad Hossein Faryab, and The infallibility of Imams from the perspective of reason and revelation by Ebrahim Safarzadeh.