A critical approach to the doubt of the necessity of prophethood and imamate From the book "The Theory of Imamate in the Scales of Criticism"

Articles in Press

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of Philosophy and Theology, Faculty of Philosophy and Ethics, Bagheral Uloom University, Qom.Iran

2 Department of Islamic History and Civilization, Faculty of Islamic Knowledge and Thought, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

3 Department of Theology and Philosophy of Religion, Imam Khomeini Educational and Research Institute, Qom.Iran

10.22059/jikt.2026.386633.1014

Abstract

Imami theologians consider the existence of a prophet and an imam to be essential. What is meant by necessity is the inevitability of the existence of a prophet and an imam in matters of guidance, not the goodness of the existence of a prophet and an imam. Several objections have been raised to this view, including: First: The knowledge that the prophet and the imam provide is part of human knowledge and is subject to error. Second: The prophet and the imam have not been present among all humans and in all ages. Third: Access to religious texts is also within the capacity of other humans. Accordingly, the necessity of the existence of a prophet and an imam faces numerous criticisms and objections. While the findings of the research do not consider the aforementioned claim to be correct, because: First: Some human knowledge is infallible. Second: The absence of a prophet and an imam in some ages is also due to human error and the lack of necessary conditions, and does not contradict the rule of the grace and absence of the imam. Third: Access to the depths of religious texts is not within the capacity of every human being and is reserved only for the saints and prophets of God. The upcoming research, based on the analytical-descriptive research method, will take a critical approach to the doubt that prophethood and Imamate are not necessary, as stated in the book "Theory of Imamate in the Scales of Criticism."

Keywords

Research Journal of Islamic Knowledge and Thought

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 23 February 2026

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