How Shi'ism came into existence

As for the first question, we can regard Shi'ism as a naturalconsequence of Islam, and as a representation of the presentationof Islam which it was obliged to attain if it was to protect itshealthy growth.We can in fact infer a logical inference to this presentation ofIslam from the faith which the Prophet commanded, accordingto the nature of its formation and the conditions whichsurrounded it.

The Prophet was assuming the leadership of arevolutionary faith, and inducing radical transformations of thecustoms, structures and concepts of society. The path for such atask of transformation was obviously not a short one, but wasrather long and protracted because of the vast spiritual divisionsbetween jahiliyyah and Islam. The faith which the Prophetpracticed had to begin with the jahili man and raise him to newinstitutions, thus converting him into an Islamic man who couldcarry the new light, and uproot the trunk and roots of jahiliyyahfrom his heart and mind.

And the Great Leader made astonishing headway in the task oftransformation in a very short time, but it was necessary for thistask of transformation to continue on its way even after thedeath of the Prophet, who knew that his death was near sometime before it actually occurred and he disclosed this openly in'The Pilgrimage of Farewell' (Hujjat al-Wada); so his death wasnot unexpected.This means that he had ample time to contemplate the future ofthe faith after his demise, even if we disregard the factors ofcontact with the Unseen and the divine protection for Islamstemming from revelation. In light of this we can see that theProphet had three possible paths before him to ensure the proper consequences of the future of the faith.