Conclusion

By virtue of his being an infallible leader and authoritativeinterpreter of Islamic revelation through his designation toexercise al-wilayat al-tasarruf, the Imam is the sole legitimateauthority who could establish the Islamic public order.

However,as historical circumstances unfolded, the Imamate becamedivided into temporal and spiritual spheres.

The temporalauthority of the Imam was regarded as having been usurped bythe ruling dynasty, but the spiritual authority remained intact inthe Imam who was regarded as Allah's (unanswerable)demonstration (of divine omnipotence) -- Hujjat Allah (lit. theproof of Allah), empowered to guide the spiritual lives of hisadherents as the true Imam.

This spiritual authority was notcontingent upon the Imam's being invested as the rulingauthority (sultan) of the Ummah. Accordingly, the Imamate inthe form of religious leadership that began with the Prophet'sproclamation about the wilaya of Imam Ali at Ghadir Khum in632 AD continued through all the political circumstances untilthe last Imam, the Twelfth Imam al-Mahdi, went into occultation(874 AD).

It was during this period that questions regardingImami political authority during the absence of the Imam beganto be treated methodically, especially when, for the first time,following the last manifest Imamate of Imam Ali (656-66O AD),the temporal authority of the Shi'i Imami Buyid dynasty wasestablished de facto.In view of the prolonged occultation of the Imam and theabsence of special designation during this period, the Shi'ischolars in their works on jurisprudence reemphasized theseparation between power (which could exact or enforceobedience) and wilaya (authority, which reserved the right todemand obedience, depending on legal-rational circumstances)that had existed even during the lifetime of the Imams. Only theinvestiture of authority and the assuming of political powercould establish the rule of justice and equity.However, delegation of the Imam's wilaya to an individual whocould assume both the authority and power of the Imam whenthe Imam in occultation could not monitor the exercise of thatauthority was dangerous.

This danger was perceived by somejurists, who, pending the return of the Twelfth Imam, ruled outthe possibility of absolute claim to political power and authority(wilaya) resembling that of the Imam himself. Nevertheless, therational need to exercise authority in order to manage the affairsof the Ummah was recognized and authoritatively legalized.

Theestablishment of the Shi'i dynasties during the occultation didnot change the basic doctrine of the Imami leadership whosedirection was set on the occasion of Ghadir Khum by theProphet.