with him in action and power, and he is not independent of them in that regard, the same applies (1) to knowledge and judgment: he need not [possess them alone; rather, he should] share them with the people (2). He thus assists them, and they assist him. Just as his power is inadequate without their assistance (3), so too is his knowledge inadequate without their assistance.

The twelfth point (4) is as follows: The religious knowledge needed by the imāms and the Muslim community is of two kinds. The first is general knowledge—for example, that the five prayers, fasting the month of Ramadan, zakat, and Hajj are obligatory, and that adultery, theft, wine, and the like are forbidden. The second is knowledge of particular cases—for example, that this person is liable to pay zakat or that the prescribed penalty must be imposed upon that person, and the like.

As for the first kind, the revealed law establishes it independently, and no imām is needed for it. For (5) the Prophet (6) must either have explicitly laid down the indispensable general rules of the revealed law or have left some of them (7) to be determined by analogical reasoning. If the former is the case, the intended conclusion is established; and if the latter, that portion can be established through analogical reasoning.

If it is said, “Rather, he left within it some matters that can be known neither through his explicit statements nor through analogical reasoning, (8) but solely through the statement of the infallible person,” then this infallible person would be a partner in prophethood rather than a deputy (9); for if he