One of these reasons is that the statement, “The Imamate is the most important matter among the rulings of religion,” may mean the imamate of the Twelve Imams; or the imamate of the particular imam of each age during his own time, such that the most important matter in our age is belief in the imamate of Muhammad, the Awaited One; the most important matter during the age of the four caliphs, according to them, was belief in the imamate of Ali; and the most important matter during the time of the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—was belief in his imamate. Alternatively, it may mean (1) belief in the rulings of the Imamate in general, without specifying any particular imam; or it may mean (2) some fourth meaning.

As for the first: it is necessarily known that this was not common knowledge among the Companions or the Followers. Indeed, the Shia themselves maintain that each imam is appointed only by an explicit designation from his predecessor. The claim that this is the most important matter of religion is therefore invalid.

As for the second: on this supposition, the most important matter in every age would be belief in the imam of that age. Thus, from the year 260 (3) until the present date, faith would consist solely in believing in the imamate of Muhammad ibn al-Hasan. This would be greater than believing that there is no deity worthy of worship but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah; greater than believing in Allah, His angels, His Books, His messengers, and resurrection after death; and greater than believing in prayer, zakat, fasting, and pilgrimage (4), as well as all other obligations—even though its falsity is necessarily known from the religion of