Philosophy of Religion Research

Evaluating the Demonstration of Preservation of Sharia in Proving Imams' Infallibility from the Point of View of Shia Theologians

Document Type : Original Research

Author

Graduated in Level Four from Qom Seminary, Qom, Iran.

10.30497/prr.2024.244471.1831

Abstract

The demonstration of preserving Sharia with its three accounts is one of the intellectual reasons that Shia theologians have used since the Islamic medieval centuries to prove the infallibility of Imams. Several objections have been raised regarding this argument, the most important of which discussed in this paper, is related to how Sharia is preserved during the absence of Imam Mahdi. Using the analytical-descriptive method, this objection and its responses are explained. These responses include: the necessity of the appearance of Imam Mahdi in case the path of knowledge is blocked, the guidance of the Imam in an unconventional way, supplying the society's needs for Sharia by the jurists, and lack of the necessity of actual preservation of the Sharia by the Imam. All these responses are evaluated and criticized and finally, it is shown that the objection is still strong and also applicable to previous religious laws. In the last part of the paper, two solutions are proposed: (1) Although this demonstration cannot prove the infallibility of prophets and Imams, one can still believe in their infallibility regarding the instances; (2) Infallibility is necessary except in cases of expediency. Nevertheless, the result of both solutions is incompatible with what theologians expect from the demonstrations of infallibility for the prophets and their successors.

Keywords

Main Subjects

Holy Qurʾan
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Philosophy of Religion Research
Volume 22, Issue 1 - Serial Number 43
May 2024
Pages 199-220