Editing Caliphate (section)

=== Shia belief ===
{{Main|Imamate in Shia doctrine}}

With the exception of [[Zaidiyyah|Zaidis]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Robinson |first=Francis |author-link=Francis Robinson |title=Atlas of the Islamic World Since 1500 |url=https://archive.org/details/atlasofislamicwo0000robi |url-access=registration |page=[https://archive.org/details/atlasofislamicwo0000robi/page/47 47] |location=New York |publisher=[[Facts on File]] |year=1984 |isbn=0-87196-629-8}}</ref> Shia Muslims believe in the [[Imamah (Shia doctrine)|Imamate]], a principle by which rulers are imams who are divinely chosen, infallible and sinless and must come from the ''Ahl al-Bayt'' regardless of majority opinion, [[shura]] or election. They claim that before his death, Muhammad had given multiple indications, in the [[hadith of the pond of Khumm]] in particular, that he considered [[Ali]], his cousin and son-in-law, as his successor. For the [[Twelver]]s, Ali and his eleven descendants, the [[Twelve Imams]], are believed to have been considered, even before their birth, as the only valid Islamic rulers appointed and decreed by God. Shia Muslims believe that all the Muslim caliphs following Muhammad's death to be illegitimate due to their unjust rule and that Muslims have no obligation to follow them, as the only guidance that was left behind, as ordained in the [[hadith]] of the [[Hadith of the two weighty things|two weighty things]], was the Islamic holy book, the [[Quran]] and Muhammad's family and offspring, who are believed to be [[infallible]], therefore able to lead society and the Muslim community with complete justice and equity.<ref>{{Cite book |chapter-url=https://bahai-library.com/momen_introduction_shii_islam%26chapter%3D7 |title=An Introduction to Shi'i Islam: The History and Doctrines of Twelver Shi'ism |chapter=7: Imamate |page=147 |access-date=16 December 2017 |archive-date=10 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171210071623/https://bahai-library.com/momen_introduction_shii_islam%26chapter%3D7 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Sachedina1981" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Ḥusayn |first=Ṭabāṭabāʼī Muḥammad |year=1975 |title=Shiʻite Islam |location=Albany |publisher=State University of New York Press |isbn=978-0-87395-272-9}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Rafia'a & Derayati 2003: Al-Hashiyah ala al-Usul al-Kafi |language=ar |pages=590–599}}</ref> The Prophet's own grandson, and third Shia imam, [[Husayn ibn Ali|Hussain ibn Ali]] led an uprising against injustice and the oppressive rule of the Muslim caliph at the time at the Battle of Karbala. Shia [[Muslims]] emphasise that values of [[social justice]], and speaking out against [[oppression]] and tyranny are not merely moral values, but values essential to a person's religiosity.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The just ruler (al-sultān al-adil) in Shīite Islam: the comprehensive authority of the jurist in Imamite jurisprudence |last=Sachedina |first=Abdulaziz Abdulhussein |year=1988 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-511915-2 |location=New York}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Red Shi'ism vs. Black Shi'ism: Social Justice and Salvation for the Masses}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Ayatullah Sayyid Abdul Husayn Dastghaib Shirazi Greater Sins |last=The Thirtieth Greater Sin: Not Helping the Oppressed}}</ref><ref name="Sachedina1981">{{Cite book |title=Islamic messianism: the idea of Mahdi in twelver Shīʻism |last=Sachedina |first=Abdulaziz Abdulhussein |year=1981 |publisher=State University of New York Press |isbn=978-0-87395-442-6 |location=Albany}}</ref>

After these Twelve Imams, the potential caliphs, had passed, and in the absence of the possibility of a government headed by their imams, some Twelvers believe it was necessary that a system of Shi'i Islamic government based on the [[Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist]] be developed, due to the need for some form of government, where an Islamic jurist or [[faqih]] rules Muslims, suffices. However, this idea, developed by the [[marja']] Ayatollah [[Ruhollah Khomeini]] and established in Iran, is not universally accepted among the Shia.

Ismailis believe in the Imamate principle mentioned above, but they need not be secular rulers as well.
* The [[Nizari]] continue to have a living imam; the current imam is the [[Aga Khan]].
* The [[Taiyabi Ismaili]] have, since the year 1130, followed the imam's chief officer, the [[Dai al-Mutlaq]], as they believe the imams are in a state of hiding.