Encyclopedia > Imam

Article Content

Imam

The imam is a recognized religious leader or teacher in Islam.

According to the Twelve-Imam Shiite dogma, imam refers only to one of twelve early leaders of Islam - Ali, Hasan[?], Husayn[?], and nine of Husayn's descendants.

The Ismailis trace a different line of Imams, branching at one of Husayn's descendants from the 12-Imam line.

External Links

For a slightly more detailed description of the Shiite belief (and for the other names and titles of the twelve Imáms, see, for example, http://www.bahai-library.org/books/dawnbreakers/preface/prefislam .

All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License

Search Encyclopedia

Search over one million articles, find something about almost anything!

Featured Article

Westhampton Beach, New York

... of age or older. The median age is 44 years. For every 100 females there are 93.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 92.2 males. The media ...