Uri Rubin and the Theory of the Shi’a Hereditary Imamah: A Critical View

With a historical-descriptive method in his study, Uri Rubin attributed a hereditary Imamah to Shi’ism. For documenting the theory of hereditary Imamah, he resorts to the hadiths (narrations) of brotherhood between the Prophet and Imam ‘Ali (p.b.u.t.), not having a son by the Prophet (p.b.u.h.), and the family tie between Imam ‘Ali and the Prophet (p.b.u.t.). What can be remarked as a criticism to Rubin’s claim is that, without examining the Qur’anic verses related to inheritance and a comprehensive analysis of the narrations about it, he attributed the belief in hereditary Imamah to the Shi’a just on the basis of a historical event and some narrations related to the light creation that is related to the superiorities of the Ahl ul-Bayt (p.b.u.t.). Furthermore, it seems that religious presupposition and the secular sight to the issue of Imamah caused him to attribute such a belief to Shi’ism. In the criticism of this theory, by resorting to some related Qur’nic verses and narrations written in authentic books, in addition to rejecting the above mentioned attribution, the correct view in the Shi’i arguments for the Imamah of the Imams is stated.