The Imam's Knowledge from the Perspective of Sheikh Mod and Allameh Tabatabaei

Succession to the prophet (pbuh) is one of the fundamental beliefs of Muslims. As the successor of the Prophet (PBUH) is the protector and preacher of religion and heir of the Prophet (pbuh), determinaon of the characteriscs of the successor is of paramount importance among the Shiites. Moreover, (AS) because of the relaon between knowledge of Imams and monotheism and the role of knowledge in other features of imamate, it is among important issues of Islamic theology. Accordingly, different aspects of knowledge of imam have been specially considered by the Shiites in recent centuries. However, given that the views of religious scholars on this issue have changed over me, there are controversies in determining the scope of the Imams’ (AS) knowledge among them. The paper seeks to invesgate the views of two Shiite scholars by studying their various compilaons, including "Al-Mizan" and "a trease of Imam's knowledge" by Allameh Tabatabai, and "Al-Ershad" and "Avael al-Maqale" by Sheikh Mufid. Sheikh Mufid is one of the earlier theologians and sciensts who believed Imam’s knowledge was limited ,whereas Allameh Tabatabaei was a later scholar and commentator who, based on a tradional approach, believed the Imams (AS) had unlimited knowledge (of course in al-Mizan commentary, late Allameh at first regards that unlimited knowledge only belongs to God). Invesgang the arguments and reasoning in both viewpoints, the author concludes that differences in the tradional and raonal principles of these two scholars have led into different results and understandings about Imam’s knowledge.