The Authority and Implication of the Act of Infallible (Masumun) Imam in the Views of Allama Waḥīd-e Behbahānī

The authority and implication of the act of infallible (Masumun) Imam are of the most important issues and are widely used in Islamic jurisprudence (Fiqh). But in Uṣūl al-fiqh (principles of Islamic jurisprudence) of Imamiah (Twelver Shia) these have failed to find a place worthy of their importance. Allama Waḥīd-e Behbahānī (1706–1791) as the restorer of Uṣūl al-fiqh of Twelver Shia Islam after Akhbaris has been recognized as the most well-known Usulis who addressed this issue. Issues of this topic, according to what he has brought in very brief terms in Al Favayed al Hayeriya; Fayede no. 32 consist of the following five terms: 1) the authority of the act of infallible Imam, 2) the decrees derived from the act of the infallible Imam, 3) the evidences of locutionary act, 4) the effects of locutionary act, 5) various forms of doubt in necessity, Estehbab and doubt in the inclusion and exclusion of the act. The present paper attempts to investigate Behbahāni's principles in authority and implication of the act of infallible Imam. In this study, the evolutionary grounds had created in Sheikh AL-Ansari literature, should be appeared in Behbahāni's principles. In this Fayede, in addition to the above mentioned five Usuli issues about the act of infallible imam, Allama Behbahāni discusses the validity of explanation and interpretation of the infallible Imam and the reliability of the decree that Mukallaf (legally competent and religiously responsible) heard from the infallible Imam in his/her dream, which due to its exclusion from the issue of the Imam acts is not mentioned in this research paper.