Imam's Knowledge from the Perspective of Imam's (Peace Be Upon Them) Disciples as Scholastic Theologians

One of the issues of interest in theology is the Imams’ knowledge. The present paper is an attempt to explore issues such as the scope and origin of Imams’ knowledge from the perspective of Imams’ Shiite disciples as scholastic theologians. As the issue of Imams’ knowledge did not exist as a belief at their time and the transmitted texts are either silent or not in agreement, it seems necessary to refer to the views of their disciples. The present study adopted two different methods in collecting the views of Imams’ disciples; one included the study of the Imams’ debates and texts as narrated by the disciples and the other method included reflection on their views on this issue. The study of the scholastic theologian’s stances, interpretations and impressions of verses and narrations shows that the Shiite scholastic theologians had no doubt or differences about the validity of Imams’ knowledge needed to explain the laws and Islamic sciences and the fact that they Inherited the knowledge from the Holy Prophet (P.B.U.H.). However, there is no enough evidence showing whether they acquired the laws and Islamic sciences through the unseen or they got access to them through other sources.