Hundred Questions - Nubuwwat and Imamat (Prophethood and Imamat)
Nubuwwat and Imamat (Prophethood and Imamat)
Q29 What is the difference between a Prophet and an Imam?
A29 Prophethood and Imamat are two aspects of the same reality, or two faces of the same light. Therefore in the interior of interiors there is no difference between the two. However, apparently there is a difference between the two and that again is not forever but for specific times. That is, time is divided into two periods, one is called dawr-i nubuwwat (the cycle of prophethood) and the other is called dawr-i Imamat (the cycle of Imamat). If it is the cycle of prophethood, then the Imam may be in the status of a prominent prophet, or in the person of a prophet who is not well known, or in the form of a hidden perfect man. If it is the cycle of Imamat then the Imam is the vicegerent of the prophet, as is in the present time. This means that during the cycle of prophethood the status of the Imam as a whole remains hidden, and in the cycle of Imamat, it becomes apparent.
The permanent miracle of the Prophet is that he receives a heavenly scripture and explains its tanzil (exoteric aspect), and that of the Imam is that he teaches its spirituality and ta'wil (esoteric aspect). The Prophet in his time guides those people who have entered the circle of those who have accepted him as a Prophet and entrusts future guidance to the Imam. The Imam in his time guides only those people who have come into the circle of the confession of Imamat.
As the Prophet has brought a wisdom-filled book, which contains the teachings of shari`at, tariqat, haqiqat and ma`rifat in its exoteric and esoteric aspects; similarly the Imam guides people to progress in the teachings of the Qur'an and Islam along with progress and changing times on the straight path (sirat-i mustaqim), from one destination to the other.
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