Imamate and Leadership

About the Author	1
Lesson One	
The Place of Leadership in Islam	5
Lesson Two	
The Position of the Messenger	of God with Respect to the Future of Islam	13
Lesson Three	
The Proclamation of \'Ali\'s Leadership by the Prophet	19 
Lesson Four	
The Objection of \'Ali to the Decision of the Companions	37 Lesson Five	
The Rank of \'Ali as Indicated in Other Sayings of the Prophet	45
Lesson Six	
The Relationship between the Qur\'an and the Progeny of the Prophet	63
Lesson Seven	
Irresponsible Attitudes of the Companions	71
Lesson Eight	
Does the Qur\'an Provide an Unconditional Guarantee for the Companions?	83
Lesson Nine	
The Formation of the Caliphate System at the Saqifah	89 
Lesson Ten	
Reliance on Unsound Criteria	99
Lesson Eleven	
Answer to an Objection	113
Lesson Twelve	
Shi\'ism in the Course of History	119
Lesson Thirteen	
The True Nature of the Holders of Authority	131
Lesson Fourteen	
The Guardians of the Frontiers of the Shari\'ah and	
 the Realm of Islam	149
Lesson Fifteen	
The Imamate as a Rational Necessity	155
Lesson Sixteen	
Who are Those Capable of Interpreting Divine Law?	165 
Lesson Seventeen	
The Imamate and Inner Guidance of Man	175
Lesson Eighteen	
The Inerrancy of the Imams and the Necessity of Belief in it	185 
Lesson Ninteen	
Confirmation from the Qur\'an and the Sunnah	197 
Lesson Twenty	
The Imam\'s Comprehensive Knowledge of the Islamic Sciences	209
Lesson Twenty-One	
The Sources of the Imam\'s Knowledge	219
Lesson Twenty-Two	
A Word Concerning the Unseen and the Manifest	231 
Lesson Twenty-Three	
The Imam\'s Communication with the World of the Unseen	243 Lesson Twenty-Four	
The Method of Choosing the Imam or Leader	259
Lesson Twenty-Five	
The Imamate of the Most Excellent	275
Index	277