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Imam (/ɪˈmɑːm/, Arabic: إمام, imām; pl.: أئمة, a'immah) is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a prayer leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Islamic prayers, serve as community leaders, and provide religious guidance. Thus for Sunnis, anyone can study the basic Islamic sciences and become an Imam.

For most Shia Muslims, the Imams are absolute infallible leaders of the Islamic community after the Prophet. Shias consider the term to be only applicable to the members and descendants of the Ahl al-Bayt, the family of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. In Twelver Shīʿīsm there are 14 infallibles, 12 of which are Imams, the final being Imam Mahdi who will return at the end of times.^[1] The title was also used by the Zaidi Shia Imams of Yemen, who eventually founded the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen (1918–1970).

Sunni Islam does not conceive of the role of imams in the same sense as Shia Islam: an important distinction often overlooked by non-Muslims. In everyday terms, an imam for Sunni Muslims is the person charged with leading formal Islamic prayers (Fard)—even in locations besides the mosque—whenever prayer is performed in a group of two or more. The imam leads the worship and the congregation copies his actions. Friday sermons are most often given by an appointed imam. All mosques have an imam to lead the congregational prayers—even though it may sometimes just be a member from the gathered congregation rather than an officially appointed, salaried person. Women cannot be imams when men are present but are allowed to be when no men are present. An imam should be chosen, according to Hadith,^[which?] based on his knowledge of the Quran and Sunnah and his moral character.

Another well-known use of the term is as an honorary title for a recognized religious scholarly authority in Islam. It is especially used for a jurist (faqīh) and often for the founders of the four Sunni madhhabs or schools of jurisprudence (fiqh), as well as an authority on Quranic exegesis (tafsīr), such as Al-Tabari or Ibn Kathir.

It may also refer to the Muhaddithūn or scholars who created the analytical sciences related to Hadith and sometimes refer to the heads of Muhammad's family in their generational times due to their scholarly authority.^[2]

Imams are appointed by the state to work at mosques and they are required to be graduates of an İmam Hatip high school or have a university degree in theology. This is an official position regulated by the Presidency of Religious Affairs^[3] in Turkey and only males are appointed to this position, whilst female officials under the same state organisation work as preachers and Qur'an course tutors, religious services experts, etc. These officials are supposed to belong to the Hanafi school of the Sunni sect.

A central figure in an Islamic movement is also called an imam, like Imam Nawawi in Syria.

In the Shi'a context, an imam is not only presented as the man of God par excellence, but as participating fully in the names, attributes, and acts that theology usually reserves for God alone.^[4] Imams have a meaning more central to belief, referring to leaders of the community. Twelver and Ismaili Shi'a believe that these imams are chosen by God to be perfect examples for the faithful and to lead all humanity in all aspects of life. They also believe that all the imams chosen are free from committing any sin, impeccability which is called ismah. These leaders must be followed since they are appointed by God.

Here follows a list of the Twelvers Shia imams:

Fatimah, also Fatimah al-Zahraa, daughter of Muhammed (615–632), is also considered infallible but not an Imam. The Shi'a believe that the last Imam, the 12th Imam Mahdi will one day emerge on the Day of Resurrection (Qiyamah).

See Imamah (Ismaili doctrine) and List of Ismaili imams for Ismaili imams.

See details under Zaidiyyah, Islamic history of Yemen and Imams of Yemen.

At times, imams have held both secular and religious authority. This was the case in Oman among the Kharijite or Ibadi sects. At times, the imams were elected. At other times the position was inherited, as with the Yaruba dynasty from 1624 and 1742. See List of rulers of Oman, the Rustamid dynasty: 776–909, Nabhani dynasty: 1154–1624, the Yaruba dynasty: 1624–1742, the Al Said: 1744–present for further information.^[37] The Imamate of Futa Jallon (1727–1896) was a Fulani state in West Africa where secular power alternated between two lines of hereditary Imams, or almami.^[38] In the Zaidi Shiite sect, imams were secular as well as spiritual leaders who held power in Yemen for more than a thousand years. In 897, a Zaidi ruler, al-Hadi ila'l-Haqq Yahya, founded a line of such imams, a theocratic form of government which survived until the second half of the 20th century (See details under Zaidiyyah, History of Yemen, Imams of Yemen). Saudi leaders were also referred to as "Imams", until that term was retired by Ibn Saud to be replaced by "king".

Ruhollah Khomeini is officially referred to as Imam in Iran. Several Iranian places and institutions are named "Imam Khomeini", including a city, an international airport, a hospital, and a university.

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  An Imam reads verses from the Quran after Isha' (night prayers) in the Mughal Empire
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  Discourse between Islamic Imams in the Mughal Empire
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  Crimean Tatar imams teach the Quran. Lithograph by Carlo Bossoli
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  Imam presiding over prayer, North Africa
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  Imam Shamil, Caucasus
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  Imam in Bosnia, c. 1906
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  Imam Khomeini, leader of the Iranian revolution
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  An Imam in Omdurman, Sudan
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  An Ottoman imam in Constantinople
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  A Bosniak military imam in the Austro-Hungarian Army
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  Imam Thierno Ibrahima Thiello

• Ayatollah
• Imam of Friday Prayer
• Imamate
• Mufti

• Corbin, Henry (1993) [1964]. History of Islamic Philosophy (in French). Translated by Sherrard, Liadain; Sherrard, Philip. London; Kegan Paul International in association with Islamic Publications for The Institute of Ismaili Studies. ISBN 0-7103-0416-1.
• Encyclopædia Britannica Online by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
• Encyclopædia Iranica. Center for Iranian Studies, Columbia University. March 1997. ISBN 1-56859-050-4.
• Mattar, Philip (2004). Encyclopedia of the modern Middle East & North Africa. Detroit, Mich: Macmillan Reference USA. ISBN 9780028657691.
• Sachedina, Abdulaziz Abdulhussein (1988). The Just Ruler (al-sultān Al-ʻādil) in Shīʻite Islam: The Comprehensive Authority of the Jurist in Imamite Jurisprudence. Oxford University Press US. ISBN 0-19-511915-0.
• Tabatabae, Sayyid Mohammad Hosayn (1979). Shi'ite Islam. Translated by Nasr, Seyyed Hossein. SUNY press. ISBN 0-87395-272-3.

• Martin, Richard C. (2004). "Imam". Encyclopaedia of Islam and the Muslim World. Vol. 1: Encyclopedia of Islam and the Muslim World: A–L. MacMillan. ISBN 0-02-865604-0.
• Momen, Moojan (1985). An Introduction to Shi'i Islam: The History and Doctrines of Twelve. Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-03531-4.

• The dictionary definition of imam at Wiktionary
• Media related to Imams at Wikimedia Commons
• Gilman, D. C.; Peck, H. T.; Colby, F. M., eds. (1905). "Imam". New International Encyclopedia (1st ed.). New York: Dodd, Mead.