Ali Ibn Abi Talib - Volume 2 of 2

430 'Ali's altitude towards the Kharijites and Shia
conveyed the message if he did not appoint 'Ali to be the caliph after
him.590 He says: "Allah spoke to the noble Messenger through
revelation, telling him to convey what Allah had sent down to him
with regard to who was to succeed him in running the people's
affairs. Because of this instrnction, he conveyed what he was
commanded to do and he appointed Amir al-Mu'mineen 'Ali to be
the caliph."591 This view of theirs is contrary to the verses and
hadiths they quote as evidence for imamate, because the implication
of this view is that until the incident of Ghadeer Khumm, Allah (s)
and His Messenger (@) did not mention 'Ali (&)by name to be the
Imam.
It is sufficient criticism of the Shias' imamate theory to note
that they have no proof for it except the words of Abdullah ibn Saba'.
He was the Jew who started spreading the idea that imamate was
based on instructions from the Prophet (g) and was limited to the
one mentioned by the revelation, and that if anyone else took charge
of it, he should be disavowed and regarded as a disbeliever. The
books of the Shia admit that lhn Saba' was the first one to spread the
idea that the imamate of 'Ali was obligatory and to express disavowal
of his enemies, stand up to his opponents and regard them as
disbelievers.592 He was of Jewish origin and thought that Joshua
(>B) was the appointed heir of Moosa (=I, so when he became
Muslim, he applied this idea to 'Ali ibn Abi T%b (&).593
3.4. Tawheed and the Twelver Shia
The Shia regard belief in the Imam as a foundation of their
madh-hab and one of the pillars of their faith. In their view, the Imam
is part of belief, and they attribute to one of their Imams the idea that
whoever of this Ummah has no Imam to follow will go astray and be
lost, and that if he dies in that state, he will have died a death of
j~hili~~ah.~~~ That is because the Imam, according to the Shiite