۲. Sadeqayn’s Imamate period (Peace be upon them) until ۱۴۵ Hijri; (Flowering (actualization) and consolidation of the thought)

۳. Imam Kazem and Imam Reza Imamate period (Peace be upon them); (Correcting the thought and responding to possible confusions)

۴. Imam Javad’s Imamate period (Peace be upon him) until the beginning of the Age of Occultation; (Objectivity of the thought in the society)

Various historical elements

The collection of influential historical elements in the above-mentioned periods and some of its prominent examples, the evidence of which can be found very well in the historical statements, are as follows:

۱. The Political Element:

Politics in the general sense is an attempt to obtain, maintain, enhance and display power. Consequently, any effort by the governors for government’s maintenance and stability, as well as oppositions’ activities in the course of government’s clash and weakening is considered to be the political element. Thus, by political element, we mean any action and reaction leading back to the institution of sovereignty and power, such as: political repression, government’s responsibilities, movements in conflict with the government and political propaganda.

۲. The Cultural Element:

Culture is a treasure that gives meaning and direction to human’s life in two aspects: individual and social aspect

process of this thought (i.e. Shi’ite’s thought) in the form of knowledge and historical developments and in the opposite, the other perspective speaks about the progressive movement, a movement from undetailed to detailed specifications – particularly in the important issue of Imamate- in which no change in the bases of thought and knowledge is considered to be the essence. In other words, some have claimed that the bases of Imamates’ beliefs about the foundation of Imamate at the time of first Imams were not put forward rather during the first three Hijri centuries, Companions of the Ahlul-Bayt (the People of the House) have organized and rectified the form of beliefs and the basis of Shi’ite’s thought. Thus, the basis of these beliefs has faced a serious challenge. The present paper expresses part of the views of the proponents of this theory.

At the opposite, the intellectuals defending the religion of ImamiTwelvers believe that Shi’ite teachings on various topics including the issue of Imamate is rooted in the Quran and prophetic tradition and with a comprehensive analytical-explanatory view, this turns out to be that these teachings during the first three Hijri centuries have been explained going from undetailed to detailed specifications considering the role of historical elements and their themes – or the very influencing political, social, cultural and economical elements in the course of time- with the feature that no changes have ever been made in the content of teachings and only utilizing methods of expression and religious literature of any period of present time is different.

The specified path in explaining teachings in the public atmosphere of society, -specially in issues like Imamate-, guides us to a four-step process, the appearance of which with respect to relative time would be like this:

۱. The Last Prophet’s period until the end of Imamate of Imam Sajjad (Peace be upon him); (Foundation of the notion of Imamate)