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An imam (Arabic: إمام‎, plural: أئمة A'immah; Persian: امام‎) is an Islamic leadership position, often the worship leader of a mosque and the Muslim community. Similar to spiritual leaders, the imam is the one who leads Islamic worship services. More often, the community turns to the mosque imam if they have a religious question. In smaller communities, an imam could also be the community leader however most Imams are there for religious guidance.

Sunni Imams[link]

An Imam leading prayers in Cairo, Egypt, in 1865.

The Sunni branch of Islam does not have imams in the same sense as the Shi'a. In every day terms, the imam for Sunni Muslims is the one who leads congregational Islamic worship and prayers, and the Friday sermon is most often given by an appointed imam.

The term is also used:

for a recognized religious scholar or authority in Islam, often for the founding scholars of the four Sunni madhhabs, or schools of jurisprudence (fiqh). It may also refer to the Muslim scholars who created the analytical sciences related to Hadith or it may refer to the heads of the Prophet Muhammad's family in their generational times.

Those who are considered imams in the context of scholarly authority by Sunni Muslims.

Shi'a imams[link]

In the Shi'a context, imam has 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, infallibility which is called ismah. These leaders must be followed since they are appointed by God.

Twelver[link]

Here follows a list of the Twelvers imams:

Fatimah, also Fatimah al-Zahraa, daughter of Muhammed (615–632), is also considered infallible but not an imam. Many Shi'a believe that the last imam will one day return.

Ismaili[link]

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

Zaidi imams as rulers of Yemen[link]

In the Zaidi Shiite sect, imams were temporal 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.)

Gallery[link]

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  An Imam reads verses from the Quran after Isha' (night prayers) in the Mughal Empire.

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  A manuscript from the Mughal Empire describing the story of an Imam.

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  Crimean Tatar Imam's teach the Quran.

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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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  An Imam in Omdurman, Sudan.

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  An Ottoman Imam in Istanbul.

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  A Bosniak Military Imam in the Austro-Hungarian Army.

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  Imam Thierno Ibrahima Thiello

See also[link]

• Women as imams
• Mullah

Footnotes[link]