IMAMATE. The Arabic term imam means in general "leader" or "master." In nontechnical usage it is often applied to a leading authority in a field of scholarship or to the leader of a community. As a technical term in Islamic law and theology, it refers to the legitimate supreme leader of the Muslim community and also to the leader of the ritual prayer (ṣalāt). The imamate, as the office of imam, will be dealt with here in these two technical senses.

Supreme Leadership of the Muslim Community

The question of leadership, in theory and practice, has historically evoked different responses within the different branches of Islam.

The Sunnīs

Representing the great majority of Muslims, the Sunnīs have generally viewed the historical caliphate as the legitimate leadership of Islam after the prophet Muḥammad. For them, the imam is thus identical with the ruling caliph. Actual...