For the sake of concision, and to avoid repeating what has already been explained, we will limit ourselves to recalling that in Shi’ism, the question of the Caliphate is eminently transcendental. As such, ‘Ali’s right to succession cannot, in any way, be subjected to human scrutiny.

For Shi’ites, the supreme spiritual status of ‘Ali is peerless and cannot be compared to the rank held by other Islamic leaders. He belongs to a unique and superior spiritual category which was conferred on him by the grace of God. By bestowing the wilayah of the Prophet on Ali, God perfected Islam and brought the prophetic mission to a close.

The fundamental doctrine of wilayah is based on the concept of the ta’alim of the Imams. What continues in Islam under the name of wilayah is, de facto et de iure [by fact and by right], a form of esoteric guidance [al-hidayah al-batiniyyah] from which humanity cannot stray without perishing.1 The wilayah is the guaranteed living embodiment of the spiritual authority of the Prophet which, by the temporal succession of the Twelve Imams, continues throughout human history until the end of times.

Understandably, it is impossible to separate the historical development of Shi’ite Islam from the meta-historical antecedents of wilayah. ‘Ali’s Islam cannot be separated from the metaphysical truths which are its telos, its fundamental and final cause. In closing, it is inconceivable to claim that we have dealt with the issue of Imamate and wilayah in all of its depth.

We have limited ourselves to addressing the issue of its origins and leaving the topic open to further research. As a result, this study on the origins of Shi’ism must remain incomplete for the time being. In order for it to be complete, it would have been necessary to compile some of the traditions that attest to the extraordinary importance of the secret spiritual life of Shi’ism and the Shi’ite ethos of the Hidden Imam, the seal of the Muhammadan wilayah, for, as the Prophet has stated, without the continuous living presence of the Imam, neither human beings nor the world can subsist.2

• 1. In the previous versions of this work published in Spanish, the author stated “what continues in Islam under the name of wilayah is, de facto et de iure [by fact and by right], a form of esoteric Prophethood [nubuwwah batiniyyah].” What the author was attempting to convey was that Shi’ism is the only expression of Islam which, in the words of Corbin, “has preserved and perpetuated the link of divine guidance between man and God through its belief in the Imamate” unlike Sunnism which “believes that the link between man and God has been severed with the end of the Prophethood” (qtd. Baqr al-Sadr, The Awaited Saviour https://al-islam.org/awaited-saviour-ayatullah-sayyid-muhammad-baqir-sad... ).
  As Sayyid Rizvi has pointed out, however, the term “Esoteric Prophethood” for imamah and wilayah is problematic as it may lead readers to believe that Shi’ites beliveve in the continuation of nubuwwah. An Imam, after cessation of the Prophethood, still has access to divine guidance through true visions and the voices of angels without actually seeing them [al-muhaddath], as explained in the section of al-Kafi which describes the Imams as al-muhaddathun. As per the suggestion of Sayyid Rizvi, the author has opted for the term al-hidayah al-batiniyyah which more aptly captures the sense he was attempting to convey.
• 2. Editor’s Note: Imam Ja’far al-Sadiq said that:
  Amir al-mu’minin is the gate of Allah, except through which one cannot reach Him, and the path to Him, such that if someone passes along another (path) he will perish, and this is applied to all the Imams, one after another. Allah has made them the pillars of the earth. (Kulayni, 88, hadith 521)
  It is related in al-Kafi that Imam al-Sadiq was asked whether the world could exist without there being an Imam in it, to which he responded: “No” (Kulayni 35, hadith 447). The Imam is also reported to have said that “Verily, the world can never be without an Imam” (36, hadith 448), “As long as the world lasts, there will be in it a Proof of Allah” (36, hadith 449); “The earth can never last without an Imam who is Allah’s proof for His creatures” (37, hadith 454). Muhammad al-Baqir also said that “If the Imam is removed from the earth (even) for an hour (of the day), the earth will surge up with those in it like a sea surges up with those in it” (39, hadith 458).