@sajjadkaswani Ayatollahs are not replacements for the Imam in essence; they are merely juristic custodians operating in the Imam’s absence, Sunnism is critiqued not for having scholars, but for lacking a continuously designated divine authority after the Prophet Muhammad
@sajjadkaswani Rather, Allah always maintained some form of Hujjah, but its structure differed according to divine wisdom. Therefore, the critique of Sunnism is not simply “you have scholars too,” because Shias distinguish between: Imam n Ulema or Ayatollah
@sajjadkaswani Regarding the periods between Prophet Mussa n Essa,, We would not usually claim there was always a formally identical “12 Imam system” active in every era
@sajjadkaswani The Prophet Muhammad P.B.U.H designated successors, the 12 appears repeatedly in Islamic narrations, and the Ahl al-Bayt provide the continuous preserved line that fits those narrations coherently
@sajjadkaswani Similar to how scholars preserved religious teachings in earlier communities when direct access to divine leadership was absent or limited @sajjadkaswani
I have tagged you now hopefully system will not glitch this time with notification
Jazak’Allah
@sajjadkaswani Hujjah still exists, but is not openly governing. During this period, qualified scholars and Ayatollahs are not considered Imams themselves, nor equal to the Imam, but rather fallible representatives who derive authority from the hidden Imam in legal and social matters
@sajjadkaswani even if history does not preserve every detail of them. However, not every period required a publicly manifest Imam with political authority. This is why Twelver Shias see the Occultation of Imam Mahdi as part of a broader divine pattern
@sajjadkaswani In the cases of Prophet Mussa and Prophet Essa, leadership could exist through multiple tribes, disciples, or representatives simultaneously, whereas in Islam, Twelver Shias believe divine guidance continued through a single continuous line of Imams beginning with Imam Ali 2/2
@sajjadkaswani From a Twelver Shia perspective, the 12 successors in previous traditions and the 12 Imams after Muhammad are reconciled by understanding that Allah’s system of guidance remains consistent in purpose but not necessarily identical in structure across every nation 1/2