wasalam brother Ibn Sadique, Indeed Shaitaan misleads due to the leave given to him by the Allah. Imamah is a guidance, which emanates from the command of Allah. An Imam leads because that is exactly what Allah (swt) has made him an Imam for;
Salaams brother Surdar Asif
Sorry brother to disagree with you – The Guidance is in the Quran and the Sunnah of the Prophet (saw). Shia and Sunni agree that the righteous Ulemah are the inheritors of the Prophet (saw) and that they we all as individuals should guide each other to the good deeds and beliefs.
In response to brother BOY-NICE I have shown that the Hidden Imam gave his seal of approval for Al Kafi saying that it was sufficient for the Shia but left daeef (weak) hadith within the book and that is around 65%!!!!!!!
As a guide appointed by decree of Allah (swt) as a guide is he not duty –bound to correct the mistakes while reviewing the book.
[21.72] And We gave him (Ibrahim) Ishaq and Yaqoub, a son's son, and We made them all good. [21.73] And We made them (ie Ibrahim, Ishaq, Yaqoub) Imams who guided by Our command, and We revealed to them the doing of good and the keeping up of prayer and the giving of the alms, and Us (alone) did they serve;
Brother, I giving you the translations of the above ayah, note the word ‘Imam’ has no connection to the Shia concept of Imamate.
And We made them Imams who guided (people) by Our command, and We revealed to them the doing of good and the keeping up of prayer and the giving of the alms, and Us (alone) did they serve; [Shakir 21:73]
And We made them leaders, guiding (men) by Our Command, and We sent them inspiration to do good deeds, to establish regular prayers, and to practise regular charity; and they constantly served Us (and Us only). [Yusufali 21:73]
And We made them chiefs who guide by Our command, and We inspired in them the doing of good deeds and the right establishment of worship and the giving of alms, and they were worshippers of Us (alone). [Pickthal 21:73]
And Habibi AlBaqarah verse 124 and 128 clearly make a distinction between the Prophethood and the Imamate. This verse holds the key to understaing Imamate. I would recomend you to read tafseer from Allama Husyan Tabatabai if you wish to study comprehensive analysis of these ayahs in the light of the Holy Quran.
Brother, that is only the Shia who see it as such.
If you note the authentic narrations of Hz. Ali (ra) and his pious sons, they never claimed to the Imams of the time!!!
And you are absolutely correct to say that "we have to refer to the Quran and the Sunnah of the Prophet (saw) for guidance and anything beyond that is misguidance". That is why after the Prophet we follow the family of the Prophet to make sure that we do not follow anything outside the bounds of the command of the Allah and his Prophet.
And yet you exclude his wives and other cousins from his family. The Prophet (saw) did not teach exclusively to his family (Shia version) but all the prominent companions who were always with him.
His family and the Companions are source of what the Prophet (saw) had taught. And no one else who had not met the Prophet (saw).
And i am not sure about what to make of the claim that Shia Imams taugh "Sunni" Islam?!?! why dont the Sunni follow them then as our Prophet Mohammad (saww) had said and there will be simply no quarrels?
If you note that no prominent Classical Shia scholar has studied under the patronage of ‘liviing Shia’ imams. All these Scholars and Shia Hadith books are from the time of disappearance of the 12 Imam when he was in hiding.
Imam Abu Hanifa (rahimullah) and Imam Malik (rahimullah) spend sometime studying from Imam Baqir (rahimullah) and his son Imam Jaffar (rahimullah).
Imam Baqir (rahimullah) and his son Imam Jaffar (rahimullah) never wrote any books but taught thosands of students.
From thousands of these student Imam Abu Hanifa (rahimullah) and Imam Malik (rahimullah) are the most prominent and they both have fiqh to their names.
Obviously they learned from these Imams and carried their knowlegde in their books.
‘Shia Imams’ did not write any books. And what they taught is within the Sunni books.
And please note the following:
If one would make a circle of 1500 miles radius around Iran one would net in about 85%, if not more, entire Shia population of the world.
And the overwhelming of other 15% out of this circle would emigrants from this very areas!
Why the Shias with the services of the hidde infallible Imam at hand never ventured to spread the message of Islam to far corners of the World.
Whereas Sunnis without such ‘infallible power at hand’ just did that.
Also note that when the Ummah was under assault by the Crusaders and Mongols, the Hidden Imam was not there to lead or guide his faithful to defend the Ummah.
Whereas Sunnis without such ‘infallible power at hand’ just did that.