ABSTRACT
The Shī'ites are those who follow 'Alī only. They hold that his caliphate and imāmate were based on designation and appointment, either open or hidden. They maintain also that the imāmate must remain in 'Alī's family; if it were ever to go outside of it, this would be either because of a wrong on the part of another, or because of dissimulation on the part of the rightful imām. According to them the imāmate is not a civil matter, validly settled by the will of the people appointing an imām of their own choosing: it is a fundamental matter and a basie element of religion. Messengers of God may not ignore and disregard it, nor leave it to the choice of the common people.
