Ahmed el-Kâtib ve İmâmiyye’nin İmâmet Nazariyesine Eleştirileri
Ahmad al-Katib and His Criticisms of the Theory of Imamiyya’s Imamate

Summary/Abstract: The issue of Imamate is an important issue on which almost every sect in Islamic history has expressed their opinion. Although its starting point was political, over time it was moved to the theological field, especially by the Imamiyya. In this process, some retrospective readings were carried out and history was reconstructed on the axis of the imamate. This understanding brought about discussions in the process. Although the debates generally took place between different sects, sometimes they also took place between members of the same sect. Although he is a member of Imamiyya today, deep-rooted and serious criticisms have been made by Ahmad al-Katib, especially on the theory of imamate and other related principles of faith. He spent his youth as a member of the Imamiyya sect and made efforts to spread the ideas of this sect. However, as a result of some political disagreements, especially after the Islamic revolution in Iran, he began to investigate the origins and evidence of theory of velayat-i faqih. During his research, he saw that this theory lacked solid foundations and even contradicted the understanding of denial and taqiyya expressed by Imami scholars in the age of occultation. After this conclusion, he started to retrospectively research the belief in the absent imam Mahdi and later the theory of the imamate. In this context, he examined the history of Imamiyya from its beginning and tried to trace the alleged ideas through practice. As a result of his investigations, he saw that the Imamate theory was initially expressed by some members of thegulat, independently of the Ahl al-Bayt imams, and then tried to be systematized and placed on a basis by the Imamiyya theologians. After this conclusion, he wrote many works that examined in detail the formation process of the Imamate issue, the stages it went through and the limitation of it to twelve names, taking into account the political, social and religious environment of the period. Katib, who defines himself as a member of the Imamiyya sect, states that the political theory of the Ahl al-Bayt is the principle of shura.In this study, it is tried to reveal Ahmad al-Katib's approach and criticisms to the imamate theory of Imamiyya Shiite. It seems that there is a gap in the literature regarding Katib's life and his criticisms of the imamate theory. With this study, it is aimed to reveal his criticisms in as much detail as possible within the limits of the article, based on his own works.

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