The Baha'i Studies Listserv I could be wrong but it is my understanding that the Zaydis allow for the possibility that any of the descendants of Muhammad (saaws) might be eligible to be the imam. And although I've never seen estimates of the total, there are definitely large numbers of such descendants.. from the Aga Khan, to the Ayatollah Khomeini, to Bahaullah, to Maulana Sheikh Nazim of the Naqshbandis, to many of the Arab royal families, and even to U.S. Senator John Kerry.
But of course Susan has already made clear that the Bahai faith follows a version of the 12-er line of succession. On Thu, Jan 14, 2010 at 1:28 PM, Stephen Gray <[email protected]> wrote: > The Baha'i Studies Listserv > > He knew it would end in time? Isn't some of the Imam lineages stil surving > like Aga Khan IV of the Nizari Ismai'ilis? > > ________________________________ > From: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> > To: Baha'i Studies <[email protected]> > Sent: Thu, January 14, 2010 12:51:04 AM > Subject: Re: RE: Sects > > The Baha'i Studies Listserv >> What would have happened if the Guardian had a son and at the time he >> died the son was an infant or a child? If an infant certainly they > > In the Bahai guardianship, like the Shiah Imamate, succession is not by > automatic rules (like the British crown for example): rather it is by > designation, with a presumption of primogeniture. Logically - and using the > history of the Shiah Imamate as an example - Abdu'ul-Baha and Shoghi Effendi > must have anticipated that such a system could not continue indefinitely. > The Guardian was bound to wait, before designating his successor, until the > capabilities of the most likely candidate were clear. Sooner or later, a > Guardian would die before the choice was made official, and the line would > end. > > This is another reason for rejecting the claim that the Universal House of > Justice needs a living Guardian. If Abdu'l-Baha had believed that a Guardian > was essential, he could have chosen a system which - like the French > monarchy - could continue for centuries. Instead he chose something like the > succession of the Imamate, which he must have known would ensure that the > line would end in time. > > Sen > > > __________________________________________________ > You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as: mailto:[email protected] > Unsubscribe: send a blank email to > mailto:[email protected] > Subscribe: send subscribe bahai-st in the message body to > [email protected] > Or subscribe: > http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/all_forums/subscribe?name=bahai-st > Baha'i Studies is available through the following: > Mail - mailto:[email protected] > Web - http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/?forum=bahai-st > News (on-campus only) - news://list.jccc.edu/bahai-st > Old Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] > New Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] > > > __________________________________________________ > You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as: mailto:[email protected] > Unsubscribe: send a blank email to mailto:[email protected] > Subscribe: send subscribe bahai-st in the message body to > [email protected] > Or subscribe: > http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/all_forums/subscribe?name=bahai-st > Baha'i Studies is available through the following: > Mail - mailto:[email protected] > Web - http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/?forum=bahai-st > News (on-campus only) - news://list.jccc.edu/bahai-st > Old Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] > New Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] __________________________________________________ You are subscribed to Baha'i Studies as: mailto:[email protected] Unsubscribe: send a blank email to mailto:[email protected] Subscribe: send subscribe bahai-st in the message body to [email protected] Or subscribe: http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/all_forums/subscribe?name=bahai-st Baha'i Studies is available through the following: Mail - mailto:[email protected] Web - http://list.jccc.edu:8080/read/?forum=bahai-st News (on-campus only) - news://list.jccc.edu/bahai-st Old Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] New Public - http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]
