The term imamate or imamah (Arabic: إمامة, imāmah) means "leadership" and refers to the office of an imam or a Muslim theocratic state ruled by an imam.
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👉 Imamate in the context of Imamate of Oman
The Imamate of Oman (Arabic: إِمَامَة عُمَان, romanised: Imāmat ʿUmān) was several succession of states within the Oman proper (Arabic: عُمَان ٱلْوُسْطَى, romanised: ʿUmān al-Wusṭā, lit. 'Central Oman') in the Hajar Mountains, part of the present-day Sultanate of Oman. The capital of the Imamate alternated historically between Rustaq and Nizwa. The Imamate's territory extended north to Ibri and south to the Alsharqiyah region and the Sharqiya Sands. The Imamate was bounded in the east by the Hajar Mountains and in the west by the Rub' al Khali (Empty Quarter) desert. The Al Hajar Mountains separated the Imamate of Oman from Muscat and Oman. The elected Imam (ruler) resided in the capital, and Walis (governors) represented the Imamate in its different regions.
The Imamate of Oman, similar to the Sultanate of Muscat, was ruled by the Ibadi sect. Imams exercised spiritual and temporal representation over the region. The Imamate is a 1,200-year-old system of government pioneered by the Ibadi religious leaders of Oman, and was based upon the Islamic sharia. The Imamate holds that the ruler should be elected. The imam is considered as the head of the community but tribalism that is part of the Omani society encouraged a decentralised form of governance that would help sustain political unity among the Omanis. The Imamate set out a government system wherein the ruler should not have absolute political nor military power; rather power should be shared with local governors. To prevent local or external threats to the Imamate, the imam had to gather the support of the local communities and tribes to raise a force to fight for a certain cause. The imam needed in-depth understanding of tribal politics and political acumen to maintain political stability within the Imamate when conflicts occurred.
In this Dossier
Imamate in the context of Imamah (Ismaili doctrine)
The doctrine of the Imamate in Isma'ilism differs from that of the Twelvers because the Isma'ilis had living Imams for centuries after the last Twelver Imam went into concealment. They followed Isma'il ibn Ja'far, elder brother of Musa al-Kadhim, as the rightful Imam after his father, Ja'far al-Sadiq. The Ismailis believe that whether Imam Ismail did or did not die before Imam Ja'far, he had passed on the mantle of the imamate to his son Muhammad ibn Isma'il as the next imam.
Imamate in the context of Azariqa
The Azariqa (Arabic: الأزارقة, romanized: al-ʾAzāriqa) were an extremist branch of the Kharijites who followed the leadership of Nafi ibn al-Azraq. Adherents of Azraqism participated in an armed struggle against the rulers of the Umayyad Caliphate, and they declared those who avoided this duty infidels - kafirs - and allowed their murder. Nafi ibn al-Azraq even permitted the killing of women and children of his opponents. At the same time, the Azraqites did not extend the principle of killing “apostates” to Christians and Jews, since they believed that they did not betray the teachings of the prophets Jesus and Moses.
Like all Kharijites, they declared Muslims who committed great sins (al-Kabā'ir) to be unfaithful, and claimed that they would eternally suffer in hellfire. The Azraqites denied the principle of “prudent concealment of faith” (takiya). They recognized the imamate as “worthy” (أفضل ʾafḍal), that is, the applicant who would come up with arms and call people to fight “unbelievers” and would not allow the imamate to be “surpassed” (مفضول mafḍūl). Based on this, they declared the caliph Ali ibn Abu Talib, Uthman ibn Affan and their adherents unbelievers. The Azraqites considered the territories beyond their control to be the "land of war" (دار الحرب Dār al-Ḥarb).