In this book, Dr. Jafri has reconstructed and presented the development of an Islamic ideal in the form of Shi'ism that of a particular vision of religious leadership which derives its authority directly from the person of the Prophet, and which therefore enjoys divine sanction in deciding all issues of conscience. He traces the Shi'a response to this ideal, from its origins among a group of the Prophet's Companions until the Imamate of Ja'far as-Sadiq, by which time
all the fundamental elements of Shi'ism had appeared.