Historical Developments of Salvation in Imamiyyah

The most common use of the term” salvation” is “getting rid of” or “keeping safe from” something indecent or unwelcome. In the present dissertation, by salvation we mean “achieving the Eden and keeping away from the Hell.” One has to keep in mind that achieving salvation involves different tools and parameters, each of which in turn leads the person to prosperity. Referring to Quran and the prophet’s and Imams’ sayings, Imamiyyah docters of kalam and scripturalists have proposed parameters to achieve salvation, among which are faith, decent deed, Velāyat and Shefāᶜt. In Kalaam’s different periods, rationalists and scripturalists have tried to elaborate on these parameters and have sometimes offered different opinions on some parameters that have been considered as historical developments. In this study, we have first dealt with salvation (the concept, position and significance) and then have discussed its development throughout the history of Shi’ism up to the ninth century. In our study, developments suggest that Shi’ite Motakalleman have quantitatively elaborated on salvation parameters such as Imaamat and Faith over time. Based on the two parameters of faith and decent deed, we can find developments from the lowest to the highest degrees of salvation and prosperity in Imamiyyah throughout the history of Shi’ism. Three approaches of exclusivism, inclusivism and pluralism can be posed regarding the issue of salvation, and Imamiyyah believes in inclusivism according to which the followers of other religions can also achieve salvation under certain conditions (like belief in the Oneness of God and decent deed, etc). In order to be quite to the point, we have only emphasized the outstanding figures among Motakalleman and the most important parameters of salvation such as Imamate and faith.