Discover the meaning of the term Imam (إمام) in Islamic vocabulary.
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Updated on 11 April 2026 at 1:05 AM
📖 3 min readHe who holds the general leadership in religion and world alike.
He whom one takes as guide in prayer or doctrine, man or woman; hence: « the imam stood amid them », by his word: « the imam is made imam only to be followed, so do not differ over him ». Also said: he who holds general leadership in religion and world. Al-Mounawi said: the imam is he whom one follows, whether a man followed in word or deed, or a book, or both, in truth or error; hence they said the imam-caliph, the followed scholar, the one followed in prayer. The Manifest Imam is the Preserved Tablet; « imam » applies to male and female. Some feminized the prayer imam with the ta: a woman imama; others deemed elision correct, for imam is a noun, not a quality. Close to it is what Ibn as-Sikkite related: the Arabs say « our governor and our emir is a woman », and « so-and-so is our agent », and « such a woman is a muezzin », and « such a woman witnessed this », these charges being commoner among men than women.
He whom one takes as guide, that is, follows: a man followed in word or deed, or a book, or both, in truth or error; hence the imam-caliph, the followed scholar, the one followed in prayer. The Manifest Imam: the Preserved Tablet; « imam » applies to both genders.
He who holds the general leadership in religion and world alike in the greater imamate: the caliph among the theologians; and the one followed in prayer in the lesser imamate.
He whom the people take as guide, a chief or other, in truth or error; hence the prayer imam; plural a’imma. The followed scholar; in the noble Quran: « I shall make you an imam for the people » (al-Baqara 124). The caliph. The army commander. The Preserved Tablet; in the mighty Revelation: « everything We have consigned in a manifest imam » (Ya-Sin 12), the view of al-Firouzabadi, Moujahid, Qatada and Abd ar-Rahman ibn Zayd. Al-Hasan said: in a manifest book; others: it is the noble Quran. Among the Hanbalites: the caliph and sultan of his way, and his deputy. In al-Qadi ’Iyad’s word: every ruler and leader looked to for the Muslims’ interests.