BTW sorry for any misconceptions I have about this. I'm not a Muslim myself but I am interested in learning about the world's religions.
What is the difference between an Imamate and a Caliphate? I know an Imamate stem form Shia Islam and and Caliphate stems from Sunni Islam and that Imamates will have one political and spiritual leader. An Imam can interpret the Quran and change the laws accordingly while a Caliph can't change religious laws and their jurisprudence. Is my understanding correct?
Also, in either a Caliphate or an Imamate, what decides succession? Would it be based on blood right like a monarch or divine right? Also, if this political leader passes a law that goes against Islamic law, who carries out the punishment? Would they be impeached or executed or would their word rain supreme?
I know in Catholicism, the Pope can't really be removed unless he is incapacitated is some way, like if he has become mentally ill and suffers from Alzheimer, or resigns. There have been exceptions when Popes were forced to resign through coercive means during the saeculum obscurum when politics began influencing religion.
From my understanding, I also thought that Islam doesn't have an official clergy like Catholicism in the sense that no religious leader speak for God. I know in Judaism, Rabbis don't have religious authority. They're authority purely comes from their understanding of religious scriptures. They act more like scholars and theologians, interpreting works and teaching people and performing rituals. They have no more authority to make rules than scientists do to make up the laws of nature. They don't have exclusive authority to make laws, though they be appointed to political or judicial roles.
So would an Imam in an Imamate be considered clergy like the Pope or more like religious scholars?
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from Islam http://bit.ly/2KrXbql
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