Proof of the Infalliability of the Twelve Imams(عليه السلام)

[The Tamarind Keeper]

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته

I have a question, not out of doubt, but out of curiousity. i am wondering, is there proof of the Twelve Imams(عليه السلام) being Infalliable? If so, please provide me with this information, i'd love to be enriched with it.

[ServantOfMahdi]

Qur'anic proofs of the Infallibility of the 12 Imams:

2:124 requires Imams from Ishmaelite lineage to be free from any wrongdoing

4:59 places absolute obedience to Ulul-Amr (People of Command) with that to Allah's Messenger (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) requiring them to be Infallible like him

33:33 proclaims Ahl al-Bayt to be free from "AL-rijs" – ALL moral & spiritual defilement – and thus identifies the line of the Infallible Ishmaelite Ulul-Amr

3:61 declares disputing with Ahl al-Bayt to be an accursed crime which requires them to be Infallible

42:23 requires of believers ABSOLUTE devotion (AL-mawadda) to Ahl al-Bayt which again necessitates their Immaculacy

Proofs from Hadith:

Zayd ibn Thabit reported that Allah's Messenger (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) said: Indeed, I'm leaving among you two (types of) PERFECT successors – Allah's Book & My Bloodline (‘Itra), My Household (Ahl al-Bayt); AND THE TWO WILL NEVER SEPARATE until they reach me at al-HawD (the Fount). (al-Musannaf of ibn Abi Shayba, al-Musnad of Ahmad ibn Hanbal)

(The capitalized parts establish the Infallibility of the Ahl al-Bayt successors)

Reports from Jabir ibn Samura in Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmidhi, Abu Dawud, Ahmad etc., and from Abdullah ibn Mas‘ud in Ahmad establish the number of the Prophet's (صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم) successors to be 12.

 

[ServantOfMahdi]

3 hours ago, ServantOfMahdi said:

two (types of) PERFECT successors (caliphs)

al-khalīfatayn al-kāmilatayn

Edited March 14 by ServantOfMahdi

[ServantOfMahdi]

On 3/14/2026 at 1:16 PM, ServantOfMahdi said:

AND THE TWO WILL NEVER SEPARATE until they reach me at al-HawD (the Fount)

Imam Ali ibn Husayn al-Sajjad (عليه السلام) said:

“An Imam from among us can only be infallible. Infallibility is not an outward physical feature that can be noticed which is why it must be documented [in the Qur'an or traditions].' He was then asked, 'O son of the Prophet, and what does infallible mean' to which he replied, 'It refers to one who clings fast to the rope of Allah, and the rope of Allah is the Qur'an. They do not separate from each other until the Day of Resurrection, and the Imam guides to the Qur'an and the Qur'an guides to the Imam, which is the purport of Allah's saying [in the Qur'an] Verily this Qur'an guides to what is most upright [Qur'an 17:9].'”

Ma`ani al-Akhbar, p. 132, #1;

 Mizan al-Hikma, p. 429

 

 

Edited March 22 by ServantOfMahdi