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Definition of "imamate" [imamate]

  • Islam The office of an imam. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "imamate" in a sentence
  • "The very first Islamic schism between the Sunni's literally-deist absolutism, and the anthropomorphic rationalism based on the imamate and the cult of saints in the Shiism, had its early beginnings in Egypt."
  • "What we are witnessing is a contest between the Shiite idea of an imamate, where, essentially, God is the head of state, versus the Republic, in which the people rule."
  • "The latter saying has been particularly important for Shias who used it in support of for the right of Muhammad's descendants to the imamate."