The Wil?ya verse of the Holy Qura'n is believed by the Shiite Ulama as well as a majority of the Sunnite Qura'n exegetes to have been revealed in respect of the innocent Imam ‘Al?, when he granted his ring to a beggar while he was in a state of bowing in saying a prayer. The verse in question is regarded by the Shiites to be one of the most important verses which prove the principle of imamate in general and that of the Infallible Imam ‘Al? in specific. The Shiites' argument was responded by the Sunnite Ulama's several counter-arguments, each of which received adequate answers in Shiite theological works as well as Qura'n exegeses. According to the author, the only controversy which has not received the appropriate answer in Shiite texts is the one raised by the great Sunnite exegete Mahmud al-?l?s?, in which the necessity of believing in the imamate of other Infallible Imams is refuted. The present article is an answer to his controversy.
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