The Isma'ilis believe that besides prophets, God's Speech also illuminates the souls of the Legatees and Imams, through the medium of the Holy Spirit, which allows them to perform many of the spiritual functions of Muhammad. For example, in the Isma'ili hierarchical ranks (da’wa), Muhammad is the Messenger, Imam ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib (Ali) is his Legatee, and his successors from Imam Husayn ibn Ali to the Fatimid Caliphs (Fatimid Caliphate) are the Imams. As a result of being divinely inspired (muʾayyad), the Prophets, Legatees, and Imams can perform taʾwīl and disclose it as instruction (taʿlīm) to the lower ranks of the Ismaili da’wa, including regular people.
The Isma'ilis believe that besides prophets, God's Speech also illuminates the souls of the Legatees and Imams, through the medium of the Holy Spirit, which allows them to perform many of the spiritual functions of Muhammad. For example, in the Isma'ili hierarchical ranks (da’wa), Muhammad is the Messenger, Imam ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib (Ali) is his Legatee, and his successors from Imam Husayn ibn Ali to the Fatimid Caliphs (Fatimid Caliphate) are the Imams. As a result of being divinely inspired (muʾayyad), the Prophets Legatees, and Imams can perform taʾwīl and disclose it as instruction (taʿlīm) to the lower ranks of the Ismaili da’wa, including regular people.