This article is an introduction to the knowledge of the Imams and aims to acquire a clear view of the reasons for the knowledge of the Imams and the disagreements between the Shiite and the Sunnite about this subject. It is evident from the sayings of Shiite and Sunnite scholars that the ‘knowledge of the Imams’ is the vast knowledge of Imam about different matters and issues which is prominent in both its vast scope and its profoundness in comparison to any other person's knowledge. The Shiite believes that vast knowledge for the Imams is one of the necessary cases of Imamate; but the Sunnite does not regard it a necessary case as the Shiite does. This paper states some of the Shiite and Sunnite reasons for acceptance or rejection of the knowledge of the Imams. It concludes that the basis of the disagreements between the Shiite and Sunnite in this matter is natural. The Shiite regards Imamate as theosophical and ideological principles, whereas the Sunnite considers it as jurisprudential issues. The Sunnites have different ideas for the rejection or verification of the knowledge of the Imams and the conditions and characteristics of them. But Shiite scholars have similar ideas in intellectual verification of the knowledge of Imam; however they have different points of view in its quality. The Shiite theosophy in comparison to Sunnite's has a dynamic and rational characteristic. This prominence is clear when one observes their viewpoints about ideological issues and the manner of explication and interpretation of these issues.
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