According to the Sunni doctrine, the leader of the Muslims, at any given moment, is the Caliph. He is more a temporal ruler than a religious chief; in religious matters, he has merely to follow the shariat. The concept of the Imam, according to the Shias, is totally different. It is here that the fundamental difference between the Shia and the Sunni theology comes in. According to the Shias, Imam is the final interpreter of the laws.
He is the leader not by election, but by divine right as he is successor of the Prophet a descendant of Ali. The Shias hold that no hadith is valid unless it is related by an Imam descended from the Prophet. They accept the authority of the Quran, but say that only the Imam can say what the correct interpretation of the law is.
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According to the Shias, the Imam is the law-giver himself, but as he is hidden, the ‘mujtahid’ corresponding to the Sunni Kazis are his agents, the interpreters of the law. ‘Jltihad’, the power of independent interpretation of the law, therefore, has an altogether different significance in Shia law.
The Shia Mujtahid can give decisions on his own responsibility. The doctrine of qiyas (analogical deduction) and ijma (consensus of opinion), as understood by the Sunnis is not accepted by the Shia school of thought. Therefore, law, according to the Shia school, consists of rules of conduct based on authoritative interpretation of the Quran and the Sunnah and the decisions of the Imams through the mujtahids.