Editing Imam (section)

==Imams as secular rulers==
At times, imams have held both secular and religious authority. This was the case in [[Oman]] among the [[Kharijite]] or [[Ibadi]] sects. At times, the imams were elected. At other times the position was inherited, as with the [[Yaruba dynasty]] from 1624 and 1742. See [[List of rulers of Oman]], the [[Rustamid dynasty]]: 776–909, [[Nabhani dynasty]]: 1154–1624, the [[Yaruba dynasty]]: 1624–1742, the [[Al Said]]: 1744–present for further information.<ref>{{cite book|pages=50, 437|last=Miles|first=Samuel Barrett|author-link=Samuel Barrett Miles|title=The Countries and Tribes of the Persian Gulf|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dbsOoPpZiSEC&pg=PA50|access-date=2013-11-15|year=1919|publisher=Garnet Pub.|isbn=978-1-873938-56-0}}</ref> The [[Imamate of Futa Jallon]] (1727–1896) was a [[Fula people|Fulani]] state in West Africa where secular power alternated between two lines of hereditary Imams, or ''almami''.<ref>{{cite book|page=365|last1=Holt|first1=P. M.|last2=Holt|first2=Peter Malcolm|last3=Lambton|first3=Ann K. S.|author4=Bernard Lewis|title=The Cambridge History of Islam|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y99jTbxNbSAC&pg=PA365|date=1977-04-21|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-29137-8}}</ref> In the [[Zaidiyyah|Zaidi]] [[Shia Islam|Shiite]] sect, imams were secular as well as spiritual leaders who held power in [[Yemen]] for more than a thousand years. In 897, a Zaidi ruler, [[al-Hadi ila'l-Haqq Yahya]], founded a line of such imams, a theocratic form of government which survived until the second half of the 20th century (See details under [[Zaidiyyah]], [[History of Yemen]], [[Imams of Yemen]]). [[List of Saudi rulers|Saudi leaders]] were also referred to as "Imams", until that term was retired by [[Ibn Saud]] to be replaced by "king".

[[Ruhollah Khomeini]] is officially referred to as Imam in [[Iran]]. Several Iranian places and institutions are named "Imam Khomeini", including a [[Bandar-e Emam Khomeyni|city]], an [[Tehran Imam Khomeini International Airport|international airport]], a [[Imam Khomeini Hospital Complex|hospital]], and a [[Imam Khomeini International University|university]].