Nasr Dabashi argues that Khomeini's theory of Ismah from faith was connected to his theory of . If the truly faithful possessed Ismah, and if Khomeini and the most learned and pious Islamic jurists were truly faithful, than this would reassure Shi'ites hesitant about granting the same ruling authority to Khomeini and his successors that Shi'ites traditionally believed was reserved for the 12th Imam (Mahdi) on his return. According to Dabashi, Khomeini's theory helped "to secure the all-important attribute of infallibility for himself as a member of the "awliyah" (friends of God), by eliminating the theological problems of undermining the expectation of the Mahdi. "