Is it possible for a time to be without an imam who fulfills his responsibilities?

Question : Is it possible for a time to be without a Muslim imam who fulfills his responsibilities?

Answer : As for the general imamate, it is possible, and this has occurred since the time of the Companions. Since the time of the Companions, the Muslim community has been without a general imam, such as when Ibn al-Zubayr was in Makkah, the Umayyads were in Sham, and other groups were in Iraq, meaning from that time onward. If we were to say that the imamate is not established and that obedience to the rulers in every market on earth is not obligatory, then there would be no imams for people now. The supreme imamate is obligatory to the extent possible, but if it is not possible, as in the present time and many times before it, then whoever takes charge of a region is the imam of that region.