Zaydism rejects the concept of a Hidden Imam and stresses that the imams who had been designated by God and His Prophet are restricted to Ali and his two sons, al-Hassan and al-Husayn.14 Moreover, Zaydism accepts the possibility of having more than one imam at a time and acknowledges that an imam is a temporal and spiritual leader who can be disposed and replaced by another. This philosophy of Zaydi governance encouraged numerous armed conflicts between Zaydi rulers and imamate-ambitious persons. Also, the Zaydi madhhab is pragmatic to the extent that it accepts “the rule of the less preferred [but still qualified] over the rule of the preferred [but unavailable].”15 This distinguishing feature of Zaydism is known in the circles of Islamic religious scholars as “taqdim al-mafdul ala al-fadil.”