Election

Unlike Sunni qadar-fatalism, Shia Islam has its own robust doctrine of specific divine election - God appointing Ali and his descendants as the Imamate’s infallible successors. This can serve as an analogical bridge (the concept of God specifically choosing particular individuals is already familiar) but risks importing the Imamate’s specific lineage-based, ongoing-office content onto Romans 9’s different argument about election to salvation through faith.