the proofs (1) they cite to establish the necessity of an infallible leader, and I demonstrated (2) the internal contradiction of that principle, the impossibility of making divine obligation contingent upon it, and that it ultimately amounts to charging people with what they cannot bear (3). I presented these arguments to the most capable among them, and—being fair in our exchange—he acknowledged their validity; yet this is not the place to expand on that (4).
What concerns us here is their appeal (5) to consensus. So we said to them: We do not concede that none of the Imams (6) ever claimed textual designation for anyone other than ʿAli. On the contrary, several Sunni scholars state that Abu Bakr’s caliphate was established by explicit designation: some hold that it came by an evident text, while others say it was by an implicit one. Moreover, the Rawandiyyah (7) assert
(1) In both the manuscript (s) and the printed edition (t): “ad-dalāla” (the indication).
(2) In the manuscript (s): “baninat.”
(3) In the manuscript (s): “māl yutāq.” This is a scribal error.
(4) It may be that the Shaykh—may Allah have mercy on him—meant Ibn al-Mutahhar al-‘Ali (648–726 AH), one of the staunch defenders of Shi‘ism and author of Manāhij al-Karāma fī Ma‘rifat al-Imāma. Shaykh al-Islām refuted this work in his major treatise Minhāj al-Sunna al-Nabawiyya fī Naqd Kalam al-Shī‘a wa al-Qadiriyya, after those who had brought it to him—may Allah have mercy on him—urged him to expose its heretical errors and false arguments, thereby aiding the believing servants of Allah and demonstrating the falsity of the atheistic fabrications. See pages 1–2 of Minhāj al-Sunna al-Nabawiyya by Ibn Taymiyya.
(5) In both the manuscript (s) and the printed edition (t): “wa al-iḥtijāj” (and the proof).
(6) In the original text: “al-a’imma” (the imams). I have retained what I judged correct from both the manuscript and the printed edition.
(7) In the printed edition: “al-Rawandiya.” Al-Rawandiya was a Mu‘tazila sect named after Abū’l-Ḥusayn Aḥmad ibn Yaḥyā ibn Isḥāq al-Rawandi (or Ibn al-Rawandi), so called from Rawand, near Isfahan. He was a philosopher who openly professed atheism and attacked the Qur’ān. Ibn Ḥajar reports that he began as a Mu‘tazila theologian, later apostatized, and became known for atheism; he died in 298 AH. See al-Muntaẓam by Ibn al-Jawzī, vol. 6: 99–105; Lisan al-Mīzān by Ibn Ḥajar.