They entered a cave where no one dwelt. The Siddiq grew uneasy, fearful of what might occur, and the Messenger said, “What do you think of two men when Allah is the third?” Tranquillity descended, the dread of calamity melted away, anxiety vanished, and the sojourner’s stay became pleasant. Then the herald of victory proclaimed from the heights of the minarets in every land: “the second of the two when the two were in the cave” (At-Tawbah 40).

By Allah, loving him is the very core of true monotheism, while hating him betrays a foul heart. He is the best of the Companions and the kinsfolk alike, and the proof of this is decisive; were his leadership unsound, the Son of the Hanifiyyah would never have accepted it. Steady, steady—­the blood of the Rafidites is already boiling!

By Allah, we love him not out of caprice, nor do we slight others out of whim. Rather, we have taken the word of ʿAlī – and that suffices us: “The Messenger of Allah was pleased with you for our religion; shall we not, then, be pleased with you for our worldly affairs?”(1) By God, you have exacted retribution from the Rafidites.

By God, the Siddiq’s right is incumbent upon us; we discharge it by celebrating his praises and by affirming, with clear Sunni sight, whatever should be affirmed. Whoever is a Rafidite, let him stay away from us and say instead, “I have my excuses.”

Note
• Keep away from anyone who shows enmity toward the people of the Book and the Sunnah, lest his ruin infect you.
• Beware of two enemies by whom most of mankind has perished: one who blocks the path to Allah with his specious doubts and flowery speech, and one who is infatuated with his worldly life and leadership.
• Whoever has been endowed with a faculty and readiness for something finds his delight in exercising that faculty