The Companions were more obedient to Allah and His Messenger ﷺ, during his lifetime and after his passing, than to dare encroach upon him (1) by advancing someone whom he had not advanced or by delaying the one whom he had expressly preferred—far be it from them, never and by no means. Whoever ascribes such a notion to the Companions, may Allah be pleased with them all, has accused them en masse of debauchery and of conspiring to defy the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, opposing his ruling and his explicit word. Whoever reaches such a position has cast off the yoke of Islam, has disbelieved by the unanimous verdict of the eminent Imams, and the shedding of his blood would be more permissible than the spilling of wine.

Now, if ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, may Allah honor his countenance, truly possessed a textual designation, why did he not cite it as proof against the Companions to establish his authority and leadership over them? If he was unable to enforce the text in his possession, he was powerless, and the powerless is unfit for leadership. If he was able yet failed to act upon it, he was treacherous, and the treacherous, impious man (2) is to be stripped and deposed from authority. If he did not even know the text existed, he was ignorant; and the claim that he recognized and understood it only later (3) is sheer impossibility, fabrication, ignorance, and misguidance. Such fancies appeal only to the minds of the ignorant rabble and the gullible masses: Satan adorns them with no proof or evidence—nothing but arbitrariness, delirium, falsehood, and calumny. We seek refuge in Allah from their confusion, disgrace, muddle, and unbelief, and we take shelter with Allah by clinging to the Sunnah and the Qur’an, dying upon Islam and faith, meeting Him with steadfastness and certainty, with heavy scales, salvation from the Fire, and attainment of the Gardens. Indeed, He is Generous, Bestower of favors, Merciful, Compassionate.

The rigorously authenticated ḥadīth in the Two Ṣaḥīḥs from ʿAlī that we cited earlier constitutes a rebuttal of the claims advanced by many Sufi wayfarers and ignorant storytellers who allege that the Prophet ﷺ left ʿAlī a host of lengthy bequests: “O ʿAlī, do such-and-such; O ʿAlī, do not do such-and-such; O ʿAlī, whoever does such-and-such shall receive such-and-such,” phrased in clumsy language, most of whose meanings are frivolous and many of which are weak (4), not worth the ink spent to blacken a page. Allah knows best.

Al-Ḥāfiẓ al-Bayhaqī (5) has recorded—through the chain of Ḥammād ibn ʿAmr al-Naṣībī, one of the notorious liars and fabricators (6)—from al-Sarrī ibn Khallād, from Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad, from his father, from his grandfather, from ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, from the Prophet ﷺ, who purportedly said:

“O ʿAlī, I counsel you with a counsel; safeguard it, for you will remain in good so long as you safeguard it. O ʿAlī, the believer has three signs: prayer, fasting, and zakāh.”

Al-Bayhaqī remarked: He then cited a lengthy narration on merits and etiquettes, but it is fabricated, and I stipulated at the beginning of this book that I would not include any ḥadīth I know to be fabricated. He then transmitted (7) through the chain of Ḥammād ibn ʿAmr