The fundamental doctrine of the Rāfidah is that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, explicitly designated ‘Alī in terms that left no room for excuse; that he is an infallible imam and whoever opposes him becomes a disbeliever; and that the Emigrants and the Helpers concealed this designation, rejected the infallible imam, followed their desires, altered the religion, changed the religious law, acted unjustly, and transgressed. Indeed, they hold that all became disbelievers except a small number—ten-odd people, or more. They then say that Abū Bakr, ‘Umar, and others like them had always been hypocrites. Sometimes, however, they say that these men first believed and then became disbelievers.

Most of them declare anyone who disagrees with their doctrine a disbeliever. They call themselves the believers and those who oppose them disbelievers. They regard Muslim cities in which their doctrines do not prevail as a domain of apostasy, worse than the cities of the polytheists and Christians. For this reason, they ally themselves with Jews, Christians, and polytheists against sections of the Muslim majority, supporting hostility and warfare against them. Thus, their alliances with disbelieving polytheists against the Muslim majority are well known, as are their alliances with the Christian Franks and with the Jews against the Muslim majority.

From among them emerged the principal forms of heresy and hypocrisy, such as the heresy of the esoteric Qarmatians and others like them. There is no doubt that, of all the groups of religious innovators, they are the furthest removed from the Quran and Sunnah. Hence, they became widely known among ordinary people for their opposition to the Sunnah. Most ordinary people recognize no opposite of a Sunni other than a Rāfidī. Thus, when one of them says, “I am a Sunni,” he means only, “I am not a Rāfidī.”

There is no doubt that they are worse than the Khawārij. Yet the Khawārij wielded the sword against the Muslim community in the early days of Islam, while the Rāfidah’s alliances with the disbelievers are more grievous than the swords of