He—may Allah have mercy on him—also said:

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Those who follow their own desires hold various views concerning the fighting between Alī and those who fought him.

The Khārijites declare both warring parties to be unbelievers. (*)

The Rāfidah declare those who fought Alī to be unbelievers, despite the mass-transmitted reports that he treated them as Muslims and forbade declaring them unbelievers. Concerning the fighting involving Talhah, al-Zubayr, and Ā’ishah, they hold three views:

The first is to declare one of the two parties to be transgressors, without specifying which. This is the view of Amr ibn Ubayd and his followers.

The second is to declare those who fought him to be transgressors, except those who repented. They say that Talhah, al-Zubayr, and Ā’ishah repented. This is what follows from the views reported from the majority of them, such as Abū al-Hudhayl and his followers, Abū al-Husayn, and others.

Some people held that he was mistaken in fighting Talhah and al-Zubayr, but not in fighting the people of Syria.

In short, the adherents of religious innovation—the Khārijites, the Rāfidah, the Muʿtazilah, and others like them—regard participation in the fighting as grounds for a judgment of unbelief or transgression.