—the Bātiniyyah—is worse than that of the extremists who believe in the divinity of Ali, may Allah be pleased with him. As for the challenges to their lineage, these have been reported from the great majority of the Muslim community’s scholars across its various groups. Other groups besides them held the caliphate, and some of them were guilty of innovation and oppression. Yet people did not challenge any of their lineages as they challenged these people’s lineage, nor accuse them of heresy and hypocrisy as they accused these people.

Various groups among Ali’s descendants rose up, from both the descendants of al-Hasan and those of al-Husayn, including Muhammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Hasan, his brother Ibrāhīm ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Hasan, and others like them. No one, whether an enemy or otherwise, questioned either their lineage or their Islam. The same applies to al-Dāʿī, who established himself in Tabaristān, and other descendants of Ali, as well as the Banū Hammūd, who seized power in al-Andalus for a time. No one challenged the lineage or Islam of these people and others like them.

A number of the descendants of Abū Tālib were killed in struggles over the caliphate, especially under Abbasid rule, while others, such as Mūsā ibn Jaʿfar, were imprisoned. Yet their enemies did not challenge their lineage or religion.

The reason is that well-known lineages are plain and repeatedly attested, like the sun, whose light no enemy can extinguish. Likewise, a man’s Islam and the soundness of his faith in Allah and the Messenger are not hidden matters. When someone’s lineage and religion are so widely known, an enemy could not discredit them even if he wished to do so. Such matters are transmitted by many people with ample interest and incentive to report them. Nor could the scholars unanimously agree on such a denial.