First: truth does not invariably follow any particular individual except the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace. Were this otherwise, that individual would have to be followed in everything he said. Yet it is well known that the Companions and ‘Alī’s own followers disagreed with him on matters in which scriptural evidence supported those who opposed his view, as in the case of a pregnant widow.

The wording:

“O Allah, grant victory to whoever supports him…” and so forth,

contradicts what actually occurred. Some people fought alongside him at Siffīn but were not victorious, while others did not fight alongside him yet were not forsaken. Sa‘d, for example, who conquered Iraq, did not fight alongside him. Likewise, the supporters of Mu‘āwiya and the Umayyads who fought against him conquered many lands of the unbelievers, and Allah granted them victory.

Similarly, the wording:

“O Allah, be an ally to whoever allies himself with him, and an enemy to whoever is hostile to him,”

contradicts a fundamental principle of Islam. The Quran makes clear that believers remain brothers even when they fight one another and some commit aggression against others.

As for the wording:

“Whoever has me as his ally has ‘Alī as his ally,”

some hadith scholars, such as al-Bukhārī and others, have challenged its authenticity, while others have graded it as sound. If he did say it, he did not mean an allegiance exclusive to ‘Alī, but rather a shared allegiance: the bond of faith belonging to all believers. Allegiance is the opposite of hostility, and there is no doubt that believers must be given allegiance over others. Thus, it refutes the Nawāsib (those hostile to the Prophet’s household).

The hadith about “giving a ring in charity during prayer” is a fabrication according to the unanimous agreement of scholars versed in this field. This has been demonstrated in numerous ways, explained at length elsewhere.

As for his words on the day of Ghadīr Khumm:

“I remind you of Allah concerning my household,”

this is not a distinction unique to him