; rather, he shares this equally with all members of the household. Those furthest from observing this counsel are the Rāfida (rejectionists), for they are hostile to al-‘Abbās and his descendants. Indeed, they are hostile to most members of the household and assist the unbelievers against them.

As for the verse of mubāhala (mutual invocation of Allah’s curse), it does not establish a distinction unique to him. Rather, the Prophet summoned ‘Alī, Fātima, and their two sons—not because they were the best members of the Muslim community, but because they were the closest members of his household, as in the hadith of the cloak:

“O Allah, these are the members of my household, so remove impurity from them and purify them completely.”

He thus supplicated for them and singled them out. The word “selves” can refer to people of the same kind, as in His words:

“The believing men and women thought well of themselves.”

And He said:

“So kill yourselves,”

meaning that some of you should kill others. Likewise, the Prophet’s words:

“You are of me, and I am of you,”

do not mean that ‘Alī is part of his very being. There is no doubt that ‘Alī holds the highest standing among the Prophet’s relatives: he possesses a distinction through kinship and faith that none of the other relatives possesses. He was therefore included in the mubāhala. This does not preclude someone outside the Prophet’s relatives from being superior to him, since the mubāhala involved his relatives.

As for His words:

“These are two adversaries,”

and the rest of the verse, it applies equally to ‘Alī, Hamza, and ‘Ubayda. Indeed, all the others who fought at Badr share in its application.

As for the surah beginning:

“Has there come upon man…,”

the claim that it was revealed concerning him, Fātima, and their two sons is false, because it is a Meccan surah, whereas al-Hasan and al-Husayn were born in Medina. Even supposing that claim were true, nothing in it establishes that someone who feeds a needy person, an orphan, and a captive is the best of the Companions. Rather, the verse is general and applies equally to anyone who does this. It indicates that such a person deserves a reward for this deed, although other deeds—such as faith in Allah, prayer at its appointed time, and jihad—are superior to it.