And even if it is assumed that they committed sins, sins do not automatically entail entry into the Fire unless the factors preventing it are absent. There are ten such factors, including repentance, seeking forgiveness, good deeds that erase sins, afflictions that expiate sins, the intercession of the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—the intercession of others, the supplications of believers, rewards gifted to the deceased together with charity and the freeing of slaves on their behalf, the trial of the grave, and the terrors of the Resurrection.

It is established in the two Sahīh collections that the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said:

“The best generation is the generation among whom I was sent, then those who follow them, then those who follow them.”

Thus, anyone who asserts that any one of these people committed a sin for which he will certainly enter the Fire is a liar and a fabricator. Merely speaking without knowledge would make him a purveyor of falsehood; how much worse, then, when he says something that abundant evidence contradicts? Whoever discusses the disputes that arose among them by disparaging them or unjustly taking sides with some of them—something Allah has forbidden—is an unjust transgressor.

It is established in the Sahīh collection that the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said:

“A renegade faction will break away at a time of division among the Muslims. They will be killed by whichever of the two groups is closer to the truth.”

It is also established in the Sahīh collection that he said of al-Hasan:

“This son of mine is a leader, and Allah will bring about reconciliation through him between two great groups of Muslims.”