may mistakenly suppose that certain righteous people have committed major sins, just as the Khawārij mistakenly suppose that ‘Uthmān, ‘Alī, and their followers will remain in Hell forever, and just as some hold similar mistaken beliefs about Mu‘āwiya, ‘Amr ibn al-‘Ās, and others like them. They base their doctrines on two false premises:
The first is that a particular person has committed major sins.
The second is that everyone who commits a major sin will remain in Hell forever.
Both assertions are false. The second is categorically false. As for the first, its falsity may be known, or judgment on it may be withheld.
Anyone who claims that Mu‘āwiya and others like him—whose Islam, prayers, pilgrimage, and fasting were publicly evident—never embraced Islam and remained unbelievers is like someone who makes the same claim about others: al-‘Abbās, Ja‘far, ‘Aqīl, Abū Bakr, ‘Umar, or ‘Uthmān. It is likewise comparable to claiming that al-Hasan and al-Husayn were not the sons of ‘Alī ibn Abī Tālib, but rather the sons of Salmān al-Fārisī; or that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, did not marry the daughters of Abū Bakr and ‘Umar, and did not marry his two daughters to ‘Uthmān.
Indeed, denying Mu‘āwiya’s Islam is more outrageous than denying these matters, for some of them are known only to scholars. Mu‘āwiya’s Islam, however, and his authority over the Muslims as governor and caliph are matters known to the vast majority of people. If anyone were to deny ‘Alī’s Islam or claim that he remained an unbeliever, one could not argue