And their claim that the repentance of someone who insults the Companions is not accepted, and that he will remain in Hell forever, is mistaken. Rather, the position of “the early generations and the imams,” including the four imams and others, is that a Rāfidī’s repentance is accepted just as the repentance of others like him is accepted. The purported hadith, “Insulting my Companions is an unforgivable sin,” is baseless; no scholar has transmitted it. Even if it were assumed to be authentic, it would refer to someone who does not repent, for Allah will exact from him what is due to the Companions.

As for someone who repents, Allah Most High has said:

“Say, ‘O My servants who have transgressed against themselves, do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins.’”

This concerns the repentant: He declares that He forgives all sins. If someone insults the Companions believing that doing so is permissible, he is a misguided innovator, like others who have gone astray, and the right involved here belongs to Allah. This is like someone who insults the Messenger, believing him to be a sorcerer or a liar: if that person embraces Islam, Allah accepts his Islam. Likewise, when the truth becomes clear to a Rāfidī and he repents, Allah accepts his repentance. If, however, he acknowledges that such conduct is forbidden, he is a wrongdoer, like someone who slanders and backbites another. Repentance from wrongs committed against others is valid. He should pray for them and praise them in proportion to how much he cursed and insulted them, for good deeds erase evil deeds.

If someone says, “This is a stone,” yet also says, “I cannot say with certainty that this is a stone,” he is mistaken. But if he means, “If I assert with certainty that it is a stone, I have thereby declared Allah incapable of changing it,” he should be told: “Rather, it is certainly a stone now, and Allah is able