and ‘Alī and those who sided with them are not believers, because they ruled by other than what Allah has revealed.” Thus, their innovation rested on two premises.

The first was that anyone who contravenes the Quran through an action or a mistaken opinion is a disbeliever.

The second was that ‘Uthmān, ‘Alī, and those who sided with them had done so. For this reason, one must guard against declaring Muslims disbelievers on account of sins and errors. This was the first innovation to appear in Islam: its adherents declared Muslims disbelievers and deemed their blood and property lawful. Authentic hadiths from the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, condemn them and command that they be fought. Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal, may Allah be pleased with him, said: “The hadiths concerning them have been authentically transmitted through ten routes.” Muslim therefore included them in his Sahīh, while al-Bukhārī recorded a selection of them separately.

Despite this condemnation, they sought only to follow the Quran. How much worse, then, is someone whose innovation consists in opposing the Quran and turning away from it, while also declaring Muslims disbelievers—as the Jahmiyyah do?

Then, when the Shī‘ah emerged, the person who introduced Shiism was not motivated by religion; rather, his purpose was corrupt. It has even been said that he was a hypocrite and a heretic. Their innovation is therefore founded upon fabricating lies against the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and rejecting authentic hadiths as false. Hence, lying is more prevalent among them than among any other sect of the Muslim community. This is unlike the Khawārij, among whom no one is known to lie.