I wished, I could provide loads of commentary on the Opening of the Book,” and so forth. If such a statement is authentically reported from the person to whom it is attributed, such as ‘Alī or someone else, it offers no evidence for an inward meaning that contradicts the outward meaning. Rather, it would concern a sound inward meaning consistent with the sound outward meaning. As explained earlier, if “inward meaning” refers to something that does not contradict the known outward meaning, it may be true or false. It should, however, be understood that more lies have been attributed to ‘Alī and his household—especially Ja‘far al-Sādiq—than to other Companions. Indeed, the Ismā‘īliyyah and Nusayriyyah attribute their doctrines to him, as do the Mu‘tazilah.

Likewise, a group of Sufis claim that al-Hasan al-Basrī was his companion, and that ‘Alī entered the mosque and saw al-Hasan preaching among the storytellers. He asked him, “What makes religion sound?” He replied, “Scrupulousness.”

He asked, “And what corrupts it?” He replied, “Greed.” So he allowed him to remain and expelled the others.

Yet experts in transmitted reports agree that al-Hasan was not a companion of ‘Alī and learned nothing directly from him. Rather, he learned from his companions, such as al-Ahnaf ibn Qays, Qays ibn Sa‘d ibn ‘Abbād, and others like them. Al-Hasan did not preach during ‘Alī’s time, nor even during Mu‘āwiyah’s time; he only began doing so later.

People were already attributing lies to ‘Alī during his lifetime, to the point that people would question him about this. As established in the two Sahīhs, he was asked:

“Do you have a document from the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, which you read?”

He replied, “No, by Him who split the seed and created the living soul, except this sheet.” It contains the ages of camels, the release of captives, and the stipulation that a Muslim is not to be killed for a disbeliever.

In another wording: “Were you entrusted