Among those they accuse are Abu Bakr, ʿUmar, and ʿUthmān—may Allah be pleased with them. As for ʿAlī and the Prophet’s Household—may Allah be pleased with them—they claim that they alone did not apostasize.

There is no doubt that this claim is a lie. By the unanimous agreement of the Muslims, none of the four caliphs ever fell into apostasy; likewise, by consensus, the mass of the Prophet’s Companions never apostatized—apart from a group of Bedouins who had only recently entered Islam. When the Prophet ﷺ passed away they wavered, turned back on their heels, and withheld the zakāh, until the rightly guided caliph Abu Bakr—may Allah be pleased with him—fought them, after which most of them returned to Islam.

Yet the Rāfiḍah, driven by their intense spite and hatred for the Companions, cling to the outward wording of this hadith. Ahl al-Sunnah wa’l-Jamāʿah, however, explain that the hadith is phrased in general terms while only certain individuals are intended—a common feature of many texts. Thus his statement, “My Companions,” does not encompass every one of them, but only those who actually turned back, for the Prophet ﷺ was told, “They never ceased to relapse into apostasy, turning on their heels, from the moment you left them.”

It is universally known that the rightly guided caliphs and the bulk of the Companions did not apostasize; had they done so, we would have no remaining confidence in the revealed law. Therefore, disparaging the Companions necessarily entails disparaging Allah’s law, disparaging the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and ultimately disparaging Allah, Lord of all creation.

Those who revile the Companions commit thereby four grave enormities—Allah’s protection is sought: disparaging the Companions, disparaging the divine law, disparaging