Ali, on killing Uthman, and on other matters (1), for only a very few men held back from that pledge, such as Sa‘d ibn Ubāda (2).

The reason Sa‘d held back is well known. May Allah forgive him and be pleased with him. He was a righteous man, one of the first and foremost among the Ansar, and one of the people of Paradise. As Aisha—may Allah be pleased with her—said during the Incident of the Slander, when Sa‘d began defending Abd Allah ibn Ubayy, the chief of the hypocrites, [she said] (3): “Before that, he had been a righteous man, but tribal zeal carried him away (4)” (5).

We have stated more than once that a righteous man who is attested as destined for Paradise may nevertheless have sins of which he repents, which his good deeds erase, which are expiated through afflictions, or which are removed by other means (6). For when a believer (7) sins, there are ten means by which punishment [of the Fire] may be averted from him (8): three come from him, three from other people, and four are initiated by Allah (9)—repentance, seeking forgiveness, good deeds that erase sins, the believers’ supplications for him (10), their dedicating the reward of righteous deeds to him, the intercession of our Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—and afflictions