Moreover, the reproach directed at ʿAlī by ʿĀʾisha, the majority of the Companions, and the majority of Muslims was greater than their reproach of ʿUthmān. If the latter constitutes grounds for blaming ʿUthmān, then the former constitutes grounds for blaming ʿAlī; but if it does not constitute grounds for blaming ʿAlī, neither does it constitute grounds for blaming ʿUthmān (1).

If the intent is thereby to impugn ʿĀʾisha because she reproached (2) ʿUthmān and ʿAlī, then her position in this was shared by the majority of the Companions, although their degrees of reproach differed.

If the intent is to impugn them all—ʿUthmān, ʿAlī, Talha, al-Zubayr, ʿĀʾisha, the one who reproached, and the one reproached—it may be replied (3): We do not claim that any of them was protected from every sin. Rather, we maintain that they were among the God-fearing allies of Allah, His successful party, and His righteous servants, and that they were among the foremost people of Paradise.

We say: [Indeed] (4) sins may be committed even by those among the sincerely truthful who are superior to them, and by those who rank above the sincerely truthful. However, the punishment for sins is lifted through repentance (5), seeking forgiveness, good deeds that erase sins, expiating afflictions, and other such means. These individuals possessed repentance, seeking forgiveness, and good deeds to a degree that those beneath them did not. They were also afflicted with tribulations through which Allah expiated their sins—tribulations that those beneath them did not undergo. Thus, they have commendable striving and accepted righteous deeds to a degree unmatched by those who came after them, and they are more deserving than others who came after them of having their sins forgiven.