those who came after them—from among the freed captives and others, such as Abū Sufyān ibn Harb and his two sons, Muāwiya and Yazīd; Abū Sufyān ibn al-Hārith ibn Abd al-Muttalib; Rabīa ibn al-Hārith ibn Abd al-Muttalib; Aqīl ibn Abū Tālib; and others like them—were of nobler lineage than they were. These men belonged to Banū Abd Manāf and came from a more illustrious house, whereas the others possessed no noble lineage. Yet the latter were deemed superior to them (1) because Allah favored those who spent and fought before the Conquest over those who spent and fought afterward. How much more so, then, when compared with those who came after these men!

As for the Rāfidis, they—if they take [A, M: “for if they take”; B: “for should they take”] lineage into account—must (2) regard Muhammad ibn Abū Bakr as having the worst lineage of all (3), given the reprehensible things they say about his father and sister. By their own principle, therefore, they may not regard him as superior on account of his kinship with the two of them (4). If they invoke this as an argument binding upon Ahl al-Sunnah, then Ahl al-Sunnah regard as superior those whom Allah has favored, for He says:

“Indeed, the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of you.”

[Surah al-Hujurāt: 13]

[The Rāfidi’s Allegations Concerning Muāwiya—May Allah Be Pleased with Him—and the Response to Them]

(Chapter)

R, S, H: “The Twenty-Eighth Chapter.”

The Rāfidi said in (K), p. 113 (M): “Even though the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—cursed Muāwiya, the freed captive and son of a freed captive, the accursed [son of the accursed] (5), and said: ‘If