and cite the texts attesting to the validity of their caliphates. They say:

“Their caliphates were established when those who wielded power pledged allegiance to them, and those who wielded power likewise pledged allegiance to Alī. Although they did not unite behind him as they had behind his predecessors, there is no doubt that their pledge gave him authority and power. The text establishes that his caliphate (1) was a caliphate of prophethood.

“As for those who withheld their pledge from him, their excuse was clearer than that of Sa'd ibn Ubādah and others when they withheld their pledge from Abū Bakr—even though, in the end, no one but Sa'd alone persisted in withholding his pledge. Alī and the others, however, pledged allegiance to al-Siddīq, and this is undisputed. It has nevertheless been said that they (2) delayed pledging allegiance to him (3) for six months and then did so.”

They say to the Shia:

“Alī either initially refrained from pledging allegiance to Abū Bakr and then pledged allegiance to him after six months—as one group of Ahl al-Sunnah, along with the Shia, maintains—or he pledged allegiance to him on the first day, as another group maintains. If the latter view is correct, the Shia’s claim that he withheld his pledge is false, and it is established that he was among the very first to pledge allegiance to him. If the former view is correct, the excuse of those who withheld their pledge from Alī is clearer than that of those who withheld their pledge from Abū Bakr, because the textual evidence and consensus establishing Abū Bakr’s caliphate have no equivalent in Alī’s caliphate (4). The two Sahih collections contain nothing indicating his caliphate; it was reported only by the compilers of the Sunan collections.”