and other leading Mu'tazilīs. Regarding the participants in the Battle of the Camel, they say: “One of the two factions was guilty of iniquity, though without identifying which one.” These people also declare Muāwiyah guilty of iniquity. Another group says (1): “Alī was the wrongdoer, not Muāwiyah,” as [this] is maintained by the Marwānids (2). Another group says (3): “At first, he was in the right (4), but when he appointed the two arbiters, he disbelieved and apostatized [from Islam] (5), and he died an unbeliever.” These are the Khawārij.

Thus, the Khawārij, the Marwānids, many of the Mu'tazilah, and others disparage Alī—may Allah be pleased with him. They are all mistaken in this: they are misguided innovators. The error of the Shīah in disparaging Abū Bakr and Umar is graver than the error of those people. If a defender (6) of Alī says:

(* “Those whom Alī fought were rebels. It is authentically established that the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—said to Ammār ibn Yāsir—may Allah be pleased with him—, ‘The rebellious faction will kill you’ (7). They were the ones who killed Ammār.”

People hold several views on this. Some have criticized (8) the hadith of Ammār, while others have interpreted bāghī as “one who seeks,” but this is a weak interpretation. As for the early generations and leading scholars, most of them—such as Abū Hanīfah