and Abū Sufyān ibn al-Hārith ibn Abd al-Muttalib, and Rabīʿa ibn al-Hārith ibn Abd al-Muttalib (1).

The same applies to al-Abbās, for he met the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—on the road while the Prophet was heading to Mecca; he had not reached Medina. Likewise, Abū Sufyān ibn al-Hārith ibn Abd al-Muttalib, the Prophet’s cousin—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—[who is not Abū Sufyān ibn Harb] (2), had been a poet who lampooned the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace. He met him on the road and was among those whose adherence to Islam proved excellent. He and al-Abbās were with the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—on the day of Hunayn [when the people fled, the two of them holding on to his mule] (3).

If these, then, are the ranks of the Companions according to the People of the Sunnah, as established by the Quran and the sunnah; and if they agree that Muʿāwiya and others like him, among the converts of the Conquest, rank below those who embraced Islam after al-Hudaybiya; that the latter rank below the earliest forerunners, the people of al-Hudaybiya; that those who participated in Badr are superior to those who did not (4); and that Alī is superior to the great majority of all these—none besides the three was given precedence over him—then how can the People of the Sunnah be accused of equating him with Muʿāwiya or preferring Muʿāwiya to him?

It is true that a large faction (5) of the Marwānids and others sided with Muʿāwiya, including those who fought alongside him and their later followers. They say: “In fighting Alī, he was upon the truth, exercised independent judgment, and reached the correct conclusion, whereas Alī and those with him were either wrongdoers or exercised independent judgment (6) but were mistaken.” Indeed, works have been composed