with the utmost zeal, while others sought to turn people away from him, [some championed ʿAlī, while others sought to turn people away from him] (1).

Moreover, Muʿāwiyah’s followers did not fight alongside him solely on his account; rather, they fought for other reasons. Fighting amid civil strife resembles the fighting of the pre-Islamic period: the aims and beliefs of those involved cannot be reduced to any consistent pattern. As al-Zuhrī said:

“Civil strife erupted while the Companions of the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—were still numerous. They unanimously held that any bloodshed, appropriation of property, or sexual union (2) arising from an interpretation of the Quran entailed no liability. In this respect, they treated those involved like the people of the pre-Islamic period.”

As for what he mentioned about the cursing of ʿAlī, the two factions cursed one another just as they fought one another. Each side would curse the leaders of the other in their supplications. It is also said that each faction would recite qunūt (supplication) against the other. Fighting with one’s hands is graver than cursing with one’s tongue.

All of this applies whether it was a sin or an exercise of independent judgment, whether mistaken or correct. Allah’s forgiveness and mercy encompass such matters through repentance, good deeds that erase sins, afflictions that expiate them, and other such means.

It is furthermore astonishing that the Rāfidah denounce the reviling of ʿAlī even though they themselves revile Abū Bakr, ʿUmar, and ʿUthmān, and declare them—and those who supported them—to be unbelievers. Muʿāwiyah—may Allah be pleased with him—and his followers did not declare ʿAlī an unbeliever. Only the renegade Khawārij declared him an unbeliever, and the Rāfidah are worse than they are. Had the Khawārij denounced such reviling, that would itself have been a contradiction on their part; how much more so when the Rāfidah denounce it!

There is no doubt that it is impermissible to revile any of the Companions—whether ʿAlī, ʿUthmān, or anyone else. Whoever reviles Abū Bakr, ʿUmar, and ʿUthmān incurs a graver sin than one who reviles ʿAlī,