As for Abū Bakr, Umar, and Uthmān(1), no one in the Muslim community criticizes them except the Rāfida. The Khawārij, who declare Alī an unbeliever, are loyal to Abū Bakr and Umar and invoke Allah’s pleasure upon them both. The Marwānids, who accuse Alī of injustice and say that he was not a caliph, are likewise loyal to Abū Bakr and Umar, even though neither was related to them. How, then, can it be said that Alī was declared above reproach by supporter(2) and opponent alike, unlike the three caliphs?
It is well known that those who declare the three caliphs above reproach are greater, more numerous, and more virtuous, whereas those who criticize Alī—even(3) charging him with unbelief, iniquity, and disobedience—comprise well-known groups. They are more learned and more religious than the Rāfida, who are no match for them in either knowledge or power. The Rāfida can neither establish a decisive argument against them nor overcome them in battle.
Among those who criticized Alī—may Allah be pleased with him—and deemed him an unbeliever and an unjust man, there is no group known to have apostatized from Islam. This is unlike those who praise him while criticizing the other three, such as the extremists among the Nusayris and others who claim that he is divine; the heretical Ismailis, who are worse than the Nusayris; and the extremists who claim that he was a prophet. These are unbelieving apostates whose unbelief