and grant him peace—about them (1):

“One of you would deem his own prayer insignificant beside theirs, his fasting beside theirs, and his recitation beside theirs. They recite the Quran, but it does not go beyond their throats. They pass out of Islam as an arrow passes through its quarry. Wherever you encounter them, kill them.” (2)

These people declare Alī an unbeliever and deem it lawful to kill him. Indeed, he was killed by one of them—Abd al-Rahmān ibn Muljam al-Murādī—despite his being among the most devout of people.

The people of knowledge and the Sunnah have a greater need to establish Alī’s faith, uprightness, and religious commitment—in refutation of these people—than they have to debate the Shia. For these people are more truthful and devout, and the specious arguments (3) they invoke are more formidable than the specious arguments (4) invoked by the Shia. Similarly, concerning the Messiah—may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him—Muslims need to debate both the Jews and the Christians. They must refute the Jews’ charge that he was a liar and the child of fornication, as well as the Christians’ claim that he is divine. The Jews’ arguments are more formidable than those of the Christians, and they advance specious arguments that the Christians are unable to answer; only the Muslims can answer them. Likewise, the Nawāsib have specious arguments (5)