Uthmān, and that no one remained among the Companions who equaled him during his caliphate, just as the same had been true of Uthmān. No Muslim ever disputed Ali’s imamate and caliphate, nor did even two people contend that anyone else was more entitled to the imamate than he, much less fight over it. The same was true of Abū Bakr and Umar—may Allah be pleased with them both.
In short, anyone acquainted with the circumstances of the early community knows as a matter of necessity that there was no contention among the Muslims between two factions (1) over the imamate of the three, much less any fighting.
The same applies to Ali: no two factions contended that anyone else was more entitled to the imamate than he. Although some people were averse to the rule of one of the four, that was inevitable. There were people who hated the prophethood of Muhammad—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—so how could there not have been among them some who disliked the imamate of certain caliphs?
Yet there was no overt dispute among the factions concerning this in speech, much less by the sword. This was unlike the disagreements among scholars over positions well known to them, whether in practical questions or theoretical doctrines (2). Two groups may meet and dispute and debate some questions.
At the time of the four caliphs, however, there were no two factions between which a dispute openly arose (3),