More than one of the scholars stated that the first person to introduce Rāfidism and the doctrine that Alī had been expressly designated and was infallible was a hypocritical heretic who sought to corrupt the religion of Islam. He wanted to do to the Muslims what Paul had done to the Christians. However, he was unable to achieve what Paul achieved, because the Christians’ religion and reason were weak. The Messiah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—was raised up when he did not yet have many followers who knew his religion and upheld it in knowledge and practice. When Paul introduced his baseless claims concerning the Messiah, various groups followed him in this, embraced exaggeration concerning the Messiah, and were joined by kings. The people of truth then rose against them, opposed them, and denounced them. The kings killed some of them and dealt leniently with others, while still others withdrew (1) into hermitages and monasteries.

This Muslim community—praise be to Allah—will always contain a group that remains manifest upon the truth. Thus, no heretic or innovator can corrupt it through extremism or prevail over the people of truth (2). Nevertheless, whoever follows such a person in his misguidance will go astray.

Moreover, the representatives of their purported infallible imam are not themselves infallible (3) in particular cases. Given this, it may be said:

If infallibility does not in fact exist in particular cases and is possible only with respect to general principles, Allah Most High is able to state those principles explicitly, so that neither the imam nor anyone else is needed in order to know them. He is also able to make the Prophet’s explicit statement more complete than the imam’s. In that case, there is no need for the imam’s infallibility, whether with respect to general principles or particular cases.