whatsoever. Rather, it informs that Allah perfected the religion, completed His favor upon the believers, and was pleased with Islam as their religion. Thus, the claimant’s assertion that the Quran indicates Alī’s imamate in this respect is manifestly false.

If he says, “The hadith indicates that,” the response is: If the hadith is authentic, then the proof comes from the hadith, not the verse. If it is not authentic, then neither the hadith nor the verse provides any proof.

On either supposition, the verse does not indicate that. This is also one of the grounds by which (1) the hadith is shown to be false, for it is contradictory to claim that the verse was revealed for this reason when it contains absolutely nothing indicating it.

Fifth:

The wording:

“O Allah, befriend whoever befriends him, oppose whoever opposes him, support whoever supports him, and forsake whoever forsakes him”

is false by the unanimous agreement of scholars knowledgeable in hadith.

As for the statement:

“Whoever has me as his mawlā has Alī as his mawlā,”

there are two views concerning it, which we shall mention in its proper place, Allah willing.

Sixth:

The Prophet’s supplication—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—is answered, whereas this supplication was not answered. It is therefore known that it was not among the supplications of the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace.

It is well known that when Alī assumed the caliphate, the Companions and the rest of the Muslims fell into three groups: one group fought alongside him, another fought against him, and a third abstained from both sides. Most of the earliest forerunners were among those who abstained.

It has also been said that some of the earliest forerunners fought against him. Ibn Hazm stated that Ammār ibn Yāsir was killed by Abū al-Ghādiyah (2), and that Abū al-Ghādiyah