Third: This statement cannot legitimately be attributed to the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—for his alleged words:

“I am the warner, and through you, O Alī, those who are guided receive guidance”

apparently mean that they are guided through you rather than through me. No Muslim would say this, for its apparent meaning is that warning and guidance are divided between the two of them: one is a warner through whom no one is guided, while the other is a guide. [And this](1) is something no Muslim would say.

Fourth: Allah Most High has made Muhammad a guide, saying:

“You indeed guide to a straight path—the path of Allah.”

[Surah al-Shūrā: 52–53]

How, then, can someone who was not described as such be deemed the guide instead of the one who was described as such?!

Fifth: His statement, “Through you those who are guided receive guidance,” apparently means that everyone from Muhammad’s nation who attained guidance did so through him. This is a manifest lie. Many people believed in the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—were guided through him, and entered Paradise without ever hearing a single word from Alī. Indeed, most of those who believed in the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—and were guided through him did not receive any guidance from Alī whatsoever. Likewise, when the various lands were conquered and people came to believe and were guided through the Companions and others who settled there, the great majority of the believers had heard nothing from Alī. How, then, can it be said, “Through you those who are guided receive guidance”?!