and in humiliating the disbelievers and hypocrites was greater than Alī’s, and that the disbelievers and hypocrites—the Messenger’s enemies—hated him more intensely than they hated Alī.

For this reason, the man who killed Umar was a disbeliever who hated Islam, the Messenger, and his community. He killed Umar out of hatred for the Messenger, his religion, and his community. The man who killed Alī, however, used to pray, fast, and recite the Quran. He killed him believing that Allah and His Messenger desired Alī’s death, and he did so out of love for Allah and His Messenger—or so he claimed—even though he was, in this, a misguided innovator.

The point is that the hypocrisy manifested in hatred of Umar is more evident than that manifested in hatred of Alī. Because the Rāfida were among the most hypocritical sects, they used to call Umar “the Pharaoh of the Muslim community.” They also professed loyalty to Abū Lu’lu’a—may Allah destroy him—who was among the worst disbelievers in all creation and among those most intensely hostile to Allah and His Messenger (1).

[Section on the Sixteenth Proof, “And the Forerunners, the Forerunners—Those Are the Ones Brought Near,” and the Response to It]

Section

The Rāfidī (2) said:

“The sixteenth proof is the saying of the Exalted:

‘And the forerunners, the forerunners—those are the ones brought near.’

[Surat al-Wāqi’a: 10–11] (3).

Abū Nu’aym (4) narrated from Ibn Abbās (5), concerning this verse: ‘The forerunner of this community is