the rightly guided caliphs and guided leaders, who rendered judgment according to the truth and thereby dispensed justice.

But to take the leaders of the Muslim community—whose benefit to religion and worldly life was greater—and declare them unbelievers or wicked (1) wrongdoers; then to take someone through whom no good comparable to what was accomplished through even one of them had been achieved, and declare him to be Allah, a partner with Allah, a partner with the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—or the infallible Imam, such that no one is a believer except one who (2) regards him as infallible and explicitly designated, while anyone who departs from this is an unbeliever; to assert that the apostate unbelievers whom those men fought were Muslims; and to take the Muslims who observe the five prayers, fast the month of Ramadan, perform pilgrimage to the House, and believe in the Quran—and declare them (3) unbelievers for having fought those apostates—this is the conduct of people characterized by ignorance, falsehood, injustice, and heresy in the religion of Islam; the conduct of one who has neither reason, religion, nor faith.

Scholars have always stated that the man who originated Rāfidism was a heretical unbeliever whose aim was to corrupt [the religion] (4) of Islam. This is why Rāfidism [became] (5) a haven for heretical unbelievers among the extremists and negationists (6), such as the Nusayris, Ismailis, and similar groups.

What comes first in thought (7) comes last in execution. Thus, the man who originated Rāfidism intended to corrupt (8)