And His words:

“Those of you who spent and fought before the conquest are not equal. They are greater in rank than those who spent and fought afterward, though Allah has promised each the finest reward.”

(Surah al-Hadīd: 10).

And His words:

“Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, and those with him are firm against the disbelievers and compassionate among themselves. You see them bowing and prostrating, seeking bounty from Allah and His pleasure”—to the end of the verse

(Surah al-Fath: 29).

And His words:

“Allah was certainly pleased with the believers when they pledged allegiance to you under the tree.”

(Surah al-Fath: 18).

And His words:

“For the poor Emigrants who were driven from their homes and dispossessed of their wealth, seeking bounty from Allah and His pleasure.”

(Surah al-Hashr: 8).

And other such verses. How, then, is it permissible(1) to reject what we know with certainty to be established by the Quran on the basis of such fabricated reports, narrated by those who neither fear standing before their Lord nor have any reverence for Allah?

The sixth approach:

These hadiths impugn Alī and necessarily imply that he denied Allah and His Messenger. Thus, if they were authentic, it would follow that all the Companions—Alī and the rest—were disbelievers.

As for those who opposed him over the caliphate(2), according to this fabricated hadith they were disbelievers. Yet Alī did not act in accordance with what these texts entailed; rather, he regarded them as believing Muslims. The worst of those whom Alī fought were the Khawārij, yet even in their case he did not apply the rulings governing disbelievers. Instead, he declared it forbidden to seize their property or enslave them. Before fighting them, he used to say:

“You have the following rights against us: we shall not bar you from our mosques or deprive you of your share of our public revenues.”

And when Ibn