Furthermore, the more knowledgeable a person is about the Messenger and his circumstances, the more clearly he recognizes the falsity of the doctrine of the Zaydīs and others who assert an implicit designation and maintain that(1) Alī was superior to the three, or who suspend judgment regarding relative superiority. Such people fell into either compound or simple ignorance only because their knowledge of what was known to the scholars of hadith and transmitted reports was deficient.

[There Are Other Hadiths Not Mentioned by the Rāfidī That Provide Stronger Evidence for His Intended Conclusion Than Those He Cited]

CHAPTER

Know that there are other hadiths that this Rāfidī did not mention. Were they authentic, they would support his intended conclusion; indeed, some would provide stronger evidence than some of those he cited. Yet all of them are false. People have transmitted fabricated hadiths concerning the merits of Abū Bakr, Umar, Uthmān, Alī, Muāwiyah—may Allah be pleased with them—and others. Fabrications concerning Alī’s merits, however, are more numerous, because the Shia are bolder in lying than the Nāsibīs (those hostile to Alī).

Abū al-Faraj Ibn al-Jawzī(2) said: “Alī’s authentic virtues(3) are numerous. Yet the Rāfidah were not content, so they fabricated for him things that lower rather than elevate him(4). Far removed(5) is his standing(6) from any need(7) for falsehood.”

He said(8): “Know(9) that the Rāfidah are of three classes: one group among them(10) heard