Abū Bakr—may Allah be pleased with him—had no wealth after the Prophet’s death—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—with which to win people’s favor, nor a powerful tribe to support him, nor clients or allies. Nor did he call upon people to pledge allegiance to him, whether through inducements or intimidation. ‘Alī—may Allah be pleased with him—was far more capable of resisting him than of repelling the unbelievers who fought the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace. If he had been (1) the one who repelled the unbelievers, and if he had wished (2) to resist Abū Bakr—may Allah be pleased with him—he would have been even more capable of doing so. Yet they combine two contradictory claims.

Likewise, in his war against Mu‘āwiya, he was defeated even though his army was larger, and those under his command were better and more numerous than those under Mu‘āwiya’s command. There is no doubt that he—may Allah be pleased with him—wanted to overcome Mu‘āwiya and his army. Had he been the one who secured victory for the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—despite the unbelievers’ great numbers and the Muslims’ weakness and small numbers, then, with his army outnumbering Mu‘āwiya’s, he would have been more capable of overcoming Mu‘āwiya and his army than of overcoming the unbelievers who fought the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace. Who but an ignorant, self-contradictory person could reconcile such courage and strength with this inability and weakness?!

Rather, this shows that it was Allah’s Messenger—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—who was granted victory, and that Allah strengthened him with His help and with all the believers. ‘Alī and others were among the believers through whom Allah strengthened him. In many respects, Allah’s support for him through Abū Bakr and ‘Umar was greater than His support through others.