this book of his on the imamate, that when the Rāfidah began telling him such things—that Abū Bakr hated the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and was his enemy, while also saying that he accompanied him on the journey of the Hijrah, the most perilous of journeys—he made a remark that necessarily followed from their vile claim. Allah has exonerated His Messenger of it, but the king uttered it to rebuke those who fabricated the lie that invited such a statement about the Messenger. He said:

“He was lacking in reason.”

There is no doubt that anyone who acted as the Rāfidah claim would be lacking in reason. Allah has exonerated His Messenger and his friend of their lies, and it is clear that their claim necessarily entails disparaging the Messenger.

[Section: Evidence that companionship has narrower and broader senses, like loyalty and love]

Section

Among the proofs that companionship has narrower and broader senses—like loyalty, love, faith, and other qualities in which people differ in degree, kind, and character—is the report recorded by al-Bukhārī and Muslim in their two Sahīh collections from Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī, who said:

There was a dispute between Khālid ibn al-Walīd and ʿAbd al-Rahmān ibn ʿAwf, and Khālid insulted him. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“Do not insult any of my Companions. If any of you were to spend an amount of gold equal to Mount Uhud, he would not equal a mudd (a measure of food) given by one of them, nor even half of it.”

Muslim alone mentions Khālid and ʿAbd al-Rahmān (1), whereas al-Bukhārī does not (2). Thus the Prophet