And I shall later describe their grievous abuse of all the messengers—may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon them—and their unqualified profession of the doctrine of union, (1) which is the ultimate aim of their call, in a manner that will make every reader recognize the enormity (2) of their unbelief and their defiance of religion.”

I say:

This is clear. The heretics among the Ismāʿīlī esotericists and others, and the extremists among the Nusayrīs and others, merely profess Shiism outwardly, while inwardly they are more unbelieving than the Jews and Christians. This shows that Shiism is the gateway to unbelief and hypocrisy.

Al-Siddīq, may Allah be pleased with him, is the leader in fighting apostates, and these people are apostates. Al-Siddīq and his followers are therefore its enemies.

The point here is that the companionship mentioned in His words:

“When he said to his companion, ‘Do not grieve; indeed, Allah is with us.’” [Surah al-Tawbah: 40]

is companionship founded on loyalty to the person accompanied (3) and on following him, (4) not a hypocrite’s companionship, (5) such as that of one traveler with another. It is companionship deliberately sought out of love for the person accompanied. For it is (6) known with immediate certainty to the great majority of people, through the many facts transmitted to them by numerous independent channels, that Abū Bakr’s love for the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, his loyalty to him, and his faith in him were of the highest degree. Their certainty of this is greater than their certainty that ʿAlī was a Muslim and that he was the Prophet’s cousin.

His statement:

“Indeed, Allah is with us”

was not on account of mere outward companionship in which there was no