The point is that disagreement over Ali’s caliphate and his wars (1) was widespread (2) among the earlier and later generations. How, then, could the people’s oath of allegiance to him have been greater than their oath of allegiance to the three before him [may Allah be pleased with them all]? (3).

If he says, “By my statement (4), I meant that Ahl al-Sunnah say his caliphate was established through the people’s oath of allegiance to him, not by an explicit text,” then there is no doubt that, although Ahl al-Sunnah say that a text establishes Ali as one of the Rightly Guided Caliphs—based on the Prophet’s statement, “The caliphate of Prophethood will last thirty years”—they also narrate (5) numerous texts establishing the validity of the caliphates of those other than him.

This is well known to scholars of hadith (6). They narrate numerous texts establishing the validity of the caliphates of the first three, whereas the texts concerning Ali’s caliphate are few. The Muslim community united (7) around those three, through whom the purpose of the imamate was fulfilled, and under whose leadership war was waged against—