“Do they distribute your Lord’s mercy? It is We who have distributed among them their livelihood in the life of this world and raised some of them above others in rank, so that some may take others into service.”

[Surah al-Zukhruf: 32]

As for his description of these people as [those who] (1) turned away from this world and its adornments, and who fear no reproach for Allah’s sake, this is one of the most blatant lies. No group has displayed less renunciation of worldly life and jihad than the Shia (2). The renegade Kharijites were more detached from worldly life and fought far more fiercely than they did—so much so that the expression “a Kharijite charge” became proverbial. Their wars against the armies of Banū Umayya, Banū al-Abbās, and others in Iraq, al-Jazīra, Khurāsān, the Maghreb, and elsewhere are well known. They had territories in which they entrenched themselves, where no one could overpower them (3).

The Shia, by contrast, have always been defeated, subdued, and routed. Their love of this world and their eagerness for it are evident. Thus, they wrote to al-Husayn—may Allah be pleased with him—but when he sent his cousin to them and then came in person, they betrayed him. They sold the Hereafter for this world, handed him over to his enemy, and fought him alongside his enemy. What renunciation is there among (4) such people, and what jihad do they possess?

At their hands, Alī [ibn Abī Tālib]—may Allah be pleased with him—(5) tasted such bitter draughts as only Allah knows. [He eventually supplicated against them] (6), saying: “O Allah, I have (7)—”