followed.”

He then mentioned Chapter Three:

“On the Proofs of Alī’s [may Allah be pleased with him] (1) Imamate after the Messenger of Allah [-may Allah bless him and grant him peace-] (2).”

He then mentioned Chapter Four:

“On the Twelve.”

He then mentioned Chapter Five:

“On Invalidating the Caliphates of Abū Bakr, Umar, and Uthmān.”

[Refuting Ibn al-Mutahhar’s Argument from Several Angles]

[The First Angle: Belief in Allah and His Messenger Is More Important Than the Question of the Imamate]

This may be answered in several ways.

The first is as follows: To begin with, the statement, “The question of the Imamate is the most important matter concerning the rulings of religion and the noblest question of the Muslims,” is a lie (3) by the consensus of all Muslims, Sunnis and Shi‘is alike. Indeed, this (4) is unbelief.

For belief in Allah and His Messenger is more important than the question of the Imamate. This is necessarily known as part of the religion of Islam. An unbeliever does not become a believer (5) until he testifies that there is no deity except Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah (6). This was what the Messenger—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—initially fought the unbelievers over (7), as has been widely transmitted from him in the authentic collections and elsewhere. He said:

“I have been commanded to fight the people until they testify that there is no deity except Allah and that I am the Messenger of Allah.”

In another narration (8): “And until they establish prayer and give zakat. If they do so, they will have safeguarded from me—”