The excessive love of the Sainthood Shi‘a towards ‘Ali (May God be pleased with him) and – influenced by the Sufi Orders – their deeming him superior, does not make them answerable to the degree of the Caliphate Shi‘a. For those who follow the path of sainthood look towards their spiritual guides with love, and the mark of love is excess;24 it wants to see the beloved as greater than his rank. And that is how it sees him. Ecstatics may be forgiven excesses of love. So their deeming ‘Ali more worthy because of their love may be excused on condition it does not turn into disparagement of  the  other  Rightly-Guided  Caliphs  and  enmity towards  them,  and  does  not  go beyond the fundamental teachings of Islam.

As for the Caliphate Shi‘a, since political prejudice took a hold of them they could  not  rid  themselves  of hatred  and  aggression,  so  forfeited  their  right  to  be excused.  Even, confirming the saying, “Not for love of ‘Ali, but out of hatred of ‘Umar,” since Persian national pride was wounded at ‘Umar’s hand,25  they showed their revenge in the form of love of ‘Ali. So also ‘Amr ibn al-‘As’s rebellion against ‘Ali and ‘Umar ibn al-Sa‘d’s tragic war against Husayn26  aroused in the Shi‘a an intense anger and enmity towards the name of ‘Umar.

The Sainthood Shi‘a have no right to criticize the Sunnis, for the Sunnis have not decried ‘Ali, indeed, they love him sincerely. But they avoid the excessive love which is  described  as  dangerous  in  Hadiths.27   The  Prophet’s  (UWBP)  praise  of  ‘Ali’s followers in the  Hadiths28  refers to the Sunnis. For it is the Sunnis among ‘Ali’s followers who love him  in  a moderate fashion and are the people of truth. Just as excessive love of Jesus (Upon whom be peace) is dangerous for Christians, so it has been  made  clear  in  sound  Hadiths  that  that  sort  of  excessive  love  for  ‘Ali  is dangerous.29

If the Sainthood Shi‘a say: “Once ‘Ali’s consummate spiritual attainments are accepted, it is impossible to give precedence to Abu Bakr the Truthful.”

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24 Abu Da’ud, Adab, 113; Musnad, v, 194; vi, 450.

25 See, Ibn Sa‘d, al-Tabaqat al-Kubra, vi, 12, 21; al-Tabari, Tarikh al-‘Umam wa’l-Muluk, iii, 283, 289.

26 See, al-Tabari, Tarikh al-‘Umam wa’l-Muluk, iii, 298; Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya wa’l-Nihaya, viii, 193.

27 Musnad, i, 160; Nasa’i, al-Sunan al-Kubra, v, 137; al-Hakim, al-Mustadrak, iii, 132.

28 al-Tabarani, al-Mu‘jam al-Awsad, vi, 354; vii, 343.

29 Bukhari, Ta’rikh al-Kabir, ii, 257; Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Fada’il al-Sahaba: 1087, 1221, 1222; al-Haythami, Majma‘ al-Zawa’id, ix, 133; Ibn al-Jawzi, al-‘Ilal il-Mutanahiya, i, 223.