Ali Ibn Abi Talib - Volume 2 of 2

3 'Ali's attitude towards the Khurijites and Shia
denounced as disbelievers. Hence they regard the Companions of the
Prophet (&) as di~believers."'~' Something similar was said by
'Abdul-Q%r al-Baghdadi.
As for the Imamis, most of themz9' claimed that the
Companions apostatised after the death of the Prophet (g), except
for 'Ali (&), his two sons and a small number of others, making a
total of thi~teen.~~' Ibn Taymiyah said: "The Riififidis say that the
Muhiijireen and An?% concealed the Prophet's clear instructions (to
appoint 'Ali as caliph) and disbelieved, spat from a small group, a
little over ten or more. Then they said: 'Abu Bakr, 'Umar and others
like them had always been hypocrites,' and they said: 'Rather, they
believed then they disbelieved.' The books of the Twelvers say that
the Companions apostatised because they appointed Abu Bakr as
caliph, with the exception of three of them. Some of their reports add
three or four others to Imam 'Ali, bringing the total to seven, but they
did not add more than that. The Shia narrated this myth in their socalled
reliable books and recorded it in the first book of theirs that
appeared, which was the book of Sulaym ibn ~a~s."'~~
Then their books came one after another to confirm and
propagate this idea. Foremost among them are al-Kij, which is
regarded as the most authentic of their four books; R@l al-
~ashshi,'~~ which is their main reference concerning the biographies
of narrators; and other references of theirs.296 We will discuss the
attitude of the R2fifidi Shia towards the Companions (may Allah be
pleased with them) in detail below.
3.1.2. Their denunciation of
Ahl al-Bayt as disbelievers
The reports accusing the members of that unique and ideal
society of apostasy do not make exceptions for any of them except
seven individuals, according to the highest estimate. These seven do