They have no other choice if they still want to maintain...

They have no other choice if they still want to maintain their flocks and the attendant benefits. However, it is indeed a very dangerous game actually, in light of this noble verse: ولا تلبسوا الحق بالباطل وتكتموا الحق وأنتم تعلمون And mix not the Truth with falsehood, nor conceal the Truth while you know .(6) Then, Allah adds: إن الذين يكتمون ما أنزلنا من البينات والهدى من بعد ما بيناه للناس في الكتاب أولئك يلعنهم الله ويلعنهم اللاعنون Those who conceal the clear proofs, evidence and guidance, which We have sent down after We have made it clear for the people in the Book, they are the ones being cursed by Allah and being cursed by the cursers.

(7) In particular, these desperate Sunni ‘ulama focus upon the Khilafah of Amir al-Muminin ‘Ali b. Abi Talib. He was the immediate, undisputed leader of the Prophet’s bloodline after the latter. Meanwhile, the true Khilafah had been fixed permanently within this same bloodline. Therefore, naturally, ‘Ali was the first legitimate Khalifah of Islam. So, even if there were no other authentic ahadith about his Khilafah , it is nonetheless perfectly proven through this route.

Yet, in addition to this general evidence, there are also loads of specific undeniable Sunni proofs for the Khilafah of Amir al-Muminin over Abu Bakr and the entire Ummah after the Messenger of Allah. But, as a way of protecting the patently illegitimate Khilafah of Abu Bakr, ‘Umar and ‘Uthman, some scholars of the Ahl al-Sunnah further wage an extreme war against the authentic evidences in favour of ‘Ali in their own books.

They instinctively deny, without tabling any academic excuse, any sahih Sunni hadith about Amir al-Muminin which threatens Abu Bakr and ‘Umar in any way – whether in merits, virtues or Khilafah . None among them has ever been as violent in this regard as Shaykh Ibn Taymiyyah. He has done this recklessly and relentlessly throughout his books, especially Minhaj al-Sunnah .

Therefore, in this book, this author has concentrated mainly upon Ibn Taymiyyah’s claims and arguments against the doubtless Sunni proofs which firmly, explicitly and specifically establish the Khilafah of Amir al-Muminin immediately after the Messenger of the Lord of the worlds. In this book, we have adopted the same investigative research methodology as we did in our first book: ‘Ali: the Best of the Sahabah .