[Necessity of respecting the companions of the Prophet]

As a result, Ali, Hasan, and Husain are certainly three of the twelve Caliphs of the Prophet , and after Husain, nine men from his offspring are considered the Caliphs of the Prophet , one after the other, according to the rule ﴿ذُرِّيَّةً بَعْضُهَا مِنْ بَعْضٍ﴾[1]; “They are offspring of one another,” and this is what is required by the Book of God and the mutawatir narrations from the Prophet , without it necessitating any insult to some of the Shabah of the Prophet who came to power after him; because their good records in Islam necessitate thinking positively of them, and thinking positively of them is that they were uncertain of this fact or forgot it, and if the reality is otherwise, they are responsible for their deeds, and others are responsible for their deeds, and subsequent Muslims will not be asked about the deeds of previous Muslims; as God Almighty has said: ﴿تِلْكَ أُمَّةٌ قَدْ خَلَتْ ۖ لَهَا مَا كَسَبَتْ وَلَكُمْ مَا كَسَبْتُمْ ۖ وَلَا تُسْأَلُونَ عَمَّا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ﴾[2]; “They were a nation that passed. For them is what they earned, and for you is what you earn, and you will not be asked about what they did.” Therefore, it is not necessary to argue about their deeds and intentions; because God knows best about their deeds and intentions, and every human being is held in pledge for his deed and intention; as God Almighty has said: ﴿كُلُّ نَفْسٍ بِمَا كَسَبَتْ رَهِينَةٌ﴾[3]; “Everyone is held in pledge for what he earned,” but rather thinking negatively of them may be a sin; because they are more deserving of being thought of positively due to their good records in Islam, and God has prohibited many negative thoughts and said: ﴿يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اجْتَنِبُوا كَثِيرًا مِنَ الظَّنِّ إِنَّ بَعْضَ الظَّنِّ إِثْمٌ﴾[4]; “O you who believed! Avoid many suspicions, for some suspicions are sins,” but rather He has commanded thinking positively of Muslims and said: ﴿لَوْلَا إِذْ سَمِعْتُمُوهُ ظَنَّ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ وَالْمُؤْمِنَاتُ بِأَنْفُسِهِمْ خَيْرًا وَقَالُوا هَذَا إِفْكٌ مُبِينٌ﴾[5]; “When you heard it, why did the faithful men and women not think positively of each other and say: ‘This is clearly a false accusation’?!”;