And the regions. For this reason, Abu al-Ala, whose time preceded the Imam, declared disbelief in the infallible Imam, saying, "There is no Imam but reason, and no authority but the authority of reason." He spread in his *Luzumiyat* the necessity of not sanctifying the Imam, and elaborated on this, as we have seen. This was because he saw the surrounding lands submitting to the Hamdanids, who were followers of the Fatimids, and submitting to the caller of the da'wah, and the da'wah's claim of an infallible Imam. So he met insistence with insistence, and the call to secrecy with a call to openness.

And the truth is that I did not intend by this rebellion anything but the truth, not to support the Sunnis nor to gain anything from the Shiites. Just as I criticized the Shiites in their call and conduct during the time they held power, I criticized the Sunni Caliphs for their persecution of the Alawites and their severe mistreatment of them. There is no difference for me between one doctrine and another. I only sought the truth and researched it historically as much as I could. And there may be blame on me for relying, in most of what I relied on, on Sunni books that described the beliefs of the Shiites.

My excuse for this is that the original sources about the Ismailis, Qarmatians, and the teachings of the Fatimids and Muwahhids are few for me. Whatever their creed, no fair-minded person can deny their criticism of their conduct, especially since they were callers to justice and repelled from injustice.