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My adversary may say: “If you have in your hand a standard such as this,
why do you not remove the disagreement among mankind?” I reply: “If they
were to give heed to me, I would remove the disagreement among them. I
described the method of removing disagreement in The Just Balance.
Study it and you will find that it is sound and does completely remove


disagreement if men pay attention to it; but they will not all pay attention to
it. Still a group of men have paid attention to me and I removed the
disagreement between them. Now your Imam wants to remove the
disagreement between them although they do not pay attention to him.
Why then has he not removed it? Why did not Ali, may Allah be pleased
with him, the first of the Imams, remove it? Does the Imam claim that he is
able to bring them all forcibly to pay attention? Then why has he not so far
done so? To what day has he postponed it? Is not the only result of his
claim that there are more disputes among mankind and more who dispute?
The disagreements certainly gave grounds for fearing that evils would
increase until blood was shed, towns reduced to ruins, children orphaned,