فَاجْتَمَعَ كِبَارُ الْمُهَاجِرِينَ وَالْأَنْصَارِ عَلَى عَلِيٍّ
Leading Muhājirūn and Anṣār came together in support of ʿAlī.
After ʿUthmān’s death, a substantial body of the Muslim community accepted ʿAlī as leader and pledged allegiance. This completes the order of the four Rightly Guided Caliphs: Abū Bakr, ʿUmar, ʿUthmān and ʿAlī.
Subsequent political and military disagreements form a distinct historical question. Their occurrence does not, by itself, invalidate the establishment of ʿAlī’s caliphate. Judgments about events and judgments about the overall religious standing of individuals must be kept apart.