Allah the Exalted – whilst also rebuking the Sahabah (رضي الله عنهم) at times, just as He has rebuked His Prophet (ﷺ) in the Qur’an – has introduced the Sahabah (رضي الله عنهم) , particularly their chiefs (Mujarioon and Ansar), as role-models (verse 9:100, no such verse about 12 Imams whatsoever) for all Muslims.
The Ahlul-Bayt are part of the body of the Sahabah, yet the Rafidi religion views the Sahabah (رضي الله عنهم) as an evil entity, they perform mass-takfir against them and spare an insignificant minority of them.
The Rafidah Imamites sometimes cite a statement by Shaykh al-Islam ibn Taymiyyah (رحمه الله) from his Minhaj al-Sunnah (download the abridged version in English here>>>) where he allegedly confessed that most Sahabah and their students (Tabi’in) hated the Sahabi, ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib (رضي الله عنه):
EBNHUSSEIN.COM 
The Rafidah and their scholars are not just infamous for their poor Arabic skills, but they are also infamous for their distortions and decontextualisation of so-called ‘authentic Sunni reports’ that they cite and parrot without understanding them.
Our case here is a prime example of Rafidi hatred and grudge (for Sahabah and Ibn Taymiyyah) mixed with their incapability to understand the texts of a genius such as Shaykh al-Islam ibn Taymiyyah.
Those familiar with the works of Ibn Taymiyyah (رحمه الله) and the Arabic language know that Ibn Taymiyyah (رحمه الله) has a certain style and manhaj (methodology) in his approach and arguments against his opponents, specifically in his magnum opus, Manhaj al-Sunnah which to this very day serves as a complete annihilation of Imamaism and was written in refutation of the Zindiq Ibn Mutahhar al-Hilli 726 AH (who was never able to refute it).
One of the styles of Ibn Taymiyyah (رحمه الله) in his books is that he cites all possible angles of refutation and argumentation, including arguing with the beliefs of his opponent against his opponent.
A holistic reading (without Rafidi decontextualisation methods) of Ibn Taymiyyah’s words will clarify this issue:
Ibn Taymiyyah (رحمه الله) was actually replying to the following weak point put forward by his Rafidi opponent, Ibn Muttahar al-Hilli, who cited the following verse (and – in typical Shia manner – weak ahadith) as evidence for ‘Ali’s (رضي الله عنه) Imamah and falsehood of the Caliphate of his predecessors:
“إنَّ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ سَيَجْعَلُ لَهُمُ الرَّحْمَنُ وُدًّا “
{Indeed, those who have believed and done righteous deeds – the Most Merciful will appoint for them affection}
(Qur’an 19:96)
Shaykh al-Islam Abul-‘Abbas Ibn Taymiyyah (رحمه الله), after refuting the argument of the Rafidi al-Hilli from several angles, then refutes him with what is known as Dalil al-ilzam (the binding evidence) i.e. using the beliefs of his opponent against his opponent.
So Ibn Taymiyyah is basically saying: How can you (zindiq al-Hilli) apply this Ayah {Indeed, those who have believed and done righteous deeds – the Most Merciful will appoint for them affection} on ‘Ali (رضي الله عنه) alone, claiming that it proves his Imamah and disproves the Imamah of others when this verse is general in nature (it certainly includes ‘Ali) and most Sahabah and Tabi’in – according to your false Rafidi belief – hated, cursed and fought ‘Ali (رضي الله عنه) anyway i.e. ‘Ali received little to no affection from the people according to your own beliefs and thus your argument and misuse of the verse has been debunked.
This method (of Ilzam) is known in debates and discussions and every learned student of Islam learns these basics, except, the Rafidah. The gullible Shia laymen who have flooded the internet accusing Ibn Taymiyyah (رحمه الله) and the noble Sahabah (رضي الله عنهم) to hate ‘Ali (رضي الله عنه) might be excused to some extent, but their evil scholars and polemicists who dig out these pathetic arguments will have to answer on the Day of Judgment for their slander and lies
Finally, the truth is, and history and authentic reports are a witness to that, that the Sahabah (رضي الله عنهم) loved ‘Ali (رضي الله عنه), the absolute majority of Sahabah (رضي الله عنهم) gave him the pledge of allegiance and narrated his merits and virtues that can be found in Sahih al-Bukhari, Muslim and the books of Sunan. So even if Ibn Taymiyyah believed (which he did not) that most Sahabah hated ‘Ali, his words would be rejected like the words of any other fallible person no matter how great, and this is a principle of Ahlus-Sunnah:
Nobody tries to sugarcoat history, Ahlus-Sunnah have written history and were never biased. Ahlus-Sunnah have narrated all the mistakes and shortcomings of the Sahabah (that Ahlul-Bid’ah take advantage of), this itself, like Shaykh al-Albani argues, proves the truthfulness and sincerity of Ahlus-Sunnah. Amongst those mistakes and shortcomings were the civil wars that are overblown by the Rafidah who (by decontextualising reports and statements, such as the one by Ibn Taymiyyah as shown in this article) simply lie through their teeth when they say:
The truth is that a small minority of Sahabah (رضي الله عنه) had disputes with Ali (رضي الله عنه) that ended in battles that were eventually settled and Ali (رضي الله عنه) himself never accused his opponents from amongst his brothers, the Sahabah, as hypocrites or disbelievers.
The following article has thoroughly shattered the widespread Rafidi lie that most Sahabah (رضي الله عنهم) hated and fought ‘Ali (رضي الله عنه), for it proves that most Sahabah (رضي الله عنهم) did not participate in the civil wars in the first place.