Mandal ibn ʿAlī reports—through Ibn Jurayj, from Muḥammad ibn Kaʿb—that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “The most knowledgeable of my ummah in the laws of inheritance is Zayd ibn Thābit.”
Al-Tirmidhī (1) stated: Sufyān ibn Wakīʿ narrated to us—Ḥumayd ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān narrated to us—from Dāwūd al-ʿAṭṭār, from Maʿmar, from Qatādah, from Anas: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “The most compassionate of my community toward my community is Abū Bakr …,” and in that ḥadīth appears the wording, “and the most proficient among them in inheritance law is Zayd ibn Thābit.”
This chain is singular, though al-Tirmidhī graded the report of al-Ḥaddāʾ as sound.
I say: Even assuming the authenticity of the phrases “the most proficient of them in inheritance matters is Zayd, and the most accomplished of them in recitation is Ubayy,” they do not render it obligatory to follow Zayd alone in questions of inheritance, just as they do not make it mandatory to follow Ubayy in every aspect of his individual mode of recitation.
ʿĀṣim narrated—on the authority of al-Shaʿbī—who said, “Zayd surpassed all people in two disciplines: the laws of inheritance and the Quran.” (2)
It is also related from Zayd that he said, “The Messenger of Allah ﷺ authorized me to take part on the Day of the Trench and clothed me in a qubṭiyyah (a Coptic mantle).” (3)
(1) Reported by al-Tirmidhi in his Sunan, no. 3790; the chain is weak because of Sufyan ibn Waki. Al-Tirmidhi also transmitted it (no. 3791) through Khalid al-Hadda, from Abu Qilaba, from Anas, and declared it hasan sahih—a judgment that appears sound. It was likewise recorded by al-Fasawi in his Tarikh, 1/479-80, through Sufyan, from Khalid al-Hadda and Asim, from Abu Qilaba, from Anas; authenticated by Ibn Hibban (no. 2218) and by al-Hakim, 3/422, with al-Dhahabi concurring. The complete wording is: “Arham ummati bi ummati Abu Bakr (the most merciful of my community toward my community is Abu Bakr); wa-ashadduhum fi amri-llah Umar (the firmest concerning God’s command is Umar); wa-asdaqahum hayaa Uthman (the most truthful in modesty is Uthman); wa-aqrauhum likitabi-llah Ubayy ibn Kab (the most versed in the recitation of God’s Book is Ubayy ibn Kab); wa-afraduhum Zayd ibn Thabit (the most knowledgeable in the laws of inheritance is Zayd ibn Thabit); wa-a‘lamuhum bil-halali wa-l-haram Muadh ibn Jabal (the most learned about what is lawful and unlawful is Muadh ibn Jabal); wa-likulli ummatin amin, wa-aminu hadhihi-l-ummah Abu Ubayda ibn al-Jarrah (every nation has a custodian, and the custodian of this nation is Abu Ubayda ibn al-Jarrah).”
(2) Ibn Asakir, Tahdhib, 5/449.
(3) Al-qibtiyya: a fine, white Egyptian garment, so called because it was associated with the Copts of Egypt.