may Allah be pleased with him—followed by ʿAli ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him. These are the rightly guided caliphs, the imams upon true guidance.

We also affirm the standing of the ten men whom the Messenger of Allah ﷺ named and to whom he gave the glad tidings of Paradise, exactly as he testified—his word is absolute truth. They are: Abu Bakr, ʿUmar, ʿUthman, ʿAli, Talhah, al-Zubayr, Saʿd, Saʿid, ʿAbd al-Rahman ibn ʿAwf, and Abu ʿUbaydah ibn al-Jarrah, the trustee of this ummah—may Allah be pleased with them all.

The entire ummah is unanimous on this matter. Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah said, “Whoever disputes the question of the caliphate is more misguided than his family’s donkey.”

These, then, are the ten who received a clear testimony of Paradise. As for Abu ʿUbaydah, may Allah be pleased with him, he was called the trustee of this ummah because when the Prophet ﷺ concluded a treaty with the people of Najran and imposed the jizyah upon them, they asked him to send them someone trustworthy. He chose Abu ʿUbaydah and declared, “I shall indeed send you a trustworthy man—truly trustworthy.” The Companions all hoped to be chosen, but he dispatched Abu ʿUbaydah. (1)