In the Two Ṣaḥīḥs it is related—through ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAwn, from Ibrāhīm al-Taymī, from al-Aswad—that it was said to ʿĀʾishah: “People claim that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ appointed ʿAlī as his executor.”
She replied, “Appointed him to what, exactly? He only asked for a basin so that he could relieve himself while I was holding him against my chest; then his breath rattled and he passed away, and I was unaware of what those people are talking about. How can they say that he designated ʿAlī!”

In the Two Ṣaḥīḥs as well—through Mālik ibn Mighwal, from Ṭalḥah ibn Muṣarrif—Ṭalḥah said: “I asked ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Awfā, ‘Did the Messenger of Allah ﷺ leave a testament?’ He answered, ‘No.’ I asked, ‘Then why were we commanded to make testaments?’ He said, ‘He made a testament regarding the Book of Allah.’”
Ṭalḥah ibn Muṣarrif further reported that Huzayl ibn Shuraḥbīl remarked, “Is Abū Bakr to preside over the supposed executor of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ? Abū Bakr longed for nothing more than to have found a written covenant from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, so that he might have run a nose-ring through his own nose in obedience to it.”

In the Two Ṣaḥīḥs as well—through al-Aʿmash, from Ibrāhīm al-Taymī, from his father—it is narrated that ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, may Allah honor his countenance, once addressed us saying, “Whoever alleges that we possess anything to be read other than the Book of Allah and this scroll is lying.” (The scroll was hanging from the scabbard of his sword and contained rulings on the blood-money for certain camel teeth and on specific wounds.) In it the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

“Madīnah is a sanctuary between ʿAyr and Thawr. Whoever introduces an innovation therein, or shelters an innovator, upon him be the curse of Allah, the angels, and all people; Allah will accept from him on the Day of Resurrection neither obligatory nor voluntary deeds. Whoever claims descent from someone other than his father, or attaches himself to other than his masters, upon him be the curse of Allah, the angels, and all people; Allah will accept from him on the Day of Resurrection neither obligatory nor voluntary deeds. The covenant of the Muslims is one; the lowliest of them may grant protection on their behalf. Whoever violates the protection granted to a Muslim, upon him be the curse of Allah, the angels, and all people; Allah will accept from him on the Day of Resurrection neither obligatory nor voluntary deeds.”

This rigorously authenticated report, found in the Two Ṣaḥīḥs and elsewhere and transmitted from ʿAlī—may Allah be pleased with him—refutes the Rāfiḍī faction in their claim that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ appointed him to the caliphate; for had the matter been as they allege, not a single one of the