Many ḥadith have been transmitted on this matter, yet not one of them is sound, either because their chains of transmission are weak or because some of their texts are insubstantial.

Among them is the statement:

“You are my brother, my heir, my successor, and the best of those who will be put in charge after me.”

This ḥadith is fabricated and contradicts what is reliably established in the Two Ṣaḥīḥs (1) and elsewhere. Allah knows best (2).

ʿAlī was present at Badr and rendered outstanding service there. On that day he came forward for single combat, prevailed, and distinguished himself. Concerning him, his uncle Ḥamzah, his cousin ʿUbaydah ibn al-Ḥārith, and their three adversaries—ʿUtbah, Shaybah, and al-Walīd ibn ʿUtbah—the Almighty revealed:
“These two adversaries have disputed concerning their Lord” (al-Ḥajj 19).

Al-Ḥakam and others narrated, through Miqsam, from Ibn ʿAbbās, who said (3): “The Prophet handed the banner on the Day of Badr to ʿAlī when he was twenty years old.”

Al-Ḥasan ibn ʿArafah related:
(Ḥaddathanī) ʿAmmār ibn Muḥammad, from Saʿīd ibn Muḥammad al-Ḥanẓalī, from Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī, who said: A herald in heaven—his name is Riḍwān—called out on the Day of Badr: “There is no sword but Dhul-Faqār and no youth but ʿAlī.”

Ibn ʿAsākir remarks (4): “This report is mursal; the Messenger of Allah ﷺ merely selected the sword Dhul-Faqār as his own share at Badr and later presented it to ʿAlī.”

Yūnus ibn Bukayr narrated—from Masʿar (5), from Abū ʿAwf, from Abū Ṣāliḥ, from ʿAlī—who said: “It was said to me on the Day of Badr, and to Abū Bakr, that one of you has Jibrīl with him (6) and the other has Mīkāʾīl. And Isrāfīl is a mighty angel who attends the battle, does not fight, and stands in the ranks.”

ʿAlī also took part in Uḥud. He was on the right flank, bearing the banner after Muṣʿab ibn ʿUmayr; on the left was al-Munḏhir ibn ʿAmr al-Anṣārī; Ḥamzah ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib commanded the center; and over the infantry was al-Zubayr ibn al-ʿAwwām—some say al-Miqdād ibn al-Aswad. On that day ʿAlī fought with fierce valor (7), killed many of the idolaters, and wiped the blood from the face of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ—the blood that flowed from the wounds he suffered when his face was gashed (8) and his incisor broken (9).

He was present at the Battle of the Ditch, where he slew the horseman of the Arabs and one of their most celebrated champions, ʿAmr ibn ʿAbd Wudd al-ʿĀmirī, as we have already noted under the expedition of al-Khandaq. He witnessed al-Ḥudaybiyah and the Pledge of Riḍwān, and he was at Khaybar, where he displayed awe-inspiring exploits,