Then, after these three, come the five members of the consultative council—ʿAli ibn Abi Talib, al-Zubayr, ʿAbd al-Rahman ibn ʿAwf, Saʿd, and Talhah. All of them were eligible for the caliphate, and each one is an imam. In this matter we follow the hadith of Ibn ʿUmar: “We used to count, while the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was still alive and his Companions…”