the two Sahīh collections that the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said:
“Among the nations before you were men granted inspiration. If there is anyone such in my nation, it is ‘Umar.”
In al-Tirmidhī, it is reported:
“Had I not been sent among you, ‘Umar would have been sent among you.”
He also said:
“Allah has placed the truth upon ‘Umar’s tongue and heart.”
If this man granted inspiration, upon whose tongue and heart Allah placed the truth, acknowledges despite his standing that he is not infallible, what, then, of the other Companions and those besides them who have not attained his standing? The scholars agree that Abū Bakr and ‘Umar were more knowledgeable than all the other Companions, more obedient to Allah and His Messenger, and better able to recognize and follow the truth. It has been established through authentic, mass-transmitted reports that the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said:
“The best of this nation after its Prophet is Abū Bakr, then ‘Umar.”
This has been narrated from him through some eighty routes of transmission. ‘Alī (may Allah be pleased with him) said, “If anyone is brought before me who regards me as superior to Abū Bakr and ‘Umar, I will have him flogged with the prescribed punishment for slander.” Numerous statements have been transmitted from ‘Uthmān, ‘Alī, and other Companions.
Indeed, no legal ruling is recorded from Abū Bakr al-Siddīq in which he ruled contrary to an explicit statement of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace). More instances of this have been found in the rulings of ‘Alī and other Companions than in those of ‘Umar. Al-Shāfi‘ī (may Allah be pleased with him) used to debate certain jurists of Kufa on questions of jurisprudence, and they would cite ‘Alī’s opinions against him. He therefore compiled a book entitled “The Disagreements of ‘Alī and ‘Abd Allāh ibn Mas‘ūd,” in which he explained numerous rulings of theirs that were set aside because the Sunnah established otherwise. After him, Muhammad ibn Nasr al-Marwazī compiled an even larger book on the subject. For example, among the opinions of ‘Alī (may Allah be pleased with him) that were set aside was his view