and ‘Umar—in jurisprudence, knowledge, or anything else. Rather, all his “followers” who fought his enemy alongside him joined the rest of the Muslims in giving precedence to Abū Bakr and ‘Umar, except those whom ‘Alī rebuked and condemned. These people were few and obscure during ‘Alī’s time. They comprised three groups:

One group went to extremes regarding him, such as those who claimed that he was divine. ‘Alī burned these people with fire.

Another group reviled Abū Bakr. Their leader was ‘Abd Allāh ibn Saba’. When news of this reached ‘Alī, he sought to have him killed, but he fled from him.

A third group preferred him over Abū Bakr and ‘Umar. ‘Alī said: “If I learn that any of you has preferred me over Abū Bakr and ‘Umar, I will flog him with the prescribed punishment for a slanderer.”

It has been transmitted from ‘Alī through some eighty or more chains of transmission that he said from the pulpit of Kūfah:

“The best of this community after its Prophet are Abū Bakr and ‘Umar.”

This is also authentically recorded in Sahīh al-Bukhārī and elsewhere through narrators specifically from Hamdān—the tribe of which ‘Alī said:

Were I the gatekeeper at the gate of Paradise,
I would say to Hamdān, “Enter in peace.”

It is narrated by Sufyān al-Thawrī from Mundhir al-Thawrī, both of whom were from Hamdān. Al-Bukhārī narrated it from Muhammad ibn Kathīr, who said that Sufyān al-Thawrī narrated to them, saying that Jāmi‘ ibn Shaddād narrated to them, saying that Abū Ya‘lā Mundhir al-Thawrī narrated to them, from Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah, who said:

“I said to my father, ‘Father, who is the best of people after the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace?’

“He replied, ‘My son, do you not know?’

“I said, ‘No.’

“He said, ‘Abū Bakr.’

“I asked, ‘Then who?’

“He said, ‘Then ‘Umar.’”