And he said this to his son, whom he did not fear, and to his close associates; he also ordered that anyone who preferred him over those two be punished. A person acting out of humility is not permitted to order the punishment of everyone who speaks the truth, nor may he call such a person a slanderer. Knowledge is the foremost virtue: whoever is superior to another—whether among the prophets, the Companions, or others—is more knowledgeable than him. Allah Most High says:

“Are those who know equal to those who do not know?”

The evidence for this is abundant, as are the scholars’ discussions of it. As for the statement, “‘Alī is the most skilled of you in judging,” none of the compilers of the Six Books or the well-known hadith collections arranged by Companion—neither Ahmad nor anyone else—narrated it with an authentic or even a weak chain of transmission. It is narrated only through someone known for lying. ‘Umar ibn al-Khattāb did, however, say: “Ubayy is our best reciter, and ‘Alī is our most skilled judge.” He said this after Abū Bakr’s death.

What is recorded in al-Tirmidhī and elsewhere is that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“The most knowledgeable of my community concerning the lawful and the unlawful is Mu‘ādh ibn Jabal, and the most knowledgeable concerning the laws of inheritance is Zayd ibn Thābit.”

There is no mention of ‘Alī in it. Even the hadith that mentions ‘Alī, despite its weakness, states that Mu‘ādh ibn Jabal is the most knowledgeable concerning the lawful and the unlawful, and that Zayd ibn Thābit is the most knowledgeable concerning the laws of inheritance.

If this hadith were assumed to be authentic, the person most knowledgeable concerning the lawful and the unlawful would have broader knowledge than the person most knowledgeable concerning judicial rulings. This is because what is specific to judicial rulings is merely the settlement of disputes on the basis of what is apparent, while the underlying reality may be otherwise. As the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:

“You bring your disputes before me, and some of you may be more adept at presenting their case than others. I judge only according to what I hear. If I award anyone something that rightfully belongs to his brother, he must not take it, for I am only allotting him a piece of the Fire.”

Thus, the foremost of judges explained that his judgment