Allah thus recorded and decreed the affairs of the leader of Adam’s descendants at that time and in that state, just as He records and decrees the circumstances of each child descended from Adam between the formation of its body and the breathing of the spirit into it, as established in the two Sahīh collections in the hadith of Ibn Mas‘ūd. Whoever among the earlier and later generations believes in him is rewarded for doing so, although the reward of those who believe in him and obey him in the detailed laws is greater than that of those whose faith is only general. He is, moreover, the universal leader of all Adam’s descendants and has a share in the faith of every believer, from the earliest generations to the last, just as Iblīs has a share in every instance of error and deviation among jinn and human beings. This substantiates the transmitted report and supports what appears in Shu‘ayb ibn Abī Hamza’s collection of narrations from al-Zuhrī, attributed directly to the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) by a Successor—either al-Zuhrī himself or one of the Successors before him:

“I was sent to call people, but guidance is not in my power at all. Iblīs was sent to make evil alluring and lead people astray, but misguidance is not in his power at all.”

Also related to this subject, in certain respects, is his statement in the hadith found in the Sunan collections:

“I was weighed against the community and outweighed it. Then Abū Bakr was weighed against the community and outweighed it. Then ‘Umar was weighed against the community and outweighed it. Then the scales were lifted away.”

That the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) outweighs the community is clear, for he receives a reward equal to that of the entire community in addition to his own reward. As for Abū Bakr and ‘Umar, this is because they have