Allah Most High:

‘If they dispute with you, say, “I have submitted myself to Allah, as have those who follow me.”’

He did not command him to engage in disputation. Had He willed, He would have sent down arguments and told him, ‘Say such and such.’”

Abū Yūsuf said:
“Disregard the views of those given to disputation and the followers of doctrinal innovations among the Murji’ah, Rāfidah, Zaydiyyah, Mushabbihah, Shī‘ah, Khawārij, Qadariyyah, Mu‘tazilah, and Jahmiyyah.”

They said:
“It was also related that Muhammad said, ‘Abū Bakr and ‘Umar are superior to ‘Alī.’”

I say: What Abū Yūsuf stated concerning disputation resembles the statements of many leading scholars of the Sunnah, including Imam Ahmad and others. This subject calls for fuller discussion and detailed clarification, for which this is not the place. For this reason, Bishr ibn al-Walīd, a companion of Abū Yūsuf, loved Ahmad and was inclined toward him. Indeed, Abū Yūsuf was more inclined toward hadith than others were. And Allah knows best and is Most Wise.