2612 – ʿAli ibn ʿUmar ibn Ibrahim related to us; he said: ʿAbd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Jaʿfar ibn Shadhan al-Bazzar narrated to us; he said: Abu Salamah – Usamah ibn ʿAli al-Tujibi – reported to us; he said: al-Harith ibn Miskin narrated to us:

Malik was asked about ʿAli and ʿUthman. He replied, “I never met a single scholar whose example is to be followed except that he withheld judgment regarding them, meaning he refrained from ranking one above the other.”

I then asked him, “And what of Abu Bakr and ʿUmar?” He said, “There is no doubt whatsoever about Abu Bakr and ʿUmar,” intending thereby that the two of them are superior to all others. Malik then recited:
“When the disbelievers drove him out, when the two of them were in the cave and he said to his companion, ‘Do not grieve; indeed Allah is with us.’” (al-Tawbah 9:40)