among the eminent scholars and righteous men of his generation. If by that he means (1) his distinction in status, since he possessed influence [and status] (2) and leadership, then Muāwiya possessed greater influence, leadership, and status than he did. Indeed, Muāwiya was better than he, more learned, more devout, more forbearing, and nobler. Muāwiya [- may Allah be pleased with him -] (3) narrated hadith and spoke on matters of jurisprudence. Hadith scholars transmitted his narrations in the Sahih and Musnad collections and elsewhere (4), and some scholars recorded some of his legal opinions (5) and judicial rulings. Muhammad ibn Abū Bakr, by contrast, is not mentioned in the authoritative works of hadith and jurisprudence.

As for his statement:

“Muhammad’s sister and father are greater than Muāwiya’s sister and her father (6).”

The response is that this argument is invalid under either principle. Ahl al-Sunnah regard a man as superior only on account of his own merits. Thus, Muhammad gains no benefit from his kinship with Abū Bakr and Āisha, nor does it detract from Muāwiya if the former is of superior lineage [to him] (7). This is a well-known principle of Ahl al-Sunnah, just as it did not (8) detract from the earliest forerunners among the Emigrants and Helpers—those who spent and fought before the Conquest—such as Bilāl, Suhayb, Khabbāb, and their peers, that