Saʿīd al-Khudrī—may Allah be pleased with him—from the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—(1). If they are to be questioned about his authority, that authority must necessarily be established for him. Since no such authority has been established for any other Companion, he must therefore be the Imam.”

The answer may be given from several angles:

First: The authenticity of the report must be established (2). Merely attributing it to al-Firdaws and Abū Nuʿaym does not constitute proof, by agreement of the scholars.

Second: By consensus, this is a fabricated lie (3).

Third: Allah Most High said:

“Rather, you marvel while they mock. When they are reminded, they take no heed. When they see a sign, they ridicule it and say, ‘This is nothing but manifest magic. When we are dead and have become dust and bones, will we truly be resurrected—and our forefathers as well?’ Say, ‘Yes, and you will be utterly humbled.’ It will be but a single blast, and at once they will be looking on. They will say, ‘Woe to us! This is the Day of Recompense.’ ‘This is the Day of Judgment that you used to deny. Gather the wrongdoers, their counterparts, and whatever they used to worship besides Allah, and lead them to the path of Hell. Stop them, for they are to be questioned. What is the matter with you that you do not help one another?’ Rather, on that Day they will surrender completely. They will turn to one another, questioning each other. They will say, ‘You used to come at us from the right.’ The others will reply, ‘Rather, you yourselves were not believers. We had no authority over you; instead, you were a transgressing people. Thus our Lord’s word has come true against us: we shall surely taste the punishment. We led you astray, for we ourselves were astray.’ On that Day they will all share in the punishment. Thus do We deal with the evildoers. Whenever it was said to them, ‘There is no deity worthy of worship except Allah,’ they grew arrogant and said, ‘Are we to forsake our gods for a mad poet?’ Rather, he brought the truth and confirmed the messengers.”