Hanbal from Ibn Abbās, who said:

‘There is no verse in the Quran containing the words “O you who believe!” except that Alī is foremost among those it addresses—their leader, their most noble member, and their master. Allah Most High has indeed reproached Muhammad’s Companions (1) in the Quran, whereas He has never mentioned Alī except favorably.’

This (2) proves that he is the most excellent, and therefore he must be the Imam.”

The answer may be given from several angles:

First: The authenticity of the transmission must be established. This report is not found in Ahmad’s Musnad. Nor would Ahmad’s mere narration of it—had he narrated it—in al-Fadā’il prove that it was true. How could it, when Ahmad narrated it neither in the Musnad nor in al-Fadā’il? Rather, it is one of al-Qatīʿī’s additions. He narrated it (3) from Ibrāhīm, from Sharīk al-Kūfī, who said: “Zakariyyā ibn Yahyā al-Kisā’ī narrated to us; Īsā narrated to us (4), from Alī ibn Badhīmah (5), from Ikrimah, from Ibn Abbās.”

A chain of transmission such as this cannot be cited as evidence, by unanimous agreement of the scholars. Yahyā said of Zakariyyā ibn Yahyā al-Kisā’ī: “He is a wicked man who narrates reports for which he deserves to have a well dug for him and to be thrown into it.” Al-Dāraqutnī said: “He is an abandoned narrator.” Ibn Adī said: “He used to narrate reports impugning the Companions” (6).

Second: This is a lie attributed to Ibn Abbās. It is established through mass transmission from him that he preferred Abū Bakr and Umar to Alī. He also made critical remarks faulting Alī and took him to task over certain aspects of