Al-Tirmidhī and others also narrated from Alī—may Allah be pleased with him—a report traced back to the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—that he said:
“These two are the masters of the mature men among the people of Paradise, from the earliest generations to the latest. Do not inform them, O Alī.” (1)
If this (2) hadith and others like it were set against the hadiths concerning the bond of brotherhood, the hadiths concerning the bird, and similar reports, they would, by the consensus of the Muslims, be more authentic than those reports. How much more so when all the other hadiths whose authenticity is beyond doubt are added to them, together with the many and varied proofs that give anyone acquainted with them certain knowledge that Abū Bakr was the dearest of the Companions to the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—and held a higher rank with him than Umar, Uthmān, Alī, and everyone else? The more knowledgeable a person is about the Sunnah of Allah’s Messenger—peace and blessings be upon him—and his circumstances, the more clearly he recognizes this. Only those unable to distinguish authentic hadiths from weak ones harbor doubts about it; such a person either (3) accepts them all as true or withholds judgment on them all.
(1) Al-Tirmidhī narrated the hadith twice, with similar wording, at 5/272–273 (*Kitāb al-Manāqib* [Book of Virtues], chapter 53). Regarding the first chain, he said: “This is a gharīb hadith through this route. Al-Walīd ibn Muhammad al-Muwaqqirī is considered weak in hadith transmission, and Alī ibn al-Husayn did not hear from Alī ibn Abī Tālib. This hadith has also been narrated through another route, and reports on this subject have been transmitted from Anas and Ibn Abbās.” Al-Tirmidhī made no comment on the other chain. Immediately before this, at 5/272–273, he also narrated the hadith from Anas—may Allah be pleased with him—and said: “This is a hasan gharīb hadith through this route.” Imam Ahmad included the hadith in his *Musnad* (Ma‘ārif ed.), 2/37–38, no. 602. Ahmad Shākir—may Allah have mercy on him—said: “Its chain of transmission is authentic.” He then added: “The hadith was also narrated by al-Tirmidhī, 4:310, and Ibn Mājah, 1:25–26, through two other weak chains. This hadith and the one preceding it are among the supplementary narrations added by Abd Allāh ibn Ahmad.” With some variation in wording, the hadith is also reported from Awn ibn Abī Juhayfa, from his father—may Allah be pleased with him—in *Sunan Ibn Mājah*, 1/387 (Introduction, chapter on the virtues of the Companions of Allah’s Messenger—peace and blessings be upon him: “The Merit of Abū Bakr al-Siddīq”—may Allah be pleased with him). Al-Albānī graded the hadith authentic in *Sahīh al-Jāmi al-Saghīr*, 6/75. See also al-Haythamī, *Majma al-Zawāid*, 9/53.
(2) B reads: fa-hādhā (“Thus, this”).
(3) M reads: wa-immā (“and either”).