and anyone with even the slightest knowledge of hadith (1) knows that this is a fabricated lie. No hadith scholar has narrated it in any authoritative work—not in the Sahih collections, the Sunan, or the Musnads (2) deemed reliable.
Third: It is impermissible to attribute this to the Prophet—blessings and peace be upon him—for the person who said (3) this is a liar, whereas the Prophet—blessings and peace be upon him—(4) is far above lying. This is because, by the consensus of the Muslims, the master of the Muslims (5), the imam of the God-fearing, and the leader of those whose faces and limbs are radiant is the Messenger of Allah—blessings and peace be upon him.
If it is said, “Alī is their master after him,” the response is: Nothing in the wording of the hadith indicates this (interpretation) (6); rather, it contradicts it, for the best of the Muslims—the God-fearing, whose faces and limbs are radiant—were the first generation, and during the Prophet’s lifetime they had neither a master nor an imam