these men follow them(1) in this field: some rely on them as evidence, while others merely follow them. Similarly, Allah raised up men to exercise independent reasoning concerning legal rulings, until through them Allah preserved for the Ummah what He preserved of its religion. All others follow them(2) in this field: some rely on them as evidence, while others merely follow them.

An example of this is as follows:

Those Companions of Muhammad—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—who were especially close to him knew him better than those less closely associated with him. These included Abū Bakr, Umar, Uthmān, Alī, Talhah, al-Zubayr, Abd al-Rahmān ibn Awf, Sa'd, Ubayy ibn Ka'b, Muādh ibn Jabal, Ibn Masūd, Bilāl, Ammār ibn Yāsir, Abū Dharr al-Ghifārī, Salmān, Abū al-Dardā, Abū Ayyūb al-Ansārī, Ubādah ibn al-Sāmit, Hudhayfah, Abū Talhah, and others like them among the first and foremost of the Emigrants and the Helpers. They were more closely associated with him than those who were not their equals. Yet one Companion might have had a stronger memory and deeper understanding than another, even if the latter had accompanied the Prophet for longer. More knowledge might also have been received from one of them than from another because the former lived longer, even though the latter was more learned—as with Abū Hurayrah, Ibn Umar, Ibn Abbās, Āishah, Jābir, and Abū Saīd, from whom more hadith reports were received than from those who were superior to them(3), such as Talhah and al-Zubayr (and others like them)(4).

As for the four caliphs, no one else matched their role in conveying the religion’s overarching principles, disseminating its foundations, and passing these teachings on to the people, even though what is narrated from the younger Companions