this hadith has not been established, and it has no chain of transmission that can serve as authoritative evidence(1).
His statement, “The most knowledgeable among you concerning what is lawful and unlawful is Mu'ādh ibn Jabal,”(2) has a stronger chain of transmission than that report. Knowledge of what is lawful and unlawful encompasses adjudication(3) more fully than adjudication encompasses knowledge of what is lawful and unlawful. This second report was narrated by al-Tirmidhī and Ahmad, whereas no one transmitted the first in(4) the well-known Sunan collections or renowned Musnads—not through a sound chain or even a weak one. It is narrated only by someone(5) known for lying.
As for Umar’s statement(6), “Alī is the most competent among us in adjudication,” it pertains only (to)(7) settling disputes according to outward appearances, even though the inward reality may be otherwise.
This is illustrated by the authentic report in which the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “You bring your disputes before me, and some of you may be more skillful than others in presenting their case,
(1) I have not found this hadith.
(2) The hadith is narrated from Anas ibn Mālik, may Allah be pleased with him, in *Sunan al-Tirmidhī*, 5/330 (Book of Virtues, chapter: “The Virtues of Mu'ādh ibn Jabal”). Its wording is: “The most merciful of my nation toward my nation is Abū Bakr; the firmest of them concerning Allah’s command is Umar; the truest of them in modesty is Uthmān ibn Affān; the most knowledgeable of them concerning what is lawful and unlawful is Mu'ādh ibn Jabal; the most knowledgeable of them in the laws of inheritance is Zayd ibn Thābit; and the most proficient of them in reciting the Quran is Ubayy ibn Ka'b. Every nation has a trustworthy custodian, and the trustworthy custodian of this nation is Abū Ubayda ibn al-Jarrāh.” Al-Tirmidhī said: “This is a *gharīb* hadith. We know it as a report of Qatāda only through this route…” It also appears in *al-Musnad* (al-Halabī ed.), 3/184, 281; and *Sunan Ibn Mājah*, 1/55 (Introduction, chapter: “The Virtues of Khabbāb”). The hadith also appears in *al-Mustadrak* and in a work by Ibn Hibbān. Al-Suyūtī graded it authentic in *al-Jāmi al-Saghīr*, as did al-Albānī in *Sahīh al-Jāmi al-Saghīr*, 1/308. Al-Albānī also discussed it in detail in *Silsilat al-Ahādīth al-Sahīha*, 3/223–225 (no. 1224).
(3) (ب) reads: “for adjudication.”
(4) (س) reads: “He did not narrate it in…”; (ب): “It is not found in…”
(5) (س) and (ب) read *mā* (“that which”).
(6) (ن), (م), and (س) read: “And Umar said.”
(7) Manuscript (ب) adds the preposition “in.”