Alī, for the Quran was not completed until Alī was around thirty years old. He therefore memorized most of it in adulthood, not childhood, and there are two views as to whether he memorized the Quran in its entirety.

The prophets are the most knowledgeable of all creation, and Allah sent no prophet until after the age of forty (1), except Jesus, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. The Prophet’s teaching was unrestricted: he singled no one out for it; rather, what each person received depended on the learner’s aptitude. For this reason, over three years and part of another, Abū Hurayra retained from him what no one else retained, even though Abū Bakr spent more time in his company than any of the other Companions.

As for his statement (2):

“People acquired the various branches of knowledge from him (3).”

This is false. The people of Kūfa—which was his home—had already learned faith, the Quran and its exegesis, jurisprudence, and the Sunnah from Ibn Masūd and others before Alī came to Kūfa.

If it is said that Abū Abd al-Rahmān (4) recited the Quran to him, this means that he presented his recitation to him for review. It could not mean that he learned it from him, for Abū Abd al-Rahmān had (5) already memorized the Quran before Alī came to Kūfa, and he