Umar—may Allah be pleased with him—would consult them: he would consult Uthmān, Alī, Abd al-Rahmān, Ibn Masūd, Zayd ibn Thābit, and Abū Mūsā; he would even consult Ibn Abbās, who was among the youngest of them. At times, a questioner would ask Alī; at other times, Ubayy ibn Kab; and at still others, Umar.

Indeed, Ibn Abbās was asked more questions than Alī and resolved more difficult questions than Alī did. This was not because Ibn Abbās was more learned than him; rather, Alī was more learned than Ibn Abbās. However, those who had not lived to meet Alī needed to turn to Ibn Abbās.

As for Abū Bakr—may Allah be pleased with him—no one reports that he acquired any knowledge from Alī. What is reported is that Alī was the one who learned from him, as in the hadith concerning the Prayer of Repentance (1) and other reports.

As for Umar, he would consult all of them, although (2) Umar was more learned than they were. In many cases, he was the first to give a ruling, after which they followed him, such as the two Umari inheritance cases, the proportional reduction of inheritance shares, and others. Umar was the first to rule, in a case involving a husband and both parents, or a wife (3) and both parents, that the mother should receive one-third of the remainder. He was followed in this by the leading Companions and leading jurists, such as Uthmān and Ibn Masūd,