ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books ‘Ali: The Best of the Sahabah Hadith Al-Tafdhil, Investigating Its Authenticity ===================================================== Shaykh Ibn Taymiyyah (d. 728 H) states: لا نسلم أن عليا أفضل أهل زمانه بل خير هذه الأمة بعد نبيها أبو بكر ثم عمر كما ثبت ذلك عن علي وغيره We do not agree that ‘Ali was the overall best of his time.

Rather, the best of this Ummah after its Prophet are Abu Bakr, then ‘Umar, as is authentically narrated from ‘Ali and others.[^1] It is true that our Sunni brothers consider Abu Bakr to be the best of our Ummah, followed only by ‘Umar. However, during the lifetime of the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu ‘alaihi wa alihi , it was a different story entirely.

There is irrefutable evidence in the Sunni books establishing that the Sahabah used to consider Amir al-Muminin, ‘alaihi al-salam , to be their best during the lifetime of the Messenger. Imam Ahmad (d. 241 H) presents one of such proofs: حدثنا عبد الله قال حدثني أبي قثنا محمد بن جعفر نا شعبة عن أبي إسحاق عن عبد الرحمن بن يزيد عن علقمة عن عبد الله قال : كنا نتحدث ان أفضل أهل المدينة علي بن أبي طالب ‘Abd Allah (b. Ahmad b. Hanbal) – my father (Ahmad b. Hanbal) – Muhammad b.

Ja’far – Shu’bah – Abu Ishaq – ‘Abd al-Rahman b. Yazid – ‘Alqamah – ‘Abd Allah (b. Mas’ud): “We used to say that the overall best of the people of Madinah was ‘Ali b. Abi Talib.”[^2] “We” (in the hadith )[^3] apparently refers to the Sahabah generally, and more specifically to the most senior of them living in Madinah. Ibn Mas’ud was obviously making a reference to a past which was then different from the present. This was why he said “we USED TO”.

In other words, at that point in time when he was making his statement, things had become different. People were now giving ‘Ali’s place to another person. Ibn Mas’ud was, no doubt, speaking about the time of the Prophet. All the most senior Sahabah and their neighbours were living in Madinah with the Messenger of Allah. The phrase “people of Madinah” originally referred to them (excluding only the Prophet, of course).[^4] These, needless to say, included Abu Bakr, ‘Umar and ‘Uthman.

So, is the above report authentic? Al-Hafiz (d. 852 H) says about the first narrator: عبد الله بن أحمد بن محمد بن حنبل الشيباني أبو عبد الرحمن ولد الإمام ثقة ‘Abd Allah b. Ahmad b. Muhammad b. Hanbal al-Shaybani, Abu ‘Abd al-Rahman: son of the Imam, thiqah (trustworthy) .[^5] What about his father?