The Prophet said to the tribe of Wulay'ah...

The Prophet said to the tribe of Wulay'ah: "Bani Wulay'ah, you must change your attitude, or I shall send to you a man who is from me to punish you severely." Some of the people who were present asked the Prophet "Who is the man you are going to send to them?" The Prophet replied: "He is the man who was patching the sole of my shoes." They looked around and found Ali patching the sole of the Prophet's shoes.

It is inconceivable that the Shi'ites can be proud of the fact that Ali was the patcher of the 's shoes and claim that the Imam is higher than or equal to the Prophet. Therefore, I do not find any justification for directing such an accusation at the Shi'ites who glorify the Prophet the most. The Shi'ites say that the highest honor the Imam Ali acquired is that he was chosen by the Prophet to be his brother.

When the Prophet commanded every two Muslims to become brothers, he held Ali's hand and said "This is my brother." Thus, the Messenger of God, the highest Messenger, the Imam of all righteous people, the one who had no equal among the servants of God, made Ali his brother. (Al-Seerah al-Nabawiyyah, by Ibn Hisham, part 1, page 505). Are The Sunnites Clear of Exaggeration? Certainly the Shi'ites are not extremist, and there is no hadith reported by the Shi'ites that may justify such an accusation.

However, it would not be improper to ask the following question: Are the Sunnites and their scholars free of exaggeration and extremism concerning the position of some prominent companions of the Prophet? It would not be out of place to say that the Sunnites are closer to extremism than the Shi'ites. We find in the books of the Sunni scholars and hadith recorders indications that they put 'Umar in a position higher than that of the Messenger of God.

The following are some of the hadiths: "Al-Hakim Al-Nisaburi (in his book AI-Mustadrak, part 3, page 84), reported that Ubayy Ibn Ka'b said the following: "I heard the Messenger of God saying: The first one the Almighty will embrace on the Day of Judgement is 'Umar.

The first one the Lord will shake hands with will be 'Umar, and the first one the Almighty takes by His hand and admits to paradise is 'Umar." Al-Hafiz Muhammad Ibn Majah in his authentic Sunan reported that Ubayy Ibn Ka'b said: "The Messenger of God said: The first one God will shake hands with (on the Day of Judgement) will be 'Umar.