Statement of the belief of the people of the Sunnah and the community regarding the issue of the caliphate and the preference among the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them).
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The Shaykh : Peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions.
The author (may Allah have mercy on him) previously spoke about the issue of the caliphate and the issue of preference, stating that the people of the Sunnah and the community reached scholarly consensus that the caliphate was in the order of Abu Bakr, then 'Umar, then 'Uthman, then 'Ali. He stated that whoever criticizes the caliphate of any of these four is more astray than a donkey, meaning more astray than a donkey. This is because criticizing the caliphate of any of these four is not a criticism of the one who preceded him, but rather a criticism of all the Companions, because this is a matter upon which the Companions reached consensus. It is obligatory for us to believe that the caliph after the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was Abu Bakr, then 'Umar, then 'Uthman, then 'Ali, and that in terms of the right to the caliphate, it is also in this order. This is different from the first point; we believe that the caliph was so-and-so, then so-and-so, then so-and-so, then so-and-so, and that each one in his caliphate was more deserving than the others, so that we do not say that there was injustice in the caliphate, as the Rafidah claimed when they alleged that Abu Bakr, 'Umar, 'Uthman, and all the Companions were oppressors, because they oppressed whom? 'Ali ibn Abi Talib, by seizing the caliphate from him. We say that the caliphate was ordered, and the right to the caliphate is also ordered. The most deserving person for the caliphate is the one whom Allah (Mighty and Majestic) decreed to be the caliph after the one who preceded him. There is no doubt in this. As for those after them, we cannot say that every caliph whom Allah appointed over the people is more deserving of the caliphate than the others. Why? Because those after them are not the best of generations; they are not the best of generations. Rather, among them occurred injustice, deviation, and open sinfulness, which earned them the fact that one who was not more deserving of the caliphate than they were was appointed over them, as Allah the Exalted said:[Al-An'am 6:129] As for the issue of preference... [who is] more deserving of the caliphate, because we have three issues: the caliphate, the second is the right to it, and the third is preference.
Regarding preference, the people of the Sunnah and the community agreed that the best of the Companions is Abu Bakr, then 'Umar, and there is no dispute among them regarding that. Then they differed regarding 'Uthman and 'Ali with four opinions. And the opinion that settled among them is that 'Uthman is better than 'Ali. But this does not mean that if he is preferred, he is preferred in every single thing. Rather, 'Ali ibn Abi Talib may have a distinction in which neither he nor Abu Bakr participated. Is that not so? Yes. But the distinction of one of these four, or others, by a trait by which he is preferred over others does not indicate absolute preference, because preference is either absolute or restricted. Praise be to Allah, the speech regarding these three matters has become clearly evident.
The author (may Allah have mercy on him) previously spoke about the issue of the caliphate and the issue of preference, stating that the people of the Sunnah and the community reached scholarly consensus that the caliphate was in the order of Abu Bakr, then 'Umar, then 'Uthman, then 'Ali. He stated that whoever criticizes the caliphate of any of these four is more astray than a donkey, meaning more astray than a donkey. This is because criticizing the caliphate of any of these four is not a criticism of the one who preceded him, but rather a criticism of all the Companions, because this is a matter upon which the Companions reached consensus. It is obligatory for us to believe that the caliph after the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) was Abu Bakr, then 'Umar, then 'Uthman, then 'Ali, and that in terms of the right to the caliphate, it is also in this order. This is different from the first point; we believe that the caliph was so-and-so, then so-and-so, then so-and-so, then so-and-so, and that each one in his caliphate was more deserving than the others, so that we do not say that there was injustice in the caliphate, as the Rafidah claimed when they alleged that Abu Bakr, 'Umar, 'Uthman, and all the Companions were oppressors, because they oppressed whom? 'Ali ibn Abi Talib, by seizing the caliphate from him. We say that the caliphate was ordered, and the right to the caliphate is also ordered. The most deserving person for the caliphate is the one whom Allah (Mighty and Majestic) decreed to be the caliph after the one who preceded him. There is no doubt in this. As for those after them, we cannot say that every caliph whom Allah appointed over the people is more deserving of the caliphate than the others. Why? Because those after them are not the best of generations; they are not the best of generations. Rather, among them occurred injustice, deviation, and open sinfulness, which earned them the fact that one who was not more deserving of the caliphate than they were was appointed over them, as Allah the Exalted said:
And thus will We make some of the wrongdoers allies of others for what they used to earn.
وكذلك نولي بعض الظالمين بعضا بما كانوا يكسبونRegarding preference, the people of the Sunnah and the community agreed that the best of the Companions is Abu Bakr, then 'Umar, and there is no dispute among them regarding that. Then they differed regarding 'Uthman and 'Ali with four opinions. And the opinion that settled among them is that 'Uthman is better than 'Ali. But this does not mean that if he is preferred, he is preferred in every single thing. Rather, 'Ali ibn Abi Talib may have a distinction in which neither he nor Abu Bakr participated. Is that not so? Yes. But the distinction of one of these four, or others, by a trait by which he is preferred over others does not indicate absolute preference, because preference is either absolute or restricted. Praise be to Allah, the speech regarding these three matters has become clearly evident.