A: This saying is known to be claimed by only one Muslim sect, namely the Shi`ah (Shiites), and it is a baseless saying which has no origin in authentic hadiths of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). There are however many proofs which maintain that the successor after the Prophet (peace be upon him) was to be Abu Bakr Al­Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him). This was also maintained by all other Companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him). However, he (peace be upon him) did not explicitly recommend this or issue a conclusive recommendation on it. Yet, he gave orders that indicate it, such as when he ordered Abu Bakr to lead the people in prayer at the time he (peace be upon him) was sick. Besides, when the matter of succession was mentioned to him, he (peace be upon him) said: Allah and the Mu'minun (believers) deny anyone (be successor) except Abu Bakr And for this reason, the Companions pledged allegiance to him (may Allah be pleased with him) after the death of the Prophet (peace be upon him), including `Aly (may Allah be pleased with him). They unanimously agreed that Abu Bakr was the best of them. It was authentically reported in the Hadith narrated by Ibn `Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) used to say during the life of the Prophet (peace be upon him): The best of people in this Ummah (nation) after its Prophet is Abu Bakr, then `Umar, then `Uthman And the Prophet (peace be upon him) agreed to this. There are successive narrations from `Aly (may Allah be pleased with him) that he used to say: The best of people in this Ummah after its Prophet is Abu Bakr, then `Umar. He (may Allah be pleased with him) would also say, "No one would give me preference over them except that I would whip him", and he never referred to himself as the best of the Ummah or that the Messenger (peace be upon him) recommended him for succession. In addition, he never claimed that the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) wronged him or usurp his rights. On the other hand, upon the death of Fatimah

(may Allah be pleased with her), he pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr Al­Siddiq a second time in confirmation of the first pledge, to show the people that he sided with the Muslim community and that he had no reluctance to pledging allegiance to Abu Bakr, (may Allah be pleased with them all). Then, when `Umar, being stabbed, left the issue of nomination of a successor to be decided through Shura (consultation) among six of the ten heaven­bound Companions, including `Aly (may Allah be pleased with him). The latter, however, did not disapprove of what was done by `Umar, neither during his life nor after his death. Furthermore, he never said that he was more worthy of it than them all. How then can anyone fabricate lies against the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and say that "he recommended that `Aly be a successor to him. Even `Aly himself did not claim that for himself, nor did any of the Companions. Rather, they all agreed to the validity of having as successors Abu Bakr, `Umar and `Uthman. And this was acknowledged by `Aly (may Allah be pleased with him), who cooperated with them all in Jihad (fighting in the Cause of Allah) and Shura and other affairs. Then, the Muslims following the generation of the Companions unanimously agreed to what the Companions had acknowledged. It is therefore not permissible for any human or any sect, including the Shi`ah or anyone else to claim that `Aly was to be the successor or that succession before him was null and void. Likewise, it is not permissible for anyone to say that the Companions wronged `Aly and usurped his rights. Rather, this is of most glaring falsities, which implies mistrust towards the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), including 'Aly (may Allah be pleased with him, and with the rest of the Companions).

Allah (Exalted be He) preserved this Ummah of Muhammad and protected it from collectively acknowledging anything wrong. In this regard, it was authentically reported that the Prophet (peace be upon him) mentioned in many Hadiths that: A group of people from my Ummah will remain steadfast, on the truth, victorious Therefore, it is impossible for the best generation of the Ummah to unanimously agree to a falsehood, which is the succession of Abu Bakr, `Umar and `Uthman. This could not even be claimed by anyone who believes in Allah and the Day of Judgment, nor by anyone who has the slightest insight and knowledge about the rulings of Islam. We seek help from Allah; for, there is no might nor power except with Allah, the Most Great.