❖ The Superiority of Sayyidunā Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq رضي الله عنه Over All the Companions ❖
Source: Fatāwā Amunpuri by Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Amunpuri
Question:
What is the evidence for the superiority of Sayyidunā Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq رضي الله عنه over all the Companions?
Answer:
Ahl al-Sunnah wal-Jamāʿah are unanimously agreed that Sayyidunā Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq رضي الله عنه is the most superior of all the Companions. After him, the most virtuous is Sayyidunā ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb رضي الله عنه.
❀ Sayyidunā ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿUmar رضي الله عنهما said:
كنا نخير بين الناس فى زمن النبى صلى الله عليه وسلم فنخير أبا بكر، ثم عمر بن الخطاب، ثم عثمان بن عفان رضي الله عنهم.
“In the time of the Prophet ﷺ, we used to discuss who was the most virtuous among the people. We would declare Abū Bakr as the most virtuous, then ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, and then ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān رضي الله عنهم.”
(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: 3655)
❀ Imām Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd al-Anṣārī رحمه الله (d. 144H) said:
من أدركت من أصحاب النبى صلى الله عليه وسلم والتابعين لم يختلفوا فى أبى بكر وعمر وفضلهما.
“Whomever I met from among the Companions and the Tābiʿīn, they never differed regarding the superiority of Abū Bakr and ʿUmar رضي الله عنهما.”
(al-ʿIlal of Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, narration of ʿAbdullāh: 3/480, authentic chain)
❀ Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah رحمه الله (d. 728H) said:
أما تفضيل أبى بكر ثم عمر على عثمان وعلي، فهذا متفق عليه بين أئمة المسلمين … وهو مذهب مالك … والأوزاعي … وسفيان الثوري وأبي حنيفة … وهو مذهب الشافعي وأحمد وإسحاق وأبي عبيد وغير هؤلاء من أئمة الإسلام.
“As for preferring Abū Bakr and then ʿUmar over ʿUthmān and ʿAlī, this is agreed upon by the leading Imams of the Muslims known for knowledge and religion, from among the Companions, the Tābiʿīn, and their followers. It is the madhhab of Imām Mālik and the people of Madinah, al-Layth ibn Saʿd and the people of Egypt, al-Awzāʿī and the people of Shām, Sufyān al-Thawrī, Abū Ḥanīfah, Ḥammād ibn Zayd, Ḥammād ibn Salamah and others from the people of Iraq. It is also the madhhab of al-Shāfiʿī, Aḥmad, Isḥāq, Abū ʿUbayd, and many other respected Imams of Islam.”
(Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā: 4/421)
Conclusion:There is a consensus among the Companions, Tābiʿīn, and the leading Imams of Islam that Sayyidunā Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq رضي الله عنه is the most superior of all the Companions, followed by Sayyidunā ʿUmar رضي الله عنه, then Sayyidunā ʿUthmān رضي الله عنه.
