Ali Ibn Abi Talib - Volume 1 of 2

246 'Ali ibn Abi Tiilib at the time of the Rightly Guided Caliphs
wisdom, and he had a good opinion of hi. It is proven that he said
concerning him: "The best of us in judiciary matters is 'Ali (&)."l13
Ibn al-Jawzi said: "Abu Bakr and 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with
them) nsed to consult him, and 'Umar nsed to say: 'I seek refuge with
Allah from a problem that Abu al-Hasan ('Ali) cannot handle."'114
Masrooq said: "The people nsed to learn from six: 'Umar, 'Ali,
Abdullah, Abu Moosa, Zayd ibn Th2bit and Ubayy ibn Ka'b." And
he said: "I got to know the companions of Muhammad (&), and I
realised that the most prominent of them in knowledge were six:
'Umar, 'Ali, Abdullah, Abu ad-Dardi?, Ubayy ibn Ka'b and Zayd ibn
Th2bit. Then I got to know the six, and I realised that the most
prominent in knowledge among them were two: 'Ali and
~bdnllah.""~ He also said: "The most prominent in knowledge are
three: a scholar in Madinah, a scholar in Syria and a scholar in Iraq.
The scholar in Madinah was 'Ali ibn Ahi T%b, the scholar in Kufa (in
Iraq) was Abdullah ibn Mas'ood, and the scholar in Syria was Abu ad-
Dardi?." When they met, the scholar of Syria and the scholar of Iraq
would ask the scholar of Madinah, and he would not ask them.ll6
'Ali (&) was one of those who were close to 'Umar and
supported him. He did not withhold any suggestion or advice from
him, and he strove with him to come up with solutions to problems
concerning which there was no text, and to organise the affairs of the
emerging state. There is a great deal of evidence to that effect, of
which we will mention the following:
2.1. With regard to judicial matters
2.1.1. A woman who experienced a fit of madness
It was narrated from Abu mabyin alJanbi that a woman who
had committed adultery was brought to 'Umar ihn al-KhatGb (&),