Seâdet-i Ebediyye Endless Bliss Second Fascicle

sallam’,] to one another is as per the order of their caliphates. All
the Sahâba and all the Tâbi’în said that Abû Bakr and ’Umar
‘radiy-Allâhu ’anhumâ’ were superior to all other Muslims. Most of
our religious leaders wrote these statements in their books. One of
them is Hadrat al-imâm-ush-Shâfi’î. The great savant Abul-Hasanil-Ash’arî,
who gathered and recorded the belief of Ahl as-sunnat,
says: “It is obvious and certain that first Abû Bakr and then ’Umar
are higher than all Believers.” Al-imâm-uz-Zahabî, one of the
greatest savants, says: “We have been told by more than eighty
people that they heard Hadrat Alî ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’ say to a large
crowd of Muslims: ‘Abû Bakr and ’Umar ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anhuma’
are the highest of this Ummat.’ ” Giving the names of most of them,
he says: “Râfidîs, that is, people who do not believe this are very
heinous and evil people. Allâhu ta’âlâ will meet them very harshly
in the Hereafter.” Al-imâm-ul-Bukhârî, the author of the book
Bukhârî-i-sherîf, which in Islam is the second most dependable and
most valuable book after the Qur’ân-i kerîm, says: “Hadrat Alî
‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’ said, ‘After our Prophet ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wa
sallam’, the best, the highest of this Ummat is Abû Bakr. Then
comes ’Umar ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’, and then somebody else.’ At that
moment his son Muhammad ibnu Hanafiyya said, ‘And it’s you.’
Upon this he said, ‘Like any other Muslim, I am one of this
Ummat.’ ” Al-imâm-uz-Zahabî and other savants said: “Hadrat Alî
said: Be careful, listen well! I have heard that some people have
been holding me superior to Abû Bakr and ’Umar. If I catch any
one of them I shall inflict upon him the chastisement for slanderers.
For he is a slanderer.” Dâra Qutnî says: “Imâm-i Alî ‘radiy-Allâhu
’anh’ said: If I catch a person who cherishes me above Abû Bakr
and ’Umar ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anhumâ’, I shall punish him by beating
him, as I do so with slanderers.” There are so many of such reports
from the Ashâb-i-kirâm ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anhum’ that no one could
find a possible way to deny the fact. Even ’Abdurrazzâq, one of the
great Shiite scholars, says: “Since hadrat Alî holds Hadrat Abû
Bakr and Hadrat ’Umar ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anhumâ’ superior to
himself, I hold them superior, too. For, if I did not hold them
superior I would have disagreed with Hadrat Alî ‘radiy-Allâhu
’anh’, though I love him very much; and that would be a grave sin
for me.”
[A Jew named Murtadâ writes false stories in his book entitled
Husniyya, and says that those three Khalîfas are disbelievers. He
has been given beautiful answers in my books entitled Documents
of the Right Word and Sahâba ‘the Blessed’. The true Alawîs who
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