# Do I have to believe Umar and Uthman were better than Ali? *Ranking the companions: preferring Ali is personal, and the quarrel is childish* - URL: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/b1ooltqtptw/s/4/ - Date: 2021-03-02 · Kind: lesson · Transcript tier: machine · Recording: Monday Nights with Mufti #204 | Q&A Unscripted & Unrestricted! 😉 | Mufti Abu Layth (21:49–24:26) - Status: general teaching - Watch from the start of the segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1OOltqtPTw&t=1309s - Recording page: https://muftiabulayth.org/r/b1ooltqtptw/ **Topics:** The companions; Sunni-Shia dialogue; Succession and the first civil wars **Summary (not a quotation; machine-made, unchecked):** No: preferring one close companion over another is a personal preference, and he calls arguing over the ranking childish; treating Ali as infallible is equally wrong. **Checked position (checked by two independent reviews, not by the channel):** Mufti Abu Layth says that, in his opinion, arguing over which of the Prophet's close companions was better is just childishness. **Evidence, his words at 23:08:** “but amongst the close friends of the companions of the prophet it's difficult really you know saying well he's friend number one he's friend number two you know this kind of stuff is it's really childish isn't it” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1OOltqtPTw&t=1388s) ## Longer summary Continuing, Mufti Abu Layth says that whether people are Shia, or Sunni with Shia inclinations who prefer Ali over other companions, is their personal preference, and that he is not trying to convince anyone that Uthman or Umar was better than Ali. He calls the argument over ranking childish and petty, like children in a schoolyard, while noting that the caliphate worked out historically in a certain order. He allows a hierarchy between the close companions and someone who met the Prophet once or spent a month with him, but says ranking the close friends of the Prophet as friend number one and number two is childish, and that Muslims fight and kill each other over it. He says the reverse, treating Ali as superhuman, incapable of mistakes, and calling anyone who questions his judgements a hypocrite, is equally wrong, a reverse form of bullying, and that people should have their own preferences without trying to control others. ## Sources and names cited - Ali ibn Abi Talib - Uthman ibn Affan - Umar ibn al-Khattab - Shia ## Transcript (machine tier, 21:49–24:26) [21:48] i just feel that look in my i personally people who you know whether people are shia whether they are sunni with kind of shiite inclinations as in they prefer said ali over other companions i mean to me this is their personal preference i you know it doesn't bother me and i'm not trying to convince people uh that you need to be believing that you know uthman was better than ali or omar was better than ali or i don't believe that really i think all of this is in my opinion all [22:28] of this is just childishness you know it's just petty it's like it's like little kids you're not just arguing that we're saying you know in a schoolyard oh you know my sister's better than you're such and such that's all it is it sounds so childish yes i mean in historical events it worked out that the caliphate worked out historically in a certain way i don't think the companions that there's a truly speaking a hierarchic i mean there is there are some hierarchical understandings clearly like let's say a person only met the prophet once or he came and he hung [23:08] let's say somebody came and he kind of hung out with the prophet for a month let's say somebody did that now in that month he got to know the prophet and went away and that's great and amazing but he would never be like the real companions you know the real close friends of the prophet uh so in that sense there is a kind of a hierarchy a hierarchical structure but amongst the close friends of the companions of the prophet it's difficult really you know saying well he's friend number one he's friend number two you know this kind of stuff is it's really childish isn't it [23:47] and we fight and you know muslims kill each other and yeah and i just find it all weird and then on the other side people you see they they sometimes will you know elevate said ali radhiland that he could never have either he's all he's superhuman you know that they will say he can never make a mistake he could never do this if anybody questions any of his judgments they are a hypocrite they are this they are that and i think that's equally or wrong it's just it's just the reverse type of bullying that's the same thing it's just trying to say well [24:25] you know you can't i think people should just have their own preferences and people other people shouldn't try to control other people if somebody wants to believe something great somebody wants to not believe it you know it's up to them cool mufti if it was not for the misfortunes of the muslim world reconquista mongol invasion black death colonization would the muslim world would undergo a secular enlightenment or revolution i see saras love much love for the uh ## Cite Mufti Abu Layth Archive, segment b1OOltqtPTw/s/4. https://muftiabulayth.org/r/b1ooltqtptw/s/4/ Not a fatwa: these answers were given to specific people at specific times. Ask a qualified scholar about your own situation.