The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) did not promise us anything on which we might base a claim of succession, rather it is something that we thought of ourselves, then Abu Bakr was appointed as his successor; may the mercy of Allah be upon Abu Bakr, for he did well and remained steadfast. Then ‘Umar was appointed as his successor, may the mercy of Allah be upon ‘Umar, for he did well and remained steadfast, until the religion of Islam became well established.
Shall I not tell you of the best of this ummah after its Prophet? [It is] Abu Bakr, and the best of it after Abu Bakr is `Umar (رضي الله عنهما) . Then Allah puts goodness wherever He wills.
The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) forbade me to wear gold rings, to wear a blend of linen and silk, to recite Qur`an when bowing and prostrating and to wear clothes dyed with safflower.
Three people came to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and one of them said: I had one hundred Ooqiyyahs and I spent one Ooqiyyah (in charity). The next one said: I had one hundred dinars and i spent ten dinars (in charity). The next one said: I had ten dinars and I spent one dinar (in charity). The Prophet (ﷺ) said: “You are equal in reward, for each of you gave one tenth of his wealth in charity.”
‘Ali (رضي الله عنه) stood up and said: The best of this ummah after its Prophet are Abu Bakr and ‘Umar, then we got involved in matters which Allah will judge as He wills.
`Abdur-Razzaq said. Someone who saw `Ali when he rode told me: When he put his foot in the stirrup, he said: Bismillah (in the Name of Allah). When he got on it, he said: Al-Hamdu Lillah (praise be to Allah). Then he said: `Glory be to the One Who has placed this (transport) at our service and we ourselves would not have been capable of that, and to our Lord is our final destiny [az-Zukhruf 43:13-14]`. Then he said Al-hamdu Lillah three times and Allahu Akbar three times, then he said: O Allah, there is no god but You. I have wronged myself, so forgive me; no one forgives sins but You. Then he smiled, and it was said: What made you smile, O Ameer al-Mu`mineen? He said: I saw the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) do what I have done and say what I have said, then he smiled and we said: What made you smile, O Messenger of Allah (ﷺ)? He said: `I was amazed at the slave when he said there is no god but You. I have wronged myself, so forgive me; no one forgives sins but You,” and he knows that no one forgives sins but He.”
O uncle, O uncle. ‘Ali took her by the hand and said to Fatimah (رضي الله عنها), Here is your cousin, look after her. ‘Ali, Zaid and Ja`far disputed concerning her. Ali said: I took her and she is the daughter of my paternal uncle. Ja`far said: She is the daughter of my paternal uncle and her maternal aunt is married to me, Zaid said:She is the daughter of my brother. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) ruled that she be given to her maternal aunt and said: `The maternal aunt is like the mother.` Then he said to ‘Ali: `You are of me and I am of you.” And he said to Ja’far: `You resemble me in appearance and attitude.” And he said to Zaid: `You are our brother and our freed slave.` ‘Ali (رضي الله عنه) said to him. O Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), why don`t you marry the daughter of Hamzah? He said: `She is the daughter of my brother through breastfeeding.`
Shall I not tell you of the best of this ummah after its Prophet? [It is] Abu Bakr, and the second is ʼUmar (رضي الله عنهما). And if you wish, I shall name the third, Abu Ishaq said: `Abd Khair made it clear so that you would not have any doubts concerning what `Ali (رضي الله عنه) said.
We went out with the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and when we were in the Harrah, at as-Suqya (a halting place between Makkah and Madinah) which belonged to Sa`d bin Abi Waqqas, the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: `Bring me some water for wudoo’.” When he had done wudoo he stood up and turned to face the qiblah, then he said takbeer, then he said: O Allah, Ibrahim was Your slave and Your close friend; he prayed for blessing for the people of Makkah. I am Muhammad, Your slave and Your Messenger; I am praying to You for the people of Madinah - bless their mudd and sa` [weights and measures] as You blessed the people of Makkah, double the blessing You bestowed upon the people of Makkah, a twofold blessing.”
`Ali (رضي الله عنه) addressed us - or he said: ‘Ali said: There will come a difficult time when the rich man will hold fast to that which is in his hand although he was not enjoined to do that. Allah says: `And do not forget liberality between yourselves` [Al-Baqarah 2:237]. The evil [people] will be elevated and good people will be humiliated. And those who are under compulsion (of force or necessity) will be bought from. The Prophet (ﷺ) forbade forced sales, transactions based on ambiguity and selling crops before they have ripened.
I heard the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) say: `The Pen has been lifted from three: from the child until he reaches puberty, from the sleeper until he wakes up and from the insane until he regains his sanity.”
A married adulterer was brought to ‘Ali. He gave him one hundred lashes on Thursday and he stoned him on Friday. It was said to him: You gave him two hadd punishments? He said: I flogged him in accordance with the Book of Allah and I stoned him in accordance with the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ).
A freed slave woman of Sa’eed bin Qais, who was married and had committed an immoral action, was brought to `Ali, he gave her one hundred lashes then he stoned her. Then he said: I flogged her in accordance with the Book of Allah and I stoned her in accordance with the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ).
I saw ‘Ali (رضي الله عنه) call for water for wudoo’. Then he wiped himself thoroughly with it and wiped the tops of his feet, then he said: This is the wudoo’ of one who has not broken his wudoo’. Then he said: Were it not that I saw the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) wipe the tops of his feet, I would have thought that the bottom of the feet were more deserving of being wiped. Then he drank the leftover wudoo’ water whilst standing then he said: Where are those who claim that no one should drink whilst standing?
He had a large head, a reddish white complexion, a large beard, large joints and large hands and feet. He had a long line of hair running from his chest to his navel and the hair on his head was thick and slightly wavy. He used to lean forward when walking as if he was walking uphill, and he was neither tall nor short, I have never seen anyone like him (ﷺ) before or since. ‘Ali bin Hakeem said in his hadeeth: ‘Ali bin Abi Talib (رضي الله عنه) described the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) to us. He said: He had a large head and beautiful, slightly wavy hair.