My father was part of the police force of Ali (رضي الله عنه). He stood beneath the minbar and told me that he, meaning ‘Ali (رضي الله عنه), ascended the minbar and praised and glorified Allah and sent blessings upon the Prophet (ﷺ), and he said: The best of this ummah after its Prophet is Abu Bakr, and the second is ‘Umar (رضي الله عنهما), And he said: Allah puts goodness wherever He wants.
`Ali (رضي الله عنه) said: The best of this ummah after its Prophet is Abu Bakr, and after Abu Bakr it is ‘Umar (رضي الله عنهما), and if I wanted to tell you of the third one, I could do so.
Narrated It was narrated from `Ali (رضي الله عنه) that When the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) gave Fatimah to him in marriage, he sent with her a velvet garment, a leather pillow stuffed with palm fibres, two millstones, a waterskin and two earthenware jars. `Ali said to Fatimah one day:
By Allah, I have brought water until I felt a pain in my chest. He said: Some captives have been brought to your father, go and ask him for a servant. She said: And I, by Allah, have ground flour until my hands became sore. So she went to the Prophet (ﷺ) and he said: “What brings you here, O my daughter?” She said: I have come to greet you; and she felt too shy to ask him, so she went back, ‘Ali said: What happened? She said: I felt too shy to ask him. So we went together and I said: O Messenger of Allah, by Allah I have brought water until I started to feel pain in my chest. And Fatimah said: I have ground flour until my hands hurt. Allah has brought you plenty of captives, so give us a servant. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “By Allah, I will not give it to you and leave ahlus-suffah starving when I have nothing to spend on them. Rather I will sell them (the captives) and spend the price on (ahlus-suffah).” So they went back. Then the Prophet (ﷺ) came, when they were under the cover which, if it covered their heads, it left their feet bare, and if it covered their feet, it left their heads bare. They wanted to get up, but he said: `Stay where you are.` And then he said: `Shall I not tell you of something that is better than what you asked for?” They said: Yes. He said: `(It is) words that Jibreel (عليه السلام) taught me.` He said: “Following every prayer, glorify Allah ten times, and praise Him ten times and magnify Him ten times. And when you go to your bed, glorify Allah thirty-three times, praise Him thirty-three times and magniÍy Him thirty-four times.” He said: By Allah, I never omitted that from the time the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) taught it to me. Ibnul-Kawwa’ said to him: Not even on the night of Siffeen? He said: May Allah cause your doom, O people of Iraq! Yes, not even on the night of Siffeen.
Narrated Abu Juhaifah - whom `Ali used to call Wahb al-Khair - said:
‘Ali (رضي الله عنه) said: O Abu Juhaifah, shall I not tell you of the best of this ummah after its Prophet ? I said: Yes indeed, He said: The best of this ummah after its Prophet is Abu Bakr, and after Abu Bakr it is ‘Umar (رضي الله عنهما), and after both of them there is a third one - but he did not name him.
