Ali: the Best of the Sahabah

Ali: the Best of the Sahabah

Who did early Sunni sources describe as the foremost among the Prophet’s Companions? Ali: the Best of the Sahabah assembles testimonies from Sunni prophetic traditions (hadith) and classical scholarship to argue for the precedence and singular virtues of Imam Ali (ʿa).

About the Book Authored by Toyib Olawuyi, this study surveys key prophetic traditions (hadith) cited by Sunni authorities that affirm Imam Ali’s (ʿa) superiority among the Companions. The work proceeds thematically: first presenting each report, then discussing its chain of transmission (isnād, the list of narrators) and its wording (matn, the text of the report), followed by a comparative analysis across sources. Famous narrations receive close treatment—such as the “city of knowledge” report, the banner at Khaybar, the judgment (al-qaḍāʾ), the bird (al-ṭayr), and the preference (al-tafdīl)—alongside responses to common objections and variant readings. The tone is source-conscious and analytic, aiming to clarify what the mainstream Sunni hadith corpus itself records about Imam Ali’s (ʿa) rank without resorting to polemics.

What You Will Discover

• A carefully organized dossier of Sunni-cited prophetic traditions (hadith) that testify to Imam Ali’s (ʿa) precedence among the Companions.
• Methodical notes on isnād (chain of narrators), matn (wording of the report), and how evaluative judgments are formed.
• Close readings of well-known reports (e.g., knowledge, the banner, judgment, the bird, preference) and what each implies about rank and virtue.
• Cross-comparisons that address objections, reconcile variants, and map how different collections transmit the same motifs.
• How these testimonies informed later Sunni and Shia discussions of leadership, merit, and authority.

About the Author Toyib Olawuyi presents a compact, source-driven study that foregrounds documentation and analysis. His approach guides readers through the evidence step by step—first citing, then examining, and finally synthesizing the implications of the reports concerning Imam Ali (ʿa).

Who Is This Book For? Suitable for students of hadith and early Islamic history, readers of comparative Sunni–Shia studies, and devotees of the Ahl al-Bayt (ʿa) who seek a concise, source-based examination of Imam Ali’s (ʿa) rank among the Companions.