I leave behind me two things, the Qur'an and my example, the Sunnah and if you follow these you will never go astray.

His advice concerning the people of his household has to do with honouring and respecting them, and not exposing them to abuse or annoyance. This does not mean that they are to be given preference over others who are known through the texts to be more virtuous than them, such as Abu Bakr, ‘Umar and ‘Uthmaan (may Allaah be pleased with them all).

Now let us turn to ‘Ali ibn Abi Taalib (may Allaah be pleased with him) himself, and he see what he said. It was narrated that Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah (who was the son of ‘Ali ibn Abi Taalib) said: “I said to my father, ‘Which of the people was the best after the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)?’ He said, ‘Abu Bakr.’ I said, ‘Then who?’ He said, ‘Then ‘Umar.’ I was afraid that he would say ‘Uthmaan. I said, ‘Then is it you?’ He said, ‘I am only one of the Muslims.’”

Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 3671.

It was narrated that ‘Ali (may Allaah be pleased with him) said: “No one is brought to me who regards me as superior to Abu Bakr and ‘Umar but I will punish him with a beating like a fabricator.” Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah said: It was narrated that he used to speak from the minbar of Kufa and say that the best of this ummah after our Prophet was Abu Bakr, then ‘Umar. This was narrated from him via more than eighty isnaads, and it was narrated by al-Bukhaari and others. Hence the earlier Shi’ah all used to agree that Abu Bakr and ‘Umar were superior, as has been mentioned by more than one.

Manhaaj al-Sunnah, 1/308

It was narrated from Abu Juhayfah that ‘Ali (may Allaah be pleased with him) ascended the minbar and praised and glorified Allaah and sent blessings upon the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), then he said: “The best of this ummah after its Prophet is Abu Bakr. The second is ‘Umar (may Allaah be pleased with him), and after that, whoever Allaah wants to be good will be good.”

Narrated by Imam Ahmad in his Musnad, 839. And Shaykh Shu’ayb al-Arna’oot said: its isnaad is qawiy.

Undoubtedly the noble Sahaabi ‘Ali ibn Abi Taalib was one of the wisest and most determined of people. He is well known for his courage and bravery. He was the first youth to enter Islam, then he stayed close to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) before the Hijrah. When the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) left Makkah, accompanied by Abu Bakr, he stayed behind and slept in the Prophet’s bed (thus fooling the mushrikeen who wanted to kill the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)).

Among his virtues are those mentioned in the hadeeth narrated by Sahl ibn Sa’d (may Allaah be pleased with him), who said that he heard the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) say, on the day of Khaybar, “I will give the flag to a man at whose hands Allaah will grant victory.” They got up, wishing to see to whom the flag would be given, each of them hoping that he would be given the flag. Then he said, “Where is ‘Ali?” He was told that he was suffering from eye-trouble. He ordered that ‘Ali should be called to him, then he spat in his eyes and he was healed immediately, as if he has never had any problem in his eyes