Who Should I Emulate and Love More, Abu Bakr or Ali?
Answered by Shaykh Jamir Meah
Question: Assalam alaykum
Should I love more and should I emulate more, Abu Bakr or Ali, may Allah be pleased with them?
Answer: Wa alaykum assalam. Jazakum Allah khayr for your question. May Allah increase you in your striving to emulate the most noble of people to have ever walked upon this earth, after the Prophets.
The question of which Sahabi a person should love or emulate more, is a difficult one to answer. It’s a bit like asking, which parent, or which sibling should one love more? The reality is, that each Companion had their own praiseworthy qualities that marked them out as special, that fulfilled a role in the development of the Umma, and for which we love them, and that motivates us to emulate them. May Allah be pleased with them all.
Starting point
A good starting point to this question is to emulate the Prophet, Allah bless him and given him peace, as much as one can. The greatness and virtue of any Sahabi is only through him, Allah bless him and given him peace. Conversely, following one of the Companions, means following the Prophet, Allah bless him and given him peace.
Learn as much as you can about the Prophet, Allah bless him and given him peace, through his blessed biography and characteristics and sunnas. This study will be endless. Therefore, to make it of practical benefit, I suggest that while reading, note down those characteristics that stand out for you, whether it be his blessed mannerisms, his generosity, modesty, advice and instructions to others, the way he dealt with others etc. Work through the list, adopting one sunna act or trait once a week.
By the end of the year you would have adopted 52 characteristics or sunna acts of the Prophet, Allah bless him and given him peace! Continue like this as long as you are able, building your list, then increasing to two a week or more. By repetition and constancy, these Prophetic characteristics and acts will become your own characteristics and acts. This would indeed be a tremendous blessing and achievement.
The Companions
There a numerous hadith (some weak) which praise all the Companions, others that praise specific Companions, while others indicate a “hierarchy” of veneration between the Companions. Examples of these are:
The Prophet, Allah bless him and given him peace, is reported to have said: “The best of my nation is my generation then those who follow them and then those who follow them.” (Bukhari) As mentioned, emulating any of them, means emulating the Prophet, Allah bless him and given him peace, for they were the best in striving to emulate him, Allah bless him and given him peace.
The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and given him peace, said, “Stick to the two after me, Abu Bakr and Umar.” (Jami’ al-Tirmidhi)
It was reported that Sayyidna ‘Ali said: “The best of people after the Messenger of Allah is Abu Bakr, and the best of people after Abu Bakr is Umar.” (Ibn Majah).
There are many other such narrations, which also mention Sayyidna Uthman, Sayyidna Ali, and many others of the noble Companions of the Prophet, Allah bless him and given him peace, including the Mothers of the believers and not forgetting the great female Companions.
What becomes apparent through reading through all these narrations, is that generally speaking, the understood hierarchy of greatness among the Companions is first Abu Bakr, then Umar, then Uthman, then ‘Ali.
Which Companion should a Person Love or Emulate Most?
Despite the hierarchy we have mentioned, who one loves and emulates is not governed by any given order, but rather one’s own heart and its inclination.
Love is a personal affair, motivated by personal reasons. Some love another because the other is the same as them. Some love because the other is the opposite of them. Others love because the other inspires them, while some love because the other grounds them, and many other reasons besides.
For some people, they feel that they can instantly relate to, and therefore practically emulate, a specific Companion more readily than directly emulating the Prophet, Allah bless him and given him peace, who was perfection. So they choose to follow the Prophet, Allah bless him and given him peace, via following a Companion. There is no harm in this whatsoever, for the reason we described above, and this connection to a Companion is a gift from Allah.
In these cases, one should follow the Companion(s) one feels their heart resonates with most, and who inspires them to be a better person and Muslim.
The Importance of being You
Finally, don’t forget, every individual, whether among the Companions or others, is a unique individual that Allah has created. The Companions emulated the Prophet, Allah bless him and given him peace, but were at the same time very different from him, Allah bless him and given him peace, and from each other. Each had their virtue and role. This is the beauty and wisdom of Allah’s creation.
Likewise, you are your own person, and will grow in your own unique way in the religion. Therefore, take the Prophet, Allah bless him and given him peace, the Companions, and the pious, as your exemplars, all the while nourishing your own qualities and strengths. Be comfortable with who you are as an individual servant of Allah, and in this way you would have fulfilled your potential in life.
Warmest salams,
[Shaykh] Jamir Meah
Shaykh Jamir Meah grew up in Hampstead, London. In 2007, he traveled to Tarim, Yemen, where he spent nine years studying the Islamic sciences on a one-to-one basis under the foremost scholars of the Ribaat, Tarim, with a main specialization and focus on Shafi’i fiqh. In early 2016, he moved to Amman, Jordan, where he continues advanced studies in a range of Islamic sciences, as well as teaching. Jamir is a qualified homeopath.
