From the lives of our pious predecessorsMuhammad Bin Al-Hanafiyah (may Allah have mercy on him) reports, “I asked my father (Ali), ‘Who is the best person after Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him)?' He replied, ‘Abu Bakr.' I said, ‘And then who?' He replied, ‘Then Umar.' I feared he would say ‘Uthman; I said, ‘And then you.' He said, ‘I am just a man amongst the Muslims.'” – Al-Bukhari and others Commenting on Ali's response, ‘I am just a man amongst the Muslims,' Ibn Hajr states in Fath Al-Bari, “He said this out of modesty and humbleness, despite knowing that at the time of asking he was the best of people at the time, for this was after the killing of Uthman.” (May Allah be pleased with them all.) __
