as God Almighty has said: ﴿يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَكُونُوا مَعَ الصَّادِقِينَ﴾[1]; “O you who believed! Fear God and be with the truthful”; as there is no one among people unless he is considered more righteous than another one of them, while it is certainly not obligatory for any of them to follow the other for this reason.

Yes, undoubtedly the first Muslims who saw and obeyed the Prophet were virtuous; as God Almighty has said about them: ﴿وَالسَّابِقُونَ الْأَوَّلُونَ مِنَ الْمُهَاجِرِينَ وَالْأَنْصَارِ وَالَّذِينَ اتَّبَعُوهُمْ بِإِحْسَانٍ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمْ وَرَضُوا عَنْهُ وَأَعَدَّ لَهُمْ جَنَّاتٍ تَجْرِي تَحْتَهَا الْأَنْهَارُ خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا أَبَدًا ۚ ذَلِكَ الْفَوْزُ الْعَظِيمُ﴾[2]; “And the first forerunners from the Muhajirin and the Ansar and those who followed them in goodness, God is well pleased with them, and they are pleased with Him, and He has prepared for them Heavens beneath which rivers flow, where they will live forever, that is the great triumph,” but the fair is that proving virtue for them does not entail denying virtue to posterity; but rather it does not prove their superiority over posterity; because a group of future Muslims who did not see the Prophet and yet obeyed him may be better than them; considering that obeying the Prophet without seeing him is more difficult. However, the superiority of the first Muslims over posterity, if proved, only means that their reward in the Hereafter is greater, and it does not prove the necessity of posterity following them; as God Almighty has said: ﴿انْظُرْ كَيْفَ فَضَّلْنَا بَعْضَهُمْ عَلَى بَعْضٍ ۚ وَلَلْآخِرَةُ أَكْبَرُ دَرَجَاتٍ وَأَكْبَرُ تَفْضِيلًا﴾[3]; “See how We made some of them superior over some others, and undoubtedly the Hereafter is greater in rank and giving virtue.”

[Impossibility of following the predecessors]

It is hereby understood that following the first three generations of Muslims has no basis in Islam, nor is it justifiable with any statement, and this is regardless of its impossibility in reality; because the first three generations of Muslims were different individuals and groups with contradictory sayings and actions, to the extent that they considered the sayings and actions of each other to be incorrect and fought over them. It is clear that in this case they cannot be followed;