Hadith
The Prophet ﷺ said: “The best of people are my generation, then those who come after them, then those who come after them.”
عَنْ عَبْدِ اللَّهِ عَنِ النَّبِيِّ ﷺ قَالَ " خَيْرُ النَّاسِ قَرْنِي، ثُمَّ الَّذِينَ يَلُونَهُمْ، ثُمَّ الَّذِينَ يَلُونَهُمْ
Sahih Al-Bukhari 6429
Ponder This Hadith
Shias – and Ismailis in particular – often portray the first generation of Muslims as largely sinful for pledging allegiance to Abu Bakr, Umar, and Uthman (رضي الله عنهم) before Hazrat Ali (رضي الله عنه).
Yet Hazrat Ali himself gave bayʿah to all three.
Indeed, according to the Ismaili narrative, the overwhelming majority of the Companions allegedly disobeyed a clear command of the Prophet ﷺ at Ghadir-e-Khumm to follow and obey Hazrat Ali.
If failing to follow Hazrat Ali immediately were a sin, how could this generation be the best of all people? Would they not instead be the worst of all people?
And how could the Prophet ﷺ offer unqualified praise to a generation supposedly founded upon mass disobedience?