Sunni view of Ali

Others In terms of Ihsan: Ali ibn Abi Talib was the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.

Still, the 657 Battle of Siffin with another pretender, Mu'awiya ibn Abu Sufyan, ended in stalemate and the formation of the Kharijites (lit.

[13][14] Ali had an excellent knowledge of the Quran, the central religious text of Islam, to the point that Ibn Abbas (d. c. 687), a foremost early Muslim exegete, credited all his interpretations to him.

[10][3] Ali is moreover the common source of mystical and spiritual currents within both Sunni and Shia sects of Islam.

[25] Perhaps in the interest of the Muslim unity,[22][26] Ali eventually accepted the temporal rule of the first three caliphs,[27] but without giving up his claims as the designated successor of Muhammad.

[1] Ali and his three predecessors are acknowledged in Sunni tradition as the Rashidun caliphs,[1] that is, those Muslim rulers who are thought to have fulfilled the moral, religious, and judicial qualifications for a just rule.

[1] This acceptance of Ali, however, appears to be a late development in Sunni Islam,[1] probably dating to the ninth century.

[47] Their position was incorporated into Sunni thought by the prominent traditionist Ahmad ibn Hanbal (d. 855), who created a hierarchy of companions in which Abu Bakr, Umar, and Uthman are placed immediately above Ali,[1][48] each of the four being the most meritorious person of their time.

For instance, some Sunni scholars have linked the word mawla to the financial dependence of Ali on Muhammad, who raised the former in his household as a child.

"[51] Similar sentiments are attributed to Umar in the Sunni Kitab al-Isti'ab and al-Bidaya wa'l-nihaya and the Shia Bihar al-anwar.

[52][53] Muhammad al-Shafi'i (d. 820), founder of one of the four schools of Sunni jurisprudence, commended Ali as "the best imam, the best guide,"[54] and composed a poem in his praise.