One day Abu Bakr as-Siddiq Radi Allahu anhu came to Rasûlullah’s ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa
sallam’ place. He was about to enter, when Alî bin Abî Tâlib ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’ arrived,
too. Abû Bakr stepped backwards and said,
“After you, Ya Ali.” The latter replied and the following long dialogue took place between
them:
Hazarath Ali razi allah anhu - Ya Abâ Bakr, you go in first for you are ahead of us all in all goodnesses and acts of charity.
It is a collective agreement [Ijmāʻ] of the scholars of Ahl as-Sunnah wal-Jamāʻh that the greatest person in this Ummah is Abū Bakr, then ʿUmar, then ʿUs̱mān and then ʿAlī, radiyAllahu anhum.
The greatest Sufi masters have also affirmed this tenet of the Sunnī creed. Particularly, the Naqshbandī masters hold this belief firmly, not only based on the authentic narrations, but also by their Kashf.