Description
We read in Tarikh Dimashq, Vol. 42, pg. 167:
“Ibn Abbas narrated that he heard Umar bin al-Khattab discussing with some people about the first Muslims, thus Umar said: ‘I heard Allah’s messenger (pbuh) saying three virtues about Ali, if I had one of these (virtues) it would be more lovable to me than anything else.
I was with Abu Ubayda, Abu Bakr and a group of companions, then the Prophet (s) patted Ali’s shoulder and said: ‘O Ali, you are the strongest amongst the believers in faith, the first Muslim who embraced Islam and your status to me is like the status of Harun to Musa”.