وَنُحِبُّ أَصْحَابَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ وَلَا نُفْرِطُ فِي حُبِّ أَحَدٍ مِنْهُمْ
We love the Companions of Allah’s Messenger ﷺ and do not go to excess in love for any one of them.
وَنُثْبِتُ الْخِلَافَةَ بَعْدَ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ أَوَّلًا لِأَبِي بَكْرٍ الصِّدِّيقِ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ تَفْضِيلًا لَهُ وَتَقْدِيمًا عَلَى جَمِيعِ الْأُمَّةِ
We affirm the caliphate after the Prophet ﷺ first for Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq, giving him preference and precedence over the entire community.
The apparent difficulty: How does love of all Companions fit with a particular succession order?
Resolution: General respect for the Companions and the particular order of the rightly guided caliphs concern different questions. Precedence in a particular matter is not permission to disparage others.
Inference to avoid: It is wrong to turn a statement of rank into excess, hostility, or disparagement.
Application: Abu Bakr’s first place in succession does not diminish respect due to the others.