Sunan Abi Dawud 4630
سنن أبي داود#4630Sahihحَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ مِسْكِينٍ، حَدَّثَنَا مُحَمَّدٌ، - يَعْنِي الْفِرْيَابِيَّ - قَالَ سَمِعْتُ سُفْيَانَ، يَقُولُ مَنْ زَعَمَ أَنَّ عَلِيًّا، عَلَيْهِ السَّلاَمُ كَانَ أَحَقَّ بِالْوِلاَيَةِ مِنْهُمَا فَقَدْ خَطَّأَ أَبَا بَكْرٍ وَعُمَرَ وَالْمُهَاجِرِينَ وَالأَنْصَارَ وَمَا أُرَاهُ يَرْتَفِعُ لَهُ مَعَ هَذَا عَمَلٌ إِلَى السَّمَاءِ .
Muhammad al-Firyabl said:I heard Sufyan say: If anyone thinks that ‘All (Allah be pleased with him) was more deserving for the Caliphate than both of them, he imputed error to Abu Bakr, ‘Umar, the Muhajirun (Immigrants), and the Ansar (Helpers) Allah be pleased with all of them. I think that with this (belief) none of his action will rise to the heaven
Scholarly Authentication
The label above is the grade most of these scholars gave, each scholar counted once — one dissenting opinion no longer speaks for all of them. If any scholar calls a narration fabricated, that verdict is shown instead, whatever the others say. When they judged only its chain of narrators (“Isnaad”), the label says “Sound chain”. Each scholar's own wording:
Our source also lists this ruling under Muhammad Muhyi Al-Din Abdul Hamid, the editor of the printed edition it was taken from. It is al-Albani's ruling printed again, so it is counted once.
In-book reference: 42:35