And the statement of Allah the Exalted (in Surah Al-Furqan) «واجعلنا للمتقين إماما‏» : "Our Lord! Make us leaders for the righteous." Mujahid said: That is, make us imams so that we follow those who came before us, the Companions and the Followers, and those who come after us follow us. And Abdullah bin Awn said: There are three things which I like for myself and for my Muslim brothers: First, the knowledge of hadith; Muslims must acquire it. Second, the Noble Qur'an; they should recite it with understanding and continue to seek the meanings of the Qur'an from people. Third, that Muslims should always mention each other with goodness and virtue, and not mention anyone's faults.

Narrated Abu Wail: I sat with Shaiba in this Mosque (Al-Masjid-Al-Haram), and he said, "`Umar once sat beside me here as you are now sitting, and said, 'I feel like distributing all the gold and silver that are in it (i.e., the Ka`ba) among the Muslims'. I said, 'You cannot do that.' `Umar said, 'Why?' I said, 'Your two (previous) companions (the Prophet and Abu Bakr) did not do it. `Umar said, 'They are the two persons whom one must follow.'" (See Hadith No. 664, Vol. 2)