The Ahl-e-Sunnat wa Jama'at has reached consensus (Ijma') that after the Prophets (Alaihim as-Salam) the best of creation are the four rightly guided Khalifas (Khulafa-e-Arba'a i.e. Hadrat Abu Bakr, Hadrat Umar, Hadrat Uthman and Hadrat Ali Radi Allahu Ta'ala Anhum Ajma'een).
Their sequence of excellence is that Sayyiduna Abu Bakr as-Siddique is the most excellent, then Sayyiduna Umar, thereafter followed by the excellence of Sayyiduna Uthman and Sayyiduna Ali (Ridwanullahi Ta'ala Alaihim Ajma'een). Here I present few proclamations of the Classical Scholars and Jurists in this regard