591 - Muhammad ibn 'Ali al-Simsar informed us, saying: Muhanna related to us, saying: Yahya ibn Ma'in said to me [404]: "What does Ahmad ibn Hanbal say regarding the order of precedence?" I replied: "I do not know." So I asked Yahya ibn Ma'in and said: "What do you say?" He said: "I say: Abu Bakr, then 'Umar, then 'Uthman."
