619 - Muhammad ibn 'Ali ibn Mahmud informed me, saying: Abu Bakr al-Athram narrated to us, saying: I heard Abu 'Abd Allah say: "'Ali is, in my view, a caliph who implements the prescribed punishments (hudud), and he is called Commander of the Believers, and this is not denied." Abu 'Abd Allah said to me: "Write this down, for it strengthens the position of those who hold that 'Ali is a caliph." And he dictated it to us from his book.