The Status of Abu Bakr, Umar, and Uthman in the Zaydi School

• Imam Yaḥyā b. Ḥamīd al-Maqraʿī (d. 980 AH) — When discussing the status of the first three caliphs, he declared that the caliphs, as well as those who chose them, were in error. However, according to the Imam, this was done through ijtihād while all sides were sincerely in search of the truth.
• Imam al-Manṣūr ʿAbdullah b. Ḥamza (d. 614 AH) — He accepted that the caliphs were among the forerunners of the Muhājirūn praised in Qur’an 9:100. However, he stated that the Ahl al-Bayt exceeded them in excellence.
• Imam al-Mahdī Aḥmad b. Yaḥyā (d. 840 AH) — He considered those who insult Abū Bakr and ʿUmar to be fāsiqūn (disobedient to Allah), just like those who insult ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib.
• Imam al-Hādī ila’l-Ḥaqq Yaḥyā (d. 298 AH) — He declared that those who insulted the caliphs were deserving of corporal punishment, and he ordered that those who insulted Abū Bakr and ʿUmar be lashed.

References

📕 — Al-Īḍāḥ limā Khafiya min al-Ittifāq ʿalā Taʿẓīm Ṣaḥābat al-Muṣṭafā, Imam al-Hādī ila’l-Ḥaqq Yaḥyā (d. 298 AH).
📕 — Al-Shāfī fī Nuṣrat al-Ḥaqq bi al-Dalīl al-Kāfī, Imam al-Manṣūr ʿAbdullah b. Ḥamza (d. 614 AH).
📕 — Al-Baḥr al-Zakhkhār, Imam al-Mahdī Aḥmad b. Yaḥyā (d. 840 AH).
📕 — Al-Mustatab fī Tārīkh ʿUlamāʾ al-Zaydiyya al-Aṭyab, Imam al-Hādī ila’l-Ḥaqq Yaḥyā (d. 298 AH).