31. Abdullah bin Ahmad bin Hanbal and Al-Bukhari distorted a narration in which Ali Ibn Abi Talib (as) said that he had more right over Caliphate than Abu Bakr, Umar and Uthman.

Al-Baladhuri (Died 279 AH) narrated like this : 

حدثني روح بن عبد المؤمن، عن أبي عوانة، عن خالد الحذاء، عن عبد الرحمن بن أبي بكرة أن علياً أتاهم عائداً، فقال: ما لقي أحد من هذه الأمة ما لقيت، توفي رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم وأنا أحقُّ الناس بهذا الأمر، فبايع الناس أبا بكر، فاستخلف عمر فبايعت ورضيت وسلمت، ثم بايع الناس عثمان فبايعت وسلمت ورضيت، وهم الآن يميلون بيني وبين معاوية

Abdur Rahman bin Abi Bakra narrated that Ali (as) came to them standing and said : No one in this Ummah has to face what i faced.Prophet (ﷺ) died and I had more right over this Caliphate, Then people gave pledge of allegiance to Abu Bakr, After him ‘Umar was appointed as Caliph and I pledged, accepted and remained at peace, Then people gave pledge to ‘Uthman and i pledged, accepted and remained at peace and these (people) are between Me and Mua’waiyah.

Ansab ul Ashraaf – Al-Baladhuri // Volume 2 // Page 164 – 165 // Edn. Moussa’h Riyan Riyadh Saudi Arabia.

Now same narration is quoted by Abdullah bin Ahmad bin Hanbal (Died 290 AH) but he changed the statement of Ali (as) that he had more right over caliphate to ” فذكر كلمة meaning then he (Ali) said something ” to hide the reality.

Kitab u Sunnah – Abdullah bin Ahmad bin Hanbal // Volume 2 // Page 558 // Number 1316 // Edn. Dar Ibn Jawzi Riyadh Saudi Arabia.

Al-Bukhari (Died 256 AH) even went a step forward and erased out the whole statement.

Tarikh Al-Kabeer – Al-Bukhari // Volume 1 // Page 530 // Number 599 // Edn. Nashir Al-Mutamiz Riyadh Saudi Arabia.