of the Prophet 
and all that
has been mentioned about their virtues, merits and characteristics in the
Qur'aan and Sunnah.
Companions
are all those who met the Prophet
and died as Muslims. Scholars have said that they were 114,000 in number
[as stated by Abu Zur'ah, the teacher of Imaam Muslim, and recorded by
as-Suyootee]. They are praised in many Qur'aanic verses (which means):
"You
are the best of peoples ever raised for mankind, you enjoin good and forbid
evil, and you believe in Allaah." [3:110] "And the first to embrace
Islam of the Muhajiroon (the Emigrants from Makkah) and the Ansar
(the citizens of Al-Madeenah who helped the Muhajiroon) and also those
who followed them exactly (in Faith). Allaah is well-pleased with
them as they are well pleased with Him. He has prepared for them Gardens
under which rivers flow, to dwell therein forever. That is the supreme
success." [9:100] "Indeed, Allaah was pleased with the believers
when they gave their pledge to you (O Muhammad) under the tree.
He knew what was in their hearts and He sent down calmness and tranquility
upon them..." [48:18]
Our Attitude Towards Them
Our attitude towards
the Sahaba should be that
of love, respect, peace and purity of our hearts and tongues. Allaah has
described this in His saying (which means): "And those who come after
them say: 'Our Lord! Forgive us and our brethren who have preceded us in
Faith, and put not in our hearts any hatred against those who have believed.'"
[59:10]
And the Prophet said (which
means): "The sign of faith is love of the Ansar and the sign of hypocrisy
is the hatred of Ansar" [al-Bukharee, Muslim]. Why should we not be
thankful to those who believed in the Prophet ,
assisted him, strove with their lives and wealth to make the Word of Allaah
supreme, preserved and transmitted to us our Religion? Who is more deserving
that we pray for them and speak of them in the best manner and think of
them with the best thoughts?
We should therefore
mention their virtues and remain silent about any mistakes they made and
about anything that occurred between them, as the Prophet
advised us: "When my Companions are mentioned then withhold" [Saheeh,
at-Tabaranee]. And he also
said (which means), "Do not abuse my Companions, for if any of you were
to spend gold equal to (mountain of) Uhud in charity, it would not
equal a handful of one of them or even half of that" [al-Bukharee,
Muslim]. And he said (which
means), "Whoever abuses my Companions, upon them is the curse of Allaah,
the angels and all the people" [Saheeh, At-Tabaranee].
Muslim scholars have
also been very strict in regard to the issue of speaking and thinking mistrustfully
of the Sahaba . Imam Malik
said that someone who finds in himself an ill-feeling or anger "ghaiDH"
about the Companions is a kafir because Allaah (s.w.t.) says "li-yagheeDHa
bihim ul kuffar" that He may enrage the disbelievers with them, i.e.
the Sahaba [48:29]. And the `Ulama' also say if the Companions of the Prophet
are disbelievers, dishonest or betrayed the Prophet ,
then the whole religion is undermined. Because how do we know what the
Prophet said, if the Companions
of the Prophet were not honest
and truthful? We cannot be sure. And this also applies to the Qur'aan,
as we received the Qur'aan through the Sahaba as well. Indeed, they were
truthful and sincere, as Allaah described them: "Among the believers
are men who have been true to their covenant with Allaah and showed not
their backs to the disbelievers, of them some have fulfilled their obligations
and some of them are still waiting, but they never changed (i.e. they
never proved treacherous to their covenant which they concluded with Allaah)
in the least." [33:23] Hujjat ul Islaam, Sufyan ibn `Uyainah said:
"He who speaks a single word against the Companions of Allaah's Messenger
then he is an innovator." And Imaam Ahmad said: "If you see anyone speaking
ill of the Companions of the Messenger of Allaah ,
doubt his Islaam." And Adh-Dhahabee said, "Anyone who criticizes them or
insults them has gone out of this religion and has segregated himself from
the Muslim Ummah. He has disbelieved in what Allaah the Most High says
concerning them in His Book, and what Allaah's Messenger
has said concerning their noble qualities and their merits... It is incumbent
upon the Muslims to love Allaah; to love His Messenger ,
to love what the Prophet brought
as guidance and as his practice; to love his descendants, his Companions,
his wives, his children, his servants, and to love those who love them
and hate those who hate them, as this is the meaning of loving for Allaah's
sake and hating for Allaah's sake, and that is the most excellent kind
of faith." In al-Kaba'ir (The Greatest Sins), we find that adh-Dhahabee
also said, "The one who loves the Prophet
loves and respects each and all of his Companions. To hate any of them
is to hate the Prophet ." Al-Fudayl
ibn `Iyyad spoke similarly when he said, "Indeed, I love those whom Allaah
loves. They are those from whom the Companions of Muhammad
are safe. I hate those whom Allaah hates. They are the people of the deviant
sects and innovation."
These statements of the
great Imaams of the Ummah should not surprise us, because a slight doubt
about the Companions will in fact be accusing the Prophet himself of hiding
the truth about them which he knew (that they were hypocrites, as heretics
claim), but he did not tell us!! Or one is accusing him
of being something like an imbecile, as Shaikh Ja'far Idris once spoke,
because the Prophet , supposedly
did not know although he lived with these people all the time. He thought
that they were the best Muslims, but they were hypocrites. That is why
al-Barbaharee said, "Know that anyone who tries to attack the Companions
of Muhammad really seeks to
attack Muhammad ."
The Best of the Companions
We should note that
the best of the Ummah, after the Prophet
were Abu Bakr
, then 'Umar ,
then 'Uthman , then 'Ali.
As far as the Caliphate is concerned, Ibn Taymeeyah has said that anyone
who "objects against anyone of these regarding this order of caliphate,
he will be regarded more misguided than the domestic donkey."
And `Abdul-`Azeez al-Qari
said that Abu Haneefa "declared anyone who doubts the caliphate of Aboo
Bakr and 'Umar
is a disbeliever. He also declared anyone who slanders the Mother of the
Believers 'A'isha 
to be a
disbeliever. And he stated that the prayer behind a Rafidhee [extreme Shee'ah
who curse and abuse the Companions] is invalid."
Ahlus Sunnah also,
"accept all the superiority's and grades that have been described about
them in the Qur'aan, the Hadeeth and by concensus. They give superiority
to those who spent and fought for the sake of Allaah before the victory,
that is, truce of Hudaibiyah over those who spent and fought after that.
They consider al- Muhajireen (those who migrated from Makkah to al-Madeenah
for Islaam) to be superior to al-Ansar (the helpers of al-Madeenah who
supported the Muhajireen). They have faith in what Allaah has said about
the 313 persons on the occasion of the battle of Badr that, 'they are free
to do what they like, their sins are pardoned' [al- Bukharee]. And none
of those who gave their pledge to the Prophet
under the tree will get into Fire as the Prophet
has stated, 'Allaah is pleased with them and they are pleased with Allaah.'
And they were more than 1400 about whom the Prophet
bore witness that they will be admitted to Paradise [Muslim]. The Ahlus
Sunnah also bea
