The Companions Of The Prophet (may Allah be pleased with them)

bismillahirrahmaanirrahiim

This article is about the companions of the prophet(may Allah be pleased with them);
Who they are, their status and how we should treat them.

The definition of a companion of the prophet is:
All the people who met the prophet and died as a muslim. 
• It doesn’t matter how long they met the prophet(peace upon him). Some of the companions met him for a few seconds only, while others were by his side over 20 years.
• It doesn’t matter if they saw him or not, as long as they met him. Some of the companions were blind.
• The companions were many, several thousands. Some scholars say they were over 100000.
• If a person met the prophet(peace upon him) as a muslim but then later left islam and died as a non-muslim, then he/she is NOT a companion of the prophet.

The companions of the prophet can be divided into 2 categories:
1. Al-Muhaajireen/The ones who migrated. These are the ones who became muslims in Mekka and migrated to Madinah.
2. Al-Ansaar/The Helpers. These are the ones who became muslims in Madinah and helped the Mekka-muslims when they arrived in Madinah.


10 basic beliefs and obligations
Below is a list of the 10 most basic and important beliefs and obligations we must have and implement regarding the companions of the prophet. It is obligatory for every muslim to study these and accept them.


Number 1
We must love them all sincerely for Allah’s sake. The muslim who loves the companions will be successful in this life and the next, and the one who hates them will be among the losers.

Narrated by Al-Bara:
“I heard the Prophet saying (or the Prophet said): ‘None loves the Ansar but a believer, and none hates them but a hypocrite. So Allah will love him who loves them, and He will hate him who hates them.’” (Bukhari, Volume 5, Book 58, Number 127)

Narrated by Anas bin Malik:
“The Prophet said: ‘The sign of Belief is to love the Ansar, and the sign of hypocrisy is to hate the Ansar.’"(Bukhari, Volume 5, Book 58, Number 128)

If loving the ansar, the helpers, is obligatory and a sign of belief, then loving the muhajireen, the migraters, is an even greater sign of belief and even more important. That is because the migraters generally have a higher status in islam than the helpers.

All quran verses and all narrations that speaks about loving your brothers and sisters in islam pertain especially to the companions of the prophet. They were the best muslims with the highest status.

Imam Malik said:      
“The salaf used to teach their kids to love Abu Bakr and Omar the same way they taught them a surah from the quran.”


Number 2
We must know their virtues, excellence, reliability and high status. We must know that the companions were the best muslims of this ummah and noone after them can even come close to being as good as them.

Allah says:
"And the foremost to embrace Islam of the Muhajirun (those who migrated from Makkah to Al-Madinah) and the Ansar (the citizens of Al-Madinah who helped and gave aid to the Muhajirun) and also those who followed them exactly (in Faith). Allah is well-pleased with them as they are well-pleased with Him. He has prepared for them Gardens under which rivers flow (Paradise), to dwell therein forever. That is the supreme success." (9:100)

Allah says in this verse that He has promised Paradise to three categories of muslims:
1 The muhajirun
2 The ansar
3 The ones who follow them exactly in faith
The muhajirun and the ansar are The Companions Of The Prophet, and number 3 means all the other muslims coming after them. This verse shows the exellence and the high status of the companions:
- Allah is pleased with them
- He has promised them Paradise
- All other muslims should follow them

Allah says:
"Not equal among you are those who spent and fought before the conquering (of Makkah) (with those among you who did so later). Such are higher in degree than those who spent and fought afterwards. But to all, Allah has promised the best (reward). And Allah is All-Aware of what you do."(57:10)

In this verse Allah talks about the companions who strove before the conquering of Makkah, and the ones who strove after. The first ones have a higher degree with Allah, but all of them are promised "the best" which means Paradise.

The prophet(peace upon him) said:
“None from among those who paid the pledge under the tree would enter the hellfire.”(at-Tirmidhi, Vol. 1, Book 46, Hadith 3860)

During an expedition, 1400 companions gave a pledge to the prophet(peace upon him) under a tree that they would support him whatever happened. These 1400 companions will never enter the hellfire.

The prophet(peace upon him)said:
"Do not abuse my Companions, for by the One in Whose Hand is my soul! If one of you were to spend gold the life of Uhud, it would not equal a Mudd - nor half of it - of one of them." (at-Tirmidhi, Vol. 1, Book 46, Hadith 3861)

This hadith shows the exellence of the companions and how their deeds were so much better than any muslim's deeds who came after them. The companions of the prophet spent their wealth and property in a time when islam needed it the most and the conditions were very harsh.

The prophet(peace upon him) said:
"The best people are those of my generation, and then those who will come after them (the next generation), and then those who will come after them (i.e. the next generation)" (Sahih al-Bukhari 6429)

This hadith clearly shows that the companions were the best muslims of the prophet's nation. This is because they witnessed the revelation of the quran and the sunnah and they got it explained and examplified by the prophet(peace upon him) himself. So they had the best possible understanding of islam and the best possible implementation of it.

The companions should be our role models. We should strive to read about them, learn how they practiced islam and follow their examples. Following them is a key to success.


Number 3
It's obligatary to believe in the specific things that have been mentioned regarding the companions of the prophet. Below are some of those things.

Who are the best of the companions?
The Best of the companions are the ten who have been promised paradise. They are:
1 Abu Bakr
2 Umar ibn al-Khattaab
3 Uthman ibn Affan
4 Ali ibn abi Talib
5 Talha ibn Ubaidullah
6 Zubeyr ibn al-Awam
7 Said ibn Zayd
8 Sad ibn abi Waqqaas
9 Abdurrahmaan ibn Awf
10 Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah

The best ones after these ten are the companions who fought at Badr.
After them come the ones who fought at Uhud.
After them come the ones who gave the pledge to the prophet(peace upon him) under the tree.
And finally: The muhajireen are better than the Ansar.

This order of the status of the companions is mentioned by ibn Kathir, an-Nawawi and others.

The best female companions are:
Khadijah, the prophet's(peace upon him) first wife.
Aisha, the prophet's(peace upon him) third wife.
Fatimah, the prophet's(peace upon him) daughter.


Number 4
A muslim should only mention good things about the companions out of the love he/she has for them.

Ahmad ibn Hanbal said:
"It's from the sunnah to mention the good characteristics of the companions, all of them. And not to talk about the things that ocurred between them. The one who talks bad about one companion, or all of them, is an innovator and a rafidi. To love the companions is sunnah and to pray for them brings you closer to Allah. To follow them is something that will bring you closer to Allah. To follow their sayings is a virtue."


Number 5
It's obligatory to bear witness that ALL of the companions of the pophet are in paradise. For evidence supporting this claim, see "Number 2" above.


Number 6
It's recommended and from the sunnah to pray for the companions and to ask Allah to forgive them. It's also recommended to say "radiyAllahu anhum"(may Allah be pleased with them) after mentioning their names.


Number 7
A muslim doesn't mention the sins or the mistakes of the companions. The companions are not free from sin or mistakes but theirs are fewer and smaller than all other muslims'. And their good deeds are more and better than all other muslims'.

If you read or hear about a sin or mistake a companion has been accused of there are 3 ways to approach this:
1 The sin or mistake has not been confirmed by any reliable source and is therefore false and fabricated. This one we reject.
2 The sin or mistake can be interpreted in a good way or in a bad way. Regarding the companions we always interpret it the good way, we always give them the benefit of the doubt because of their high status.
3 The sin or mistake has been confirmed by a reliable source and it is in fact something negative. In this case we believe that the companion had a good intention and was trying to do something good, but made a mistake. We believe that all companions made sincere tawbah for all their sins and that they were quick in doing it and that Allah has forgiven their sins.


Number 8
A muslim should not bring up nor talk about the conflicts that ocurred between the companions. There were some conflicts and arguments between the companions but we believe the cause of these conflicts was idjtihaad. This means that both companions had come to a conclusion that they thought was right based on the quran and sunnah, but their conclusions differed. We believe that Allah has forgiven all companions for what happened between them.

The prophet(peace upon him) said:
"When my companions are mentioned then withhold." (saheeh, at-Tabaraanee)

This means that when the companions are mentioned one must withhold the tounge from saying bad things about them.


Number 9
A muslim should hate the ones who hate the companions and defend and support the companions. 

The Prophet(peace upon him) said:
"If anyone loves for Allah's sake, hates for Allah's sake, gives for Allah's sake and withholds for Allah's sake, he will have perfect faith."

The strongest part of faith is to love and hate for Allah's sake, and Allah loves the companions and hates the ones who abuse and humiliate them. We should feel and do the same way.

The salaf used to condemn the ones who spoke bad about the companions:

Bishr ibn al-Harith said:
"The one who curses the companions of the prophet is a kafir(non-muslim) even if he prays and fasts."

Ahmad ibn Hanbal said:
"If you see a man talking bad about the companions then be in doubt about his islam."


Number 10
A muslim should follow the companions, walk in their footsteps and have them as rolemodels. 

The companions had the best knowledge and understanding of islam because they witnessed the revelation. They knew why the verses of the quran came down, when they came down and in what context they came down.

There were no bid'ah, innovations, in their time: They had the pure islam.

The prophet(peace upon him) said:
"And this Ummah will divide into seventy-three sects, all of which except one will go to Hell and they (i.e. the Saved Sect) are those who are upon what I and My Companions are upon (i.e. those who follow My Way and the Way of my Companions.)" [Reported by at-Tirmidhee - Hasan]

This hadith shows that what the companions were on, meaning how they understood and implemented islam, is the correct way which leads to paradise.

A muslim should be on:
1 the quran
2 the sunnah
3 the way the companions understood the quran and sunnah

Allah says:
"And whoever contradicts and opposes the Messenger (Muhammad ) after the right path has been shown clearly to him, and follows other than the believers' way. We shall keep him in the path he has chosen, and burn him in Hell - what an evil destination." (4:115)

Allah says "the believers' way" which means "the companions' way". So we understand from this verse that deviating from the companions understanding of islam leads to the hellfire.

About This Blog

bismillahirrahmaanirraheem

Salam aleikum!

This is the first post of the blog Islam=Truth, and  hopefullly not the last. With the permission of Allah this blog will be filled with beneficial and interesting posts about Islam. The topics will vary but the concept will stay the same - Short and efficient posts about Islam from the correct sources.


So stay tuned!


// IET