بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

2/27/2015

Dear respected brothers,sisters, and elders

Asslamou Alaykoum

Today, I would like to remind you about the status of the Sahaba (The Prophet's Companions) may Allah be pleased with them by answering the following questions:

Q1-Who is the Sahabi ?

A1-: The Sahabi (Companion of the Prophet) Peace Be Upon Him is anyone who saw, and believed in the Prophet, and died while he or she is a Muslim.

Q2-What is the number of the Sahaba?

A2-There are different views, but the highest number of the Sahaba we have is 124,000.

Q3-What is the virtues of the Sahaba?

A3- There are a lot of virtues  of the Sahaba in the Quran and the Sunnah. I will mention few verses and Hadiths.

1-In Surah At-Tawbah (9:100) we read taht : "And the foremost to embrace Islam of the Muhaajiroon and the Ansaar 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".

2-In Surat Al-Fath (48:18) we read that : "Indeed, Allah was pleased with the believers when they gave the Bay'ah (pledge) to you (O Muhammad) under the tree, He knew what was in their hearts, and He sent down As-Sakeenah (calmness and tranquility) upon them, and He rewarded them with a near victory." Ibn Katheer (may Allah have mercy on him) said in Tafseer al-Qur'aan al-'Azeem (4/243): "He knew what was in their hearts" i.e., of sincerity and loyalty, and the willingness to hear and obey".

3- It was narrated from Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "Do not revile my companions, for by the One in Whose hand is my soul, if one of you were to spend the equivalent of Uhud in gold, it would not amount to a "Mudd" of one of them, or half of that.". ( Bukhari 3673 & Muslim 2540). 

4- Furthermore, It was narrated from 'Abd-Allaah ibn Mas'ood (may Allaah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "The best of the people are my generation, then those who come after them, then those who come after them." (Bukhaari 2652 and Muslim 2533). 

Q4- Are they infallible?

A4- NO! The Sahaba are humans, they are not like the Prophets or Angels; so they commit mistakes and sins. The view of the majority of Muslims (Ahl al-Sunnah) "speaks well of them, and pray for mercy and forgiveness for them, but they do not believe that anyone is infallible or that anyone is protected from making mistakes in their "Ijtihaad" except the Messenger of Allah.

There are some cases in which some of the Sahabah committed sins, then Allah, may He be exalted, pardoned them and forgave them, which is indicative of their virtue and honor and that cannot be undermined by any mistake that they made during the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) or after he died". 

Abu Muhammad Ibn Hazm (may Allah have mercy on him) said: 

All the Sahaabah are definitively people of Paradise. Allah, may He be exalted, says in the Quran (57:10) : "Not equal among you are those who spent and fought before the conquering (of Mecca 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)"

"Verily those for whom the good has preceded from Us, they will be removed far therefrom (Hell)"

( 21:101). And it is proven that all of them are among the people of Paradise. End quote. 

Q6- What is the status of the one who criticizes them?

A6- We should not speak about them in any way that will undermine their status. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "Do not revile my companions, for by the One in Whose hand is my soul, if one of you were to spend in charity gold equal to the size of Mount Uhud, he would not achieve the status of one of them, or even come halfway." (Bukhaari, 3637 & Muslim, 2541).

Abu Zar'ah al-Raazi said: If you see a man criticizing one of the companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), then know that he is a heretic. 

Imam Ahmad said: If you see a man mentioning one of the companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) in a bad way, then call his Islam into question.

I ask Allah SWT to make us among those who love the Sahaba, follow them, and be resurrected with them. Amen

Imam Abdelghader