In Defence of the Sahaba

[al-ghazalli]

As Salam Alikum

In the Name of Allah the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate.

Bismillah wal Hamdulilah was Salatu was Salam 'ala Sayyidina Rasul Allah.

Throughout history their have been individuals and groups who have doubted the sincerity of the Companions of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be Upon Him).

Many have attributed heinous crimes commited by them against the Ahl-Bayt and some has had the audacity to use our own hadiths against them to prove from sunni sources that the Sahaba themselves were not adl (just) but were rather hard hearted human beings who were hungry for power.

One of the hadiths used against them is called the Hadith of the Pond which is narrated by Imam Bukhari in his Sahih.

the Messenger of Allah said: "On the day of resurrection you will be grabbed from the left, and I will say: "Where are they being taken to?" It will be said: "By Allah, they are being taken to Hell!" I will say: "My Lord! These are my Sahaba! It will be said: "You do not know what they did after you. From the time you left them they never ceased to apostatize". (Bukhari Vol 7 p 209)

Now I know many people would have a field day with this hadith since it would prove to them that the Sahaba were indeed corrupt individuals.

But if one truly understands the sciences of hadith then they would know this claim is outrageous. The hadith refers to hypocrites whom the Prophet (Peace and Blessings be Upon Him) named during his lifetime to Sayyidina Hudhayfa al Yaman as narrated by Tayalisi in his Musnad (pg. 25 #180) and al-Mizzi in Tahdhib al-Kamal (5:501), Dhahabis Siyar A`lam al-Nubala' (2:364), Fath al-Bari (13:37), and Kanz Al Ummal #36406 and thus it cannot be stated that the Prophet (SAW) was actually unaware of what was going to happen.

Below i reproduce the narration from the Musnad of Taylasi:

[ 180 ] حدثنا أبو داود قال حدثنا قيس عن أبي إسحاق عن هبيرة قال شهدت عليا وسئل عن حذيفة فقال سأل عن أسماء المنافقين فأخبر بهم وسئل عن نفسه فقال إياي عرفت كنت إذا سألت أجبت وإذا سكت ابتديت

As for the names of the Munafiqs and those who died apostates, then you can find them in the biogrophical books, among a few are:

1. Abdullah Ibn Ubay
2. Khameesa Ibn Al Hakam (see Al Isaba vol 2, #2295)
3. The whole of the Ghatafan tribe
4. Tulayha Al Asadi (Al Isaba, Vol 3, #4294)
5. Ibn Wahb (ibid, vol 4, #5031)

The Prophet (Peace and Blessings be Upon Him) had also predicted the great apostacy i.e. the Ridda that would occur after he died which Abu Bakr fought against.The names of these people i.e. who apostasized or were Munafiqs can be found in the Sirahs. You will not find them being referred to as the "companions of the Prophet" in any of the books.

The reason is because the word "Sahaba" means "He who accepted Islam, saw the Prophet and DIED IN A STATE OF BELEIF." Therefore to say Sahaba - Munafiqs is ignorance of the application of the word sahaba.

Inshallah I will continue more with this topic tomorrow starting from Abu Bakr (May Allah be Pleased with Him) and ending it off with Muawiyah (May Allah be Pleased with Him).


And with Allah is all Success.

[al-ghazalli]

another similiar hadith is again narrated by Imam Bukhari in his Sahih;

The Prophet said, "I am your predecessor (forerunner) at the Lake-Fount, and whomever will pass by there, he will drink from it and whomever will drink from it, he will never be thirsty. There will come to me some people whom I will recognize, and they will recognize me, but a barrier will be placed between me and them." Abu Haazim added Nu`man ibn Abi `Ayyaash, on hearing me, said. "Did you hear this from Sahl?" I said, "Yes." He said, "I bear witness that I heard Abu Sa`eed al-Khudri saying the same, adding that the Prophet said: 'I will say: They are my companions. Then it will be said to me, 'You do not know what they innovated (new things) in the religion after you left.' I will say, 'Far removed, far removed (from mercy), those who changed after me." Abu Hurayrah narrated that the Prophet said, "On the Day of Resurrection a group of companions will come to me, but will be driven away from the Lake-Fount, and I will say, 'O Lord (those are) my
companions!' It will be said, 'You have no knowledge as to what they innovated after you left; they turned apostate as renegades (reverted from true Islam)." (Narrated Abu Hazim from Sahl bin Sa`d, Sahih al-Bukhari, 8:585)

Again many people will think this hadith refers to the Sahaba but people fail to realise that the sunnah is not just one or two books or even one or two Hadeeth. This is a problem all sects have found themselves in since their inception is based upon a lack of knowledge. Thus, quoting one Bukhari Hadeeth on a matter in order to twist an issue until it writhes with what the propagandist is trying to say is a fine display of insincerity when studying Islam. EVERY narration available on that matter must be studied and assessed based on linguistics as well as content.

So the question is, is this narration describing the Sahaba?

"The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) came to the graveyard and
said, 'Peace be upon you, abode of the believing people and we, if God
so wills, are about to join you! I love to see my brothers.'

They (those listening) said, 'Are we not your brothers, Messenger of
Allah?'

He said, 'You are my companions, and our brothers are those who have,
so far, NOT COME INTO THE WORLD.'

They said, 'Messenger of Allah, how would you recognize those PERSONS
OF YOUR UMMAH WHO HAVE NOT YET BEEN BORN?'

He said, 'Supposing a man had horses with white blazes on foreheads
and legs among horses which were all black, tell me, would he not
recognize his own horses?'

They said, 'Certainly, Messenger of Allah.'

He said, 'They would come with white faces and arms and legs owing to
ablution, and I would arrive at the Lake-Fount before them. Some
people would be driven away from my Lake-Fount as the stray camel is
driven away. I would call out, 'Come! Come!'. Then it would be said
(to me), 'These people changed themselves after you.' I would then
say, 'Be off, be off."

[Agreed Upon by Bukhari and Muslim; Sahih al-Muslim, Purification,
482; Sahihh al-Bukhari, Irrigation 2194; an-Nasa'i, Purification, 150;
Sunan Abi Dawud, Funerals, 2818; Sunan Ibn Maajah, Asceticism, 4296;
Musnad Imam Ahmad, vol 2; Muwata Malik, Purification, 53]


Its all about CONTEXT! As is obvious these people who the Prophet
(peace be upon him) was referring to were the Muslims who were not
even BORN.


The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), went to the burial grounds
and said, 'Peace be upon you, home of a people who believe! We shall
be among you, inshaa' Allah. I wish that I had seen our brothers!'

The people with him said, 'Messenger of Allah! Are we not your
brothers?'

'No,' he said, 'You are my companions. Our brothers are those WHO HAVE
NOT YET COME. I will precede them to the Fount. (The Fount of
al-Kawthar)'

They asked him, 'Messenger of Allah! How will you recognize THOSE OF
YOUR COMMUNITY WHO COME AFTER YOU?'

He said, 'Doesn't a man who has horses with white legs and white
blazes on their foreheads among totally black horses recognize which
ones are his own?'

They said, 'Of course, Messenger of Allah.'

He went on, 'Even so will they come on the day of rising with white
marks on their foreheads, hands and feet from ablution, and I will
precede them to the Fount (Fount of al-Kawthar). Some men will be
driven away from the Fount (Fount of al-Kawthar) as if they were
straying camels and I shall call out to them, 'Will you not come? Will
you not come? Will you not come?', and someone will say, 'They changed
things after you,' so I shall say, 'Then away with them, away with
them, away with them!'" [Muwata Imam Malik, 2:2.6.29]

Again this is plain and obvious without any interpolation that this
Hadeeth, in its context, is speaking about a generation who had not
even been born yet.

The Background of this hadith:

The most important issue regarding this Hadeeth which the people who hate the Sahaba seem to miss is that it is the tafseer to Surat al-Kawthar. About its revelation the following Hadeeth states:

The Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) was sitting among us
that he dozed off. HE THEN RAISED HIS HEAD *SMILINGLY*. We asked,
'What makes you SMILE, Messenger of Allah?'

He said, 'A surah has just been revealed to me, and then recited: In
the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful. Verily We have
given you Al-Kawthar (Fount of Abundance). Therefore turn to thy Lord
for the Prayer and offer sacrifice, and surely thy enemy is cut off
(from the good).'

Then he (the Holy Prophet) asked, 'Do you know what Al-Kawthar is?'
We said, 'Allah and His Messenger know best.'

The Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) said, 'It (Al-Kawthar) is a river which my Lord, the Exalted and Glorious has promised me, and there is an abundance of good in it. It is a Lake-Fount and my people would come to it on the Day of Resurrection, and the number of tumblers there would be equal to the number of stars. A SERVANT WOULD BE TURNED AWAY FROM (AMONG THE PEOPLE GATHERING THERE). Upon this I would say: My Lord, he is one of my people, and He (the Lord) would say: You do not know what he innovated after you.' [Agreed upon by Bukhari and Muslim; Sahih al-Bukhari, Qur'an Interpretation, 4582; Softening the Heart, 6095; Sahih al-Muslim, Prayer, 607; Sunan Tirmithi, Qur'an Interpretation, 3282, 3283; Sunan an-Nasa'i, Commencing Prayer, 894; Sunan Abi Dawud, Prayer, 666,
Sunnah, 4122, 4123; Musnad Imam Ahmad, vol. 3]

If the Prophet (peace be upon him) had just seen his beloved
companions being taken from him and thrown into hell fire do you think
he would be SMILING?? Of course not. This is because (as is OBVIOUS in
the context) that this Hadeeth has nothing to do with the Companions
who were in the presence of the Prophet (peace be upon him).

Had the Companions all turned back on their heels after the Prophet
(peace be upon him) had passed away and then ultimately tasted hell,
this is not something the Prophet (peace be upon him) would wake up
SMILING about. It would have been a horrifying nightmare. HE WAS
SMILING BECAUSE HE HAD SEEN HIS COMPANIONS WITH HIM AT THE LAKE-FOUNT.

"..laa yastawee minkum-man anfaqa min qabli-l fat-Hi wa qaatala;
oolaa'ika a`Thamu darajatam-min-allatheena anfaqoo mim-ba`doo wa
qaatalu.."

"..NONE OF YOU ARE EQUAL TO THOSE WHO SPENT AND FOUGHT BEFORE THE CONQUEST (OF MAKKAH). SUCH ARE HIGHER IN DEGREE THAN THOSE WHO SPENT AND FOUGHT AFTERWARDS.." [al-Qur'an 57:10 about the Muhaajiroon among whom Abu Bakr and Umar were present]

[Medievalist]

Perfection. Mashaallah.