Insulting the Companions
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The second question of Fatwa No. ( 19378 )
Q 2: There have appeared among us people with divergent opinions and differing beliefs who insult some of the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), disparage them, and claim that among the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) are open sinners. They turn people away from acting upon their narrations and mention the noble Companion: al-Mughirah ibn Shu'bah among these open sinners. May Allah protect us from that. And one of them says—may Allah curse them—that four of the Companions testified against him for zina before our master 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him). Is this among the ugliest of what they say?
Vol. 2: First: The Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) are the best of the believers, and Allah has praised them and commended them in verses of His Noble Book, which are recited until the Day of Resurrection, among which is His saying:[At-Tawbah 9:100], and His saying, Exalted is He:
[Al-Fath 48:29] , and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) also praised them and affirmed their superiority over all people, saying: Sahih al-Bukhari 3651 Agreed upon by al-Bukhari and Muslim. And Muslim narrated from the hadith of 'A'ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) that she said: . Second: It is not permissible for a Muslim who believes in Allah and the Last Day to insult or curse any of them; because of the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) as narrated by al-Bukhari in (his Sahih) from the hadith of Abu Sa'id (may Allah be pleased with him): Sahih al-Bukhari 3673 , and Muslim narrated it in his Sahih from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Sunan Abi Dawud 4658Sahih (Al-Albani) . It is also established from Ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) that he said: "Do not insult the Companions of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), for the standing of one of them for an hour—meaning with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)—is better than the deeds of one of you for forty years." And in a narration by Waki' : "Better than the deeds of one of you for his entire life." So whoever curses any of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), may Allah be pleased with them all, he deserves severe punishment by the consensus of the Muslims, and they differed on whether he is punished by killing or by something less than killing. Third: All the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) are trustworthy (adul) by Allah's certification of them and His praise
for them and His purification of them, and by the praise of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) for them—and what a great purification that is! Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "Any hadith whose chain of narration is connected between the one who narrated it and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) does not require acting upon it until the trustworthiness (adalah) of its men is established, and it is necessary to look into their conditions, except for the Companion who raised it to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him); because the trustworthiness of the Companions is established and known by Allah's certification of them and His informing about their purity and His choosing them in the text of the Qur'an—then he cited some verses and hadiths regarding their virtue—then he said: "Even if nothing had come from Allah the Exalted and His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) regarding them of what we have mentioned, the state they were in of migration, jihad, and support, and the offering of their souls and wealth, and the killing of their fathers and children, and sincere advice in religion, and the strength of their faith and certainty, would necessitate the certainty of their trustworthiness and the belief in their purity, and that they are better than all the certifiers and purifiers who come after them forever. Then he narrated from Abu Zur'ah (may Allah have mercy on him) that he said: "When you see a man disparaging one of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), know that he is a heretic (zindiq). That is because the Messenger of Allah is true to us, and the Qur'an is true, and it was only the Companions of the Messenger
of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) who delivered this Qur'an and the Sunnah to us. And they only want to remove our witnesses to invalidate the Book and the Sunnah. The difficulty is more appropriate for them, and they are heretics." And the consensus on their trustworthiness, their truthfulness, and acting upon their narrations has been transmitted by many groups of scholars, and praise and grace belong to Allah. Among them are al-Khatib al-Baghdadi , Ibn 'Abd al-Barr , Ibn al-Salah , al-Nawawi , Ibn Kathir , al-'Iraqi , and Ibn Hajar al-Sakhawi (may Allah have mercy on them all). Fourth: Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said in (al-'Aqidah al-Wasitiyyah): "Among the principles of the people of the Sunnah and the community: the purity of their hearts and tongues regarding the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), as Allah described them in His saying:[Al-Hashr 59:10] , and obedience to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in His saying: hadith. And they accept what came in the Book, the Sunnah, and the consensus regarding their virtues and their ranks—until he said—
"And they disavow the way of the Rafidah who hate the Companions and insult them, and the way of the Nawasib who harm the People of the House (Ahl al-Bayt) by word or deed. And they hold back from what occurred between the Companions, and they say: 'As for these narrations regarding their faults, some of it is lies, and some of it has been added to, subtracted from, or altered from its form. And as for what is true of it, they are excused in it, either as successful jurists (mujtahids) or as jurists who erred, and the error is forgiven. And with that, they do not believe that every one of the Companions is infallible from major sins and minor ones. Rather, sins are permissible for them in general, and they have precedents and virtues that necessitate the forgiveness of what issues from them—if it issues—until it is forgiven for them of the sins what is not forgiven for those after them; because they have good deeds that erase bad deeds which those after them do not have. And it is established by the saying of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) that they are the best of generations, and that the span of one of them, if he gave it in charity, is better than Mount Uhud in gold for those after them. Then, if a sin has issued from one of them, it is because he repented from it, or he did good deeds that erase it, or it was forgiven for him by the virtue of his precedence, or by the intercession of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him)
who are the most deserving of people of his intercession, or he was tested with a trial in this world by which it was expiated for him. So if this is the case with established sins, how much more so with the matters in which they were exercising independent legal reasoning (ijtihad)? If they hit the mark, they have two rewards, and if they erred, they have one reward and the error is forgiven. Then, the amount that is denied of the actions of some of them is a small, negligible amount submerged in the virtues and excellences of the people, in their faith in Allah and His Messenger, their jihad in His path, their migration and support, their beneficial knowledge and righteous deeds. And whoever looks at the biography of the people with knowledge and insight, and what Allah bestowed upon them of virtues, knows that they are the best of creation after the prophets, that there was never and will never be anyone like them, and that they are the elite of the generations of this Ummah, which is the best of nations and the most noble to Allah." End of his words, may Allah have mercy on him. Fifth: If what has preceded is known, then it is obligatory for all Muslims to believe in the virtue of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and their superiority over others, to love them and be pleased with them, to mention them with good, to be loyal to them and to be hostile to whoever hates them or mentions them with evil, and that this is among the bonds of faith and the soundness of Islam. Imam Abu Ja'far al-Tahawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said in explaining the creed of the people of the Sunnah and the community: "We love the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and we do not go to the extreme in
loving any of them, nor do we disavow any of them. And we hate whoever hates them and mentions them with other than good. And we do not mention them except with good. And their love is religion, faith, and excellence in worship, and their hatred is disbelief, hypocrisy, and transgression." End. And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad and his family and his Companions.
Q 2: There have appeared among us people with divergent opinions and differing beliefs who insult some of the Companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), disparage them, and claim that among the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) are open sinners. They turn people away from acting upon their narrations and mention the noble Companion: al-Mughirah ibn Shu'bah among these open sinners. May Allah protect us from that. And one of them says—may Allah curse them—that four of the Companions testified against him for zina before our master 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him). Is this among the ugliest of what they say?
Vol. 2: First: The Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) are the best of the believers, and Allah has praised them and commended them in verses of His Noble Book, which are recited until the Day of Resurrection, among which is His saying:
And the first forerunners [in the faith] among the Muhajireen and the Ansar and those who followed them with good conduct - Allah is pleased with them and they are pleased with Him, and He has prepared for them gardens beneath which rivers flow, wherein they will abide forever. That is the great attainment.
وَالسَّابِقُونَ الأَوَّلُونَ مِنَ الْمُهَاجِرِينَ وَالأَنْصَارِ وَالَّذِينَ اتَّبَعُوهُمْ بِإِحْسَانٍ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمْ وَرَضُوا عَنْهُ وَأَعَدَّ لَهُمْ جَنَّاتٍ تَجْرِي تَحْتَهَا الأَنْهَارُ خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا أَبَدًا ذَلِكَ الْفَوْزُ الْعَظِيمُMuhammad is the Messenger of Allah; and those with him are forceful against the disbelievers, merciful among themselves. You see them bowing and prostrating [in prayer], seeking bounty from Allah and [His] pleasure. Their mark is on their faces from the trace of prostration. That is their description in the Torah. And their description in the Gospel is as a plant which produces its offshoots and strengthens them so they grow firm and stand upon their stalks, delighting the sowers - so that Allah may enrage by them the disbelievers. Allah has promised those who believe and do righteous deeds among them forgiveness and a great reward.
مُحَمَّدٌ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ وَالَّذِينَ مَعَهُ أَشِدَّاءُ عَلَى الْكُفَّارِ رُحَمَاءُ بَيْنَهُمْ تَرَاهُمْ رُكَّعًا سُجَّدًا يَبْتَغُونَ فَضْلا مِنَ اللَّهِ وَرِضْوَانًا سِيمَاهُمْ فِي وُجُوهِهِمْ مِنْ أَثَرِ السُّجُودِ ذَلِكَ مَثَلُهُمْ فِي التَّوْرَاةِ وَمَثَلُهُمْ فِي الإِنْجِيلِ كَزَرْعٍ أَخْرَجَ شَطْأَهُ فَآزَرَهُ فَاسْتَغْلَظَ فَاسْتَوَى عَلَى سُوقِهِ يُعْجِبُ الزُّرَّاعَ لِيَغِيظَ بِهِمُ الْكُفَّارَ وَعَدَ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ مِنْهُمْ مَغْفِرَةً وَأَجْرًا عَظِيمًاThe best people are those living in my generation, and then those who will follow them, and then those who will follow the latter
خير الناس قرني، ثم الذين يلونهم، ثم الذين يلونهمA man asked the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), "Which people are the best?" He said, "The generation in which I am, then the next, then the next."
سأل رجل النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم أي الناس خير؟ فقال: " القرن الذي أنا فيه، ثم الثاني، ثم الثالثDo not abuse my companions for if any one of you spent gold equal to Uhud (in Allah's Cause) it would not be equal to a Mud or even a half Mud spent by one of them.
لا تسبوا أصحابي، فلو أن أحدكم أنفق مثل أحد ذهبًا ما بلغ مُدَّ أحدهم ولا نصيفهDo not revile my Companions; by him in whose hand my soul is, if one of you contributed the amount of gold equivalent to Uhud, it would not amount to as much as the mudd of one of them, or half of it.
لا تسبوا أصحابي، لا تسبوا أصحابي، فوالذي نفسي بيده لو أنفق أحدكم مثل أحد ذهبًا ما أدرك مُدَّ أحدهم ولا نصفهfor them and His purification of them, and by the praise of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) for them—and what a great purification that is! Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "Any hadith whose chain of narration is connected between the one who narrated it and the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) does not require acting upon it until the trustworthiness (adalah) of its men is established, and it is necessary to look into their conditions, except for the Companion who raised it to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him); because the trustworthiness of the Companions is established and known by Allah's certification of them and His informing about their purity and His choosing them in the text of the Qur'an—then he cited some verses and hadiths regarding their virtue—then he said: "Even if nothing had come from Allah the Exalted and His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) regarding them of what we have mentioned, the state they were in of migration, jihad, and support, and the offering of their souls and wealth, and the killing of their fathers and children, and sincere advice in religion, and the strength of their faith and certainty, would necessitate the certainty of their trustworthiness and the belief in their purity, and that they are better than all the certifiers and purifiers who come after them forever. Then he narrated from Abu Zur'ah (may Allah have mercy on him) that he said: "When you see a man disparaging one of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), know that he is a heretic (zindiq). That is because the Messenger of Allah is true to us, and the Qur'an is true, and it was only the Companions of the Messenger
of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) who delivered this Qur'an and the Sunnah to us. And they only want to remove our witnesses to invalidate the Book and the Sunnah. The difficulty is more appropriate for them, and they are heretics." And the consensus on their trustworthiness, their truthfulness, and acting upon their narrations has been transmitted by many groups of scholars, and praise and grace belong to Allah. Among them are al-Khatib al-Baghdadi , Ibn 'Abd al-Barr , Ibn al-Salah , al-Nawawi , Ibn Kathir , al-'Iraqi , and Ibn Hajar al-Sakhawi (may Allah have mercy on them all). Fourth: Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) said in (al-'Aqidah al-Wasitiyyah): "Among the principles of the people of the Sunnah and the community: the purity of their hearts and tongues regarding the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), as Allah described them in His saying:
And [there is a share for] those who came after them, saying, "Our Lord, forgive us and our brothers who preceded us in faith and put not in our hearts [any] resentment toward those who have believed. Our Lord, indeed You are Kind and Merciful."
وَالَّذِينَ جَاءُوا مِنْ بَعْدِهِمْ يَقُولُونَ رَبَّنَا اغْفِرْ لَنَا وَلإِخْوَانِنَا الَّذِينَ سَبَقُونَا بِالإِيمَانِ وَلاَ تَجْعَلْ فِي قُلُوبِنَا غِلا لِلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا رَبَّنَا إِنَّكَ رَءُوفٌ رَحِيمٌDo not revile my Companions...
لا تسبوا أصحابي.."And they disavow the way of the Rafidah who hate the Companions and insult them, and the way of the Nawasib who harm the People of the House (Ahl al-Bayt) by word or deed. And they hold back from what occurred between the Companions, and they say: 'As for these narrations regarding their faults, some of it is lies, and some of it has been added to, subtracted from, or altered from its form. And as for what is true of it, they are excused in it, either as successful jurists (mujtahids) or as jurists who erred, and the error is forgiven. And with that, they do not believe that every one of the Companions is infallible from major sins and minor ones. Rather, sins are permissible for them in general, and they have precedents and virtues that necessitate the forgiveness of what issues from them—if it issues—until it is forgiven for them of the sins what is not forgiven for those after them; because they have good deeds that erase bad deeds which those after them do not have. And it is established by the saying of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) that they are the best of generations, and that the span of one of them, if he gave it in charity, is better than Mount Uhud in gold for those after them. Then, if a sin has issued from one of them, it is because he repented from it, or he did good deeds that erase it, or it was forgiven for him by the virtue of his precedence, or by the intercession of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him)
who are the most deserving of people of his intercession, or he was tested with a trial in this world by which it was expiated for him. So if this is the case with established sins, how much more so with the matters in which they were exercising independent legal reasoning (ijtihad)? If they hit the mark, they have two rewards, and if they erred, they have one reward and the error is forgiven. Then, the amount that is denied of the actions of some of them is a small, negligible amount submerged in the virtues and excellences of the people, in their faith in Allah and His Messenger, their jihad in His path, their migration and support, their beneficial knowledge and righteous deeds. And whoever looks at the biography of the people with knowledge and insight, and what Allah bestowed upon them of virtues, knows that they are the best of creation after the prophets, that there was never and will never be anyone like them, and that they are the elite of the generations of this Ummah, which is the best of nations and the most noble to Allah." End of his words, may Allah have mercy on him. Fifth: If what has preceded is known, then it is obligatory for all Muslims to believe in the virtue of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and their superiority over others, to love them and be pleased with them, to mention them with good, to be loyal to them and to be hostile to whoever hates them or mentions them with evil, and that this is among the bonds of faith and the soundness of Islam. Imam Abu Ja'far al-Tahawi (may Allah have mercy on him) said in explaining the creed of the people of the Sunnah and the community: "We love the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and we do not go to the extreme in
loving any of them, nor do we disavow any of them. And we hate whoever hates them and mentions them with other than good. And we do not mention them except with good. And their love is religion, faith, and excellence in worship, and their hatred is disbelief, hypocrisy, and transgression." End. And success is from Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad and his family and his Companions.
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.