The Islamic Ruling on Excusing Some of the Companions for What Occurred of Taking Spoil Illicitly

Question:
May Allah reward you, Honorable Shaykh. The questioner asks: Is it permissible to excuse those among the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) who took spoil illicitly in some of the battles by saying that they took what they took because they were in a state of relaxation or something else, given our knowledge of their haste to respond to Allah and His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him)?

Answer:
We never speak about the Companions, neither as a group nor as individuals. It is sufficient for them in terms of virtue, honor, and pride that they are the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, and that the Messenger praised them and forbade [speaking ill of them], and that Allah praised them and the Messenger praised them and forbade their cursing and belittling. Therefore, it is not permissible to seek out the mistakes of the Companions, neither as a group nor as individuals. Rather, we take a lesson from the mistakes that occur from some of them and attribute them to ijtihad (independent legal reasoning), which is forgiven. The ijtihad is forgiven. Yes.