Refutation of the Claim of the Infallibility of the Companions
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
His saying (peace and blessings be upon him): (Hold fast to my Sunnah and the Sunnah of the Rightly Guided Caliphs after me, and cling to them with your teeth) One of the Sufi shaykhs said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) elevated the four Caliphs to the level of infallibility when he ordered the community to follow their Sunnah. Did he order us to follow their Sunnah while knowing that they would make mistakes? And what is the meaning of the word "Rightly Guided"? Does it not mean that Allah protected them from falling into errors? What is your opinion?
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: (Hold fast to my Sunnah and the Sunnah of the Rightly Guided Caliphs after me) He (peace and blessings be upon him) began with his own Sunnah first, and this means that if the Sunnah of the Rightly Guided Caliphs contradicts his Sunnah, it is not to be followed.For this reason, Ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) said: [It is almost certain that stones will fall from the sky upon you. I say, "The Messenger of Allah said,"And you are saying: and Abu Bakr and 'Umar said] One who tracks the statements of the Rightly Guided Caliphs finds that some of their statements result from independent legal reasoning (ijtihad) but did not hit the Sunnah. This is a known fact in such tracking, and it indicates that they are not infallible from error. However, if there is no Sunnah from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) regarding a matter, there is no doubt that their Sunnah is closer to the truth than that of others, and their statement is a proof, as Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him) said. But this does not mean that they are infallible in every statement they make or every action they perform.
As for their being "Rightly Guided," guidance is for them and for others, but their guidance is greater without a doubt; because they are Rightly Guided Caliphs who succeeded the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in his community in creed, action, and calling. Then, he described them as Rightly Guided Caliphs, and it is known that if a person errs in an issue, he is not "rightly guided" in that issue, but he is forgiven if that error resulted from independent legal reasoning (ijtihad).
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: (Hold fast to my Sunnah and the Sunnah of the Rightly Guided Caliphs after me) He (peace and blessings be upon him) began with his own Sunnah first, and this means that if the Sunnah of the Rightly Guided Caliphs contradicts his Sunnah, it is not to be followed.For this reason, Ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him and his father) said: [It is almost certain that stones will fall from the sky upon you. I say, "The Messenger of Allah said,"And you are saying: and Abu Bakr and 'Umar said] One who tracks the statements of the Rightly Guided Caliphs finds that some of their statements result from independent legal reasoning (ijtihad) but did not hit the Sunnah. This is a known fact in such tracking, and it indicates that they are not infallible from error. However, if there is no Sunnah from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) regarding a matter, there is no doubt that their Sunnah is closer to the truth than that of others, and their statement is a proof, as Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him) said. But this does not mean that they are infallible in every statement they make or every action they perform.
As for their being "Rightly Guided," guidance is for them and for others, but their guidance is greater without a doubt; because they are Rightly Guided Caliphs who succeeded the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in his community in creed, action, and calling. Then, he described them as Rightly Guided Caliphs, and it is known that if a person errs in an issue, he is not "rightly guided" in that issue, but he is forgiven if that error resulted from independent legal reasoning (ijtihad).