The Ruling on Following the Sunnah of the Rightly Guided Caliphs
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Do the four Rightly Guided Caliphs have a Sunnah to be followed? And is the intended meaning of the hadith of al-'Arba' ibn Sariyah (may Allah be pleased with him): "Adhere to my Sunnah and the Sunnah of the Rightly Guided Caliphs.
" Does this refer to the four Caliphs, or does it include other Caliphs? May Allah reward you with good.
The four Caliphs are: Abu Bakr, 'Umar, 'Uthman, and 'Ali, by the consensus of the Muslims, are Rightly Guided Caliphs without doubt, especially Abu Bakr and 'Umar;Because the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: (If they obey Abu Bakr and 'Umar, they will be guided) and he said: "Follow the two after me: Abu Bakr and 'Umar" They have a Sunnah to be followed without doubt, by the command of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). However, the Sunnah of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) takes precedence over their Sunnah if the Sunnah is established from the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). The statement of one of them, or the statement of all of them, is not to be considered! Although it may be impossible for all of them to agree to contradict the Sunnah of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him).
As for the Sunnah being hidden from some of them, that may happen. This is the hadith of the plague when 'Umar ibn al-Khattab traveled to Sham, and along the way, he was told: "There is a plague there." So he stopped (may Allah be pleased with him) and consulted the Companions with him from the Muhajireen and the Ansar, and none of them had a report from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). But the opinion settled on returning to Madinah and not risking the Muslims, so he permitted the departure. Then Abu 'Ubaydah 'Amir ibn al-Jarrah (may Allah be pleased with him) came to him, about whom the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The trustworthy one of this Ummah is Abu 'Ubaydah 'Amir ibn al-Jarrah" and 'Umar ibn al-Khattab held him in high regard and valued him,Until he said when he was stabbed: saying, "If Abu 'Ubaydah were alive, I would make him the Caliph after me; because the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) made him the trustworthy one of this Ummah."So he said: [O Commander of the Faithful! How will you return? Are you fleeing from the decree of Allah?He said: Yes, I flee from the decree of Allah to the decree of Allah!] Meaning: If I go to Sham, it is by the decree of Allah, and if I return to Madinah, it is by the decree of Allah.Then he gave an example, saying: [If you had camels in a valley with two sides -Meaning: two branches - one fertile and the other barren, which side would you graze them on?He said: The fertile one.He said: By the decree of Allah?He said: Yes,He said: Then you left the barren one by the decree of Allah, and grazed the fertile one by the decree of Allah] And during that, 'Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Awf (may Allah be pleased with him) came, and he had gone out for a need of his,So he said: saying, "I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say regarding the plague: 'If you hear of it in a land, do not enter it, and if it breaks out while you are in it, do not leave it in flight from it.' And without doubt, the Commander of the Faithful and all the believers would be pleased with something like this. So the result is that the Sunnah may be hidden from some of the Caliphs, so he may say or do something that contradicts it without intending it. But for the four to agree to contradict the Sunnah is far-fetched, and I do not recall an example of it. And if it were! If the Sunnah of any person from this Ummah contradicts the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), it is obligatory to give precedence to the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).
" Does this refer to the four Caliphs, or does it include other Caliphs? May Allah reward you with good.
The four Caliphs are: Abu Bakr, 'Umar, 'Uthman, and 'Ali, by the consensus of the Muslims, are Rightly Guided Caliphs without doubt, especially Abu Bakr and 'Umar;Because the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: (If they obey Abu Bakr and 'Umar, they will be guided) and he said: "Follow the two after me: Abu Bakr and 'Umar" They have a Sunnah to be followed without doubt, by the command of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). However, the Sunnah of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) takes precedence over their Sunnah if the Sunnah is established from the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). The statement of one of them, or the statement of all of them, is not to be considered! Although it may be impossible for all of them to agree to contradict the Sunnah of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him).
As for the Sunnah being hidden from some of them, that may happen. This is the hadith of the plague when 'Umar ibn al-Khattab traveled to Sham, and along the way, he was told: "There is a plague there." So he stopped (may Allah be pleased with him) and consulted the Companions with him from the Muhajireen and the Ansar, and none of them had a report from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). But the opinion settled on returning to Madinah and not risking the Muslims, so he permitted the departure. Then Abu 'Ubaydah 'Amir ibn al-Jarrah (may Allah be pleased with him) came to him, about whom the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The trustworthy one of this Ummah is Abu 'Ubaydah 'Amir ibn al-Jarrah" and 'Umar ibn al-Khattab held him in high regard and valued him,Until he said when he was stabbed: saying, "If Abu 'Ubaydah were alive, I would make him the Caliph after me; because the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) made him the trustworthy one of this Ummah."So he said: [O Commander of the Faithful! How will you return? Are you fleeing from the decree of Allah?He said: Yes, I flee from the decree of Allah to the decree of Allah!] Meaning: If I go to Sham, it is by the decree of Allah, and if I return to Madinah, it is by the decree of Allah.Then he gave an example, saying: [If you had camels in a valley with two sides -Meaning: two branches - one fertile and the other barren, which side would you graze them on?He said: The fertile one.He said: By the decree of Allah?He said: Yes,He said: Then you left the barren one by the decree of Allah, and grazed the fertile one by the decree of Allah] And during that, 'Abd al-Rahman ibn 'Awf (may Allah be pleased with him) came, and he had gone out for a need of his,So he said: saying, "I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say regarding the plague: 'If you hear of it in a land, do not enter it, and if it breaks out while you are in it, do not leave it in flight from it.' And without doubt, the Commander of the Faithful and all the believers would be pleased with something like this. So the result is that the Sunnah may be hidden from some of the Caliphs, so he may say or do something that contradicts it without intending it. But for the four to agree to contradict the Sunnah is far-fetched, and I do not recall an example of it. And if it were! If the Sunnah of any person from this Ummah contradicts the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), it is obligatory to give precedence to the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).