Continuation of the explanation of the author's statement: His saying, the Exalted: (And those who came after them say, "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 the Kind, the Merciful")

The Shaykh : And seeking forgiveness, and so on. Their hearts are pure, filled with love and esteem. Their tongues are likewise restrained from all slander, abuse, criticism, cursing, declaring people disbelievers, and the like.
What do they utter? They speak in praise of them, of what is in them, and of what they deserve, because they know that they are the best of the generations among all nations. For the best of nations is this Ummah, and they are the best of this Ummah. Therefore, they are the best of the generations among the nations.
Likewise, they are the intermediaries between them and the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).
Thirdly: They are those through whom Allah opened up the lands, their easts and wests. The Romans were conquered by the hands of the Companions, the Persians were conquered by the hands of the Companions, Egypt was conquered by the hands of the Companions, Yemen was conquered by the hands of the Companions, and other great conquests that took place by their hands (may Allah be pleased with them).
Fourthly: They spread the virtues among this Ummah, such as truthfulness, sincere advice, morals, and etiquette, which are not found among others. One who reads about them from behind walls does not know this. One does not know this except one who traveled with them, or one who lived in their history and knew their merits, virtues, their preference of others over themselves, and their response to Allah and His Messenger. Yes, .
They returned from Uhud, having been afflicted with both moral and physical wounds, and they were called to jihad, so they went out. They returned from the Battle of the Trench after they had been afflicted with what they were afflicted with of fatigue and exhaustion, and they were called to fight, to fight Banu Qurayzah. Yes. They went out, and so on, to other great positions that the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) stood in.
Ibn al-Qayyim said:
"If not for them, there would be no Muslim on earth. And if not for them, the earth would have nearly swayed with its inhabitants, but they are its mountains and its pegs."
The Companions, and he praised them with great praise in the Mimiyyah Qasidah, which is well known by Ibn al-Qayyim. The important thing is that we testify to Allah, Mighty and Majestic, regarding our love for these Companions, and we praise them with our tongues with what they deserve. This is one of the principles of the people of the Sunnah and the community. Criticizing them and hating them is not hatred for their persons in reality, because a person has not seen their persons to hate them. Those who came after the Companions did not see their persons to hate them. But it is hatred and resentment for the good they were upon, the knowledge they spread, and what they narrated from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). But they love some of them, not out of creed and sincerity, but in order to mislead people and to deceive, where they say, "We love these from the Companions, we love the Family of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), and we see that they are oppressed," and the like. This is not out of intention and good will, but in order to mislead people so that people take these relatives of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) as equals with Allah. For this reason, Abdullah ibn Saba, their leader, said to Ali ibn Abi Talib, he said to him: "You are Allah", refuge with Allah from that, so he made him an equal with Allah, Mighty and Majestic.
So we disavow the path of the Rafidah who insult the Companions, and we disavow the path of those who exaggerate regarding the Family of the Prophet, and we disavow the path of the Nawasib who hate the Family of the Prophet. And we see that the Family of the Prophet has two rights: the right of companionship and faith, and the right of kinship with the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).
So we have four things: Purity of the heart from what? From hatred, dislike, resentment, and malice. What does it correspond to? Filling the heart with what? With love, and... and sincere advice, and exaltation, and reverence. Purity of the tongue from what? From slander, abuse, and criticism of them. And filling it with what? With praising them with what they deserve.
And know that whoever insults the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) has insulted the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), insulted Allah, and criticized the religion of Allah. So insulting them includes criticizing the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), criticizing them, criticizing the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), criticizing the Shari'ah, and criticizing Allah. Do you understand? Insulting the Companions includes what? Four things: Criticizing them, because it is insulting them; criticizing the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him); criticizing the religion of Allah and its Shari'ah; and criticizing Allah, Mighty and Majestic. Criticizing Allah.
As for it being a criticism of the Companions, the matter is clear in that, or not?
As for it being a criticism of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), it is because the Companions of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), according to the saying of these people, are companions of bad character, evil, and corruption. And it is known that whoever his companions are companions of bad character, evil, and corruption, then he is like them, he is like them.
It is a criticism of the religion of Allah because they are the bearers of this religion to us. So if we criticize them, will we have trust in this religion? No. Why? Because it came through the path of these people, all of whom are defective, all of whom are defective, and not upright, and open sinners, and perhaps some of them go so far as to declare them disbelievers. So how do we trust in the Shari'ah? The Shari'ah is not trustworthy. And in fact, they sometimes state explicitly when a hadith comes through the path of a specific person, they say: "This is from the path of so-and-so, and we do not accept it."
It is a criticism of Allah, where He chose for His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) these wretched, oppressive, corrupting people on earth. We seek refuge with Allah. So insulting the Companions includes criticizing what? Yes.
The student: The Companions.

The Shaykh : The Companions, and after that.
The student: ...

The Shaykh : The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), the Shari'ah of Allah, and Allah, Mighty and Majestic. Good.
He says: "To the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)". And it has been mentioned to us before that the Companions of the Messenger are everyone who believed in the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), everyone who met him while believing in him and died upon that. And he was called a Companion, because when he met the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) while believing in him, he accompanied him and followed him and committed to following him. And this is one of the characteristics of the companionship of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him).
As for other than the Messenger, a person does not become a Companion of him until he accompanies him for a long duration that makes him deserving of being called a Companion. Good. In fact, we see the scholars saying "Companions of Imam Ahmad," and they say this to whom? To those who came after him by long eras, because they followed him. And thus, whoever met the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) while believing in him, even for a moment, was a Companion, because his meeting him with this description necessitates following him, it necessitates following him. Good.
He said: "As Allah described them with", meaning with purity "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

والذين جاءوا من بعدهم يقولون ربنا أغفر لنا ولإخواننا الذين سبقونا بالإيمان

[Al-Hashr 59:10]

"
This verse is before the two previous verses, read them.
. And at the head of these emigrants are Abu Bakr, Umar, and Uthman. Yes?
The student: And Ali.

The Shaykh : And Ali ibn Abi Talib. Look, he says: This is the sincerity of intention. This is the realization of sincerity, and because they support Allah and His Messenger. Meaning they did not do it for showing off or reputation, but out of sincere intention.
And they are the Helpers (may Allah be pleased with them), they say
The student:

The Shaykh : Also, Allah described them with three descriptions: They love those who emigrated to them, and they find no need in their chests for what they were given—meaning there is no need in their selves for what the emigrants were given of favor, so they do not envy them.
And they are the followers and those who follow them until the Day of Resurrection. Look, they praised them, or not? With what? With brotherhood, and that they preceded them in faith. So whoever contradicts that and criticizes them and does not know their rights, he is not among those about whom Allah said: . Good. And when I was asked about Aisha, Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her), about a group who insult the Companions, she said: . Strange words! The Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) have died, their deeds are with their deaths. Good, where does their reward come from? Their reward comes from the one who insults these. And does it harm them, does it harm the Companions? No, no, it does not harm, only this one who insulted them is taken, his reward is taken and given to these Companions. And if it is the Day of Resurrection and nothing remains of their reward, it is taken from their bad deeds and thrown upon him, then he is thrown into the Fire. He said: Look, he did not say: "To those who preceded us in faith," he said: To include these predecessors and others until the Day of Resurrection.
And for Your gentleness and mercy, we ask for forgiveness for us and for those who preceded us in faith. Yes.

The questioner : ... .