Talk:Not mentioning the faults of the Sahaba (Sunni doctrine)

Our attitude towards the Sahaba should be that of love, respect, peace and purity of our hearts and tongues. Allah has described this in His saying: "And those who come after them say: 'Our Lord! Forgive us and our brethren who have preceded us in Faith, and put not in our hearts any hatred against those who have believed.'" [59:10] And the Prophet (s.a.w.) said, "The sign of faith is love of the Ansar and the sign of hypocrisy is the hatred of Ansar" [al-Bukharee, Muslim]. Why should we not be thankful to those who believed in the Prophet, assisted him, strove with their lives and wealth to make the Word of Allah supreme, preserved and transmitted to us our Religion? Who is more deserving that we pray for them and speak of them in the best manner and think of them with the best thoughts?

We should therefore mention their virtues and remain silent about any mistakes they made and about anything that occurred between them, as the Prophet (s.a.w.) advised us: "When my Companions are mentioned then withhold" [Saheeh, at-Tabaranee]. And he also said, "Do not abuse my Companions, for if any of you were to spend gold equal to (mountain of) Uhud in charity, it would not equal a handful of one of them or even half of that" [al-Bukharee, Muslim]. And he said, "Whoever abuses my Companions, upon them is the curse of Allah, the angels and all the people" [Saheeh, At-Tabaranee].

Muslim scholars have also been very strict in regard to the issue of speaking and thinking mistrustfully of the Sahaba. Imam Malik said that someone who finds in himself an ill-feeling or anger "ghaiDH" about the Companions is a kafir because Allah (s.w.t.) says "li-yagheeDHa bihim ul kuffar" that He may enrage the disbelievers with them, i.e. the Sahaba [48:29]. And the `Ulama' also say if the Companions of the Prophet (s.a.w.) are disbelievers, dishonest or betrayed the Prophet, then the whole religion is undermined. Because how do we know what the Prophet (s.a.w.) said, if the Companions of the Prophet (s.a.w.) were not honest and truthful? We cannot be sure. And this also applies to the Qur'an, as we received the Qur'an through the Sahaba as well. Indeed, they were truthful and sincere, as Allah described them: "Among the believers are men who have been true to their covenant with Allah and showed not their backs to the disbelievers, of them some have fulfilled their obligations and some of them are still waiting, but they never changed (i.e. they never proved treacherous to their covenant which they concluded with Allah) in the least." [33:23] Hujjat ul Islam, Sufyan ibn `Uyainah said: "He who speaks a single word against the Companions of Allah's Messenger (s.a.w.) then he is an innovator." And Imam Ahmad said: "If you see anyone speaking ill of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, doubt his Islam." And Adh-Dhahabee said, "Anyone who criticizes them or insults them has gone out of this religion and has seregated himself from the Muslim Ummah. He has disbelieved in what Allah the Most High says concerning them in His Book, and what Allah's Messenger has said concerning their noble qualities and their merits... It is incumbent upon the Muslims to love Allah; to love His Messenger, to love what the Prophet brought as guidance and as his practise; to love his descendants, his Companions, his wives, his children, his servants, and to love those who love them and hate those who hate them, as this is the meaning of loving for Allah's sake and hating for Allah's sake, and that is the most excellent kind of faith." In al-Kaba'ir (The Greatest Sins), we find that adh-Dhahabee also said, "The one who loves the Prophet loves and respects each and all of his Companions. To hate any of them is to hate the Prophet." Al-Fudayl ibn `Iyyad spoke similarly when he said, "Indeed, I love those whom Allah loves. They are those from whom the Companions of Muhammad (s.a.w.) are safe. I hate those whom Allah hates. They are the people of the deviant sects and innovation."

These statements of the great Imams of the Ummah should not surprise us, because a slight doubt about the Companions will in fact be accusing the Prophet himself of hiding the truth about them which he knew (that they were hypocrites, as heretics claim), but he did not tell us!! Or one is accusing him (s.a.w.) of being something like an imbecile, as Shaikh Ja'far Idris once spoke, because the Prophet, supposedly did not know although he lived with these people all the time. He thought that they were the best Muslims, but they were hypocrites. That is why al-Barbaharee said, "Know that anyone who tries to attack the Companions of Muhammad (s.a.w.) really seeks to attack Muhammad (s.a.w.)."

http://www.islaam.com/Article.aspx?id=74

--Striver 07:00, 11 December 2005 (UTC)

Articles for Deletion debate
This article was merged with and redirected to Sunni view of the Sahaba as a result of an Articles for Deletion debate. The discussion can be found here. -Splash talk 19:40, 25 March 2006 (UTC)