A manifestation of Allah’s mercy and favour upon His slaves is that He sent to them a Messenger to convey His message, guide them to all that is good and warn them from all that is harmful. The Prophet assumed this capacity and accomplished the trust borne on him in a perfect manner; he guided his nation [ummah] towards every good, warned them from every evil and advised them in a sincere and manifest way.
Allah selected a group of people to accompany the Prophet and receive the Shari’ah from him, they are held to be the best of his ummah, which in turn is the best of all ummahs. Allah honoured them with companionship of His Prophet and favoured them in this life by enabling them to see him and hear his speech directly from his noble mouth; that indeed is the favour of Allah, He gives it to whoever He wills and Allah is the Possessor of great bounty.
The Companions conveyed the light and guidance Allah had sent the Prophet with in an impeccable manner. They attained an immense reward for their companionship of the Messenger of Allah, for the jihad they engaged in alongside him and the great efforts they expended in spreading Islam. Even though they are a people who have passed away long ago, they remain in constant receipt of rewards for the Prophet has said, ‘Whosoever calls to guidance has a reward equal to the reward of one who acts upon the guidance without the latter’s own reward decreasing in any way’ as established from the Messenger in a hadith related by Muslim in his Sahih1.
Ibn Battah relates that Ibn ‘Abbas said, ‘Do not revile the Companions of Muhammad! As an incident in which any one of them participated in, even for a single hour (with the Messenger of Allah), is better than forty years’ worth of deeds by any one of you.’ And in the narration of Waki’, ‘…is better than an entire life span’s worth of deeds by any one of you.’ When Sa’id Ibn Zayd listed the ten Companions given glad tidings of being from amongst the people of Paradise, he remarked: “By Allah, an incident in which any one of them participated in with the Messenger of Allah, whereby his face became dusty and dishevelled, is better than the deeds of any one of you, even if he were to live the duration of Nuh.” Abu Dawud and At-Tirmidhi related it12.
If the many deeds of Khalid Ibn Al-Walid, and others like him from amongst those who accepted Islam after Al‑Hudaybiyyah, are of no comparison with a few deeds of ‘Abdurrahman Ibn ‘Awf and others like him who accepted Islam early on, bearing in mind that all were honoured with having accompanied the Prophet, how will the comparison fare between those who did not accompany the Prophet at all and these exemplary people? The difference is without doubt enormous; and that indeed is the favour of Allah, He gives it to whoever He wills and Allah is the Possessor of great bounty.
These are some of the Qur’anic verses and prophetic narrations confirming the excellence of these virtuous people – the like of whom has never been and nor will there ever be. In our second part, we will relate statements from Muslim scholars that demonstrate their compliance and understanding of the aformentioned texts.
1. Sahih Muslim/ Kitab Al-’Ilm.
2. The peace treaty which occurred between the Muslims and Quraysh at Al-Hudaybiyyah in the sixth year after the Hijrah.
3. Sahih Muslim, Book of Tafsir.
4. Sharh Sahih Muslim, Vol. 6, Chapter 18, Pg. 158, published by Dar Ar-Rayan, Cairo, 1st edition 1987.
5. Tafsir Ibn Kathir, Vol. 4, Pg. 339, published by Maktabah Al-’Ulum wa Al-Hikam, Madina, 1994.
6. Rafidhi: one who is attributed to the Rafidhah: a term representing one of the three main groupings of the Shi’ah.
7. Sahih Al-Bukhari, Al-Shahadat,Al-Manaqib & Ar-Riqaq, Sahih Muslim/Fada`il As-Sahabah, At-Tirdmidhi/Al-Fitan & Ash-Shahadat, An-Nasa`i/Al-Ayman wa An-Nudhur and Musnad Imam Ahmad.
8. Sahih Al-Bukhari/As-Shahadat,Al-Managib & Ar-Riqaq, Sahih Muslim/Fada`il As-Sahabah, At-Tirdmidhi/Al-Manaqib and Musnad Imam Ahmad.
9. Sahih Muslim/ Fada`il As-Sahabah.
10. Sahih Muslim/ Fada`il As-Sahabah.
11. Sahih Al-Bukhari/ Al-Manaqib & Sahih Muslim/ Fada`il as-Sahabah.
12. Abu Dawud/ As-Sunnah & At-Tirmidhi/ Al-Manaqib.
13. i.e. by their death.
14. Sahih Muslim/ Al-Birr wa As-Silah wa Al-Adab.
15. A mudd is equivalent to a dry measure of an average man’s two palms.
17. Sahih Muslim/ Fada`il as-Sahabah.
18. Sahih Muslim/ Fada`il as-Sahabah.