Sahaba (Companions)

Companions of the Prophet or aṣ-ṣaḥābah (الصحابة‎ meaning "the companions", from the verb صَحِبَ meaning "accompany", "keep company with", "associate with") were followers of Mohammed who "saw or met the prophet during his lifetime and were physically in his presence".

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Hypocrites . Sahaba (Companions)

What was the criterion for recognising the hypocrites according to the virtuous companions of the Prophet (saw)?

Amina Inloes, Amina Inloes is originally from the US and has a PhD in Islamic Studies from the University of Exeter on Shi'a hadith. She is the program leader for the MA Islamic Studies program at the... Answered 1 week ago

Additionally, Qur'an 47:30 says that the hypocrites could be recognized by their tone of speech (either their tone of voice, or the tone of their choice of words).

It is related on the exegesis of this verse that the Companions Abu Sa'id al-Khudri and Jabir ibn 'Abdallah al-Ansari said: 'Their tone of speech meant that they hated 'Ali ibn Abi Talib, and thereby we knew who the hypocrites were in the time of Allah's Messenger.'

Of course, the verse does not specify dislike of Imam 'Ali, but Imam 'Ali was known to be the sort of person that only a hypocrite or nefarious person would dislike.

In any case, 'tone of speech' can also be take in general to refer to other signs of hypocrisy in what they said.

Hypocrites . Sahaba (Companions)

What was the criterion for recognising the hypocrites according to the virtuous companions of the Prophet (saw)?

Sayyed Mohammad Al-Musawi, Sayyed Mohammad al-Musawi is originally from Iraq and heads up the World Ahlul Bayt Islamic League in London. Other than being involved in various humanitarian projects, he frequently responds to... Answered 2 months ago

The criterion for recognising the hypocrites is their negative attitude towards Ameerul Mo'mineen Ali (AS). Virtuous companions have heard from the Prophet Muhammad (SAWA) that no one likes Ali but a believer, and no one dislikes Ali but a Munafiq (hypocrite). This authentic Hadeeth is narrated in Saheeh Muslim (number 113) and Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal and Tirmithi and Ibn Maajah and many books of Hadeeth.

Wassalam.

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Sahaba (Companions) . Ghadir Khumm . Abd Al-Husayn Amini

According to the book Al-Ghadeer by Allamah Amini (ra), how many Sahaba and Tabi'in narrated the event of Ghadeer?

I think it is 110 sahabah and 84 tabi'un, although I could be missing some since it's a big book.

This website has an extensive resource on the hadith of ghadir which may be of interest: https://www.al-islam.org/ghadir/

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Sunni-Shi'a . Ghadir Khumm . Salah (Prayers) . Sahaba (Companions)

I have become very interested in Shia Islam after reading online about Ghadir Khum. If I become a Shia, will I be able to offer prayers behind a Sunni Imam? Can I continue to respect all the Sahaba and hate none of them? What changes will I have to make?

Seyed Ali Shobayri, Seyed Ali Shobayri is of mixed Iranian and Scottish descent who found the path of the Ahlul Bayt (a) by his own research. He holds a BA in Islamic Studies from Middlesex University through the... Answered 2 months ago

Bismillah,

Asalamu Alaykom,

Alhamdulilah you have read about the incident of Ghadir and May Allah swt guide you to accept the divine authority of Imam Ali (as).

Firstly after becoming Shia, you will need to refer to the jurists who specialise in ahkaam or the Islamic laws. You will find some of the experts who say it is allowed to pray behind a Sunni imam provided that you recite the surahs yourself; others will say you can only do so out of taqiya (when one fears for their life & must conceal their faith).

Then you’ll find scholars who will say that one cannot pray behind a Sunni imam at all due to justice being one of the conditions as well as it being crucial that one prays correctly. Unfortunately our brothers who refer to themselves as Sunnis, perform both their salah and wudu in the incorrect way.

So when you choose a marja then you may check their ruling.

About the Sahaba, one can only respect the Sahaba who were PROVEN in history to be loyal to both the prophet Mohammad & his Ahlul Bayt (peace be upon them all). In other cases we may assume the best of those Sahaba who have nothing bad reported about them in history.

It has been proven from the Quran and hadiths of both sects, that there existed many hypocrites among the Sahaba. In the authentic sources of the sect who refers to itself as ahlus sunnah, you’ll find the prophet Mohamamd (sawa) clearly saying that among his companions were hypocrites therefore, how can one respect all Sahaba?

For example, can one love Muawiyah who encouraged people to curse & insult Imam Ali?! Of course not! Therefore one would have to disassociate from such people despite them being 'companions'.

Can one love Umar who threatened to burn down the house of Fatima Al-Zahra (as) and imam Ali (as)?

As for those companions who are proven praise worthy, then you may show your love towards them.

If you research the above matters you will find various sources which mention the points I have summarised.

May Allah grant you success

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Sunni-Shi'a . Sahaba (Companions) . Bilal

What is the Shia view of the famous companion Bilal? Was he one of the few companions who paid allegiance to Imam Ali (AS)?

Yes, Bilal ibn Rabah was one of the pious companions who believed in the Imamate of Ameerul Mo'mineen Ali (AS). He did not like the people of Saqeefa and left Madina during the government of Abu Bakr and Umar. He was against the corruption of Mu'awiyah who was appointed by Umar as a ruler on Syria. Umar used to openly complain against the objections of Bilal on Mu'awiyah.

Wassalam.

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Battles . Caliphate . Sahaba (Companions) . Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman

Did any loyal companions of Imam Ali (as), such as Huzaifa bin Yaman, participate in the battles during the era of the first and second caliphate? If so, how can that be explained?

Huthaifa Ibn al-Yamaan was one of the very pious companions of the Proaphet Muhammad (SAWA) and Ameerul Mo'mineen (AS). He is one of the four best companions of the Prophet (SAWA).
He was informed by the Prophet about the names of the Munafiqeen (hypocrites). Omar Ibn al-Khattab used to repeatedly ask him: Did the Prophet mention my name with the Munafiqeen?

He used to boycott praying on dead body of any Munafiq. He did not pray on many well known persons in Madina.
The narration that Huthaifa took part in al-Yarmouk battle is not in our books but in a Sunni book called al-Waafi bil Wafayaat by al-Safadi (V.11, P. 251).We can not trust such narration.

Huthaifa fought against Mo'awiyah in the army of Ameerul Mo'mineen (AS) in Siffeen battle.

Huthaifa was requested by Omar and Uthman to look after al-Madaa'in. Omar and Uthman wanted to show respect to him being the person who has secrets from the Prophet. He accepted to help Muslims and protect them from corrupt rulers. Imam Ali (AS) also appointed him as a ruler on al-Madaa'in.

Wassalam.

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Sunni-Shi'a . Abu Sa'id al-Khudri . Sahaba (Companions)

How is the companion Abu Sa'id al-Khudri considered by Shia scholars?

Abu Sa’eed al-Khurdi or al-Khidri is considered as one of the pious companions of the Prophet (Peace be Upon Him and His Holy Progeny). He was with the army of Ameerul Momeneen Ali (A.S.) fighting against his enemies. Ameerul Momeneen asked the companions who from you witnessed the incident of Ghadeer Khum. Only 17 man stood up and gave witness among them was Abu Sa’eed al-Khudri. He lived long as he was born 10 years before Hijra and he passed away in year 73 after Hijra, so his age was 83 years. From Imam Jafar as-Sadiq (A.S.) about him that he was a straight forward person. Al-Khishyee mentioned in the life of ibne Masa’ood and Huzaifa the names of the companions who referred to Ameerul Momeneen the name of Abu Sa’eed al-Khudri was with them. Al-Allama in his book Al-Khulaasa narrated from Al-Burqi that Abu Sa’eed al-Khudri was from the companions of Ameerul Momeneen Ali (A.S.). Abu Sa’eed al-Khidri is buried in Al-Baqiyah. His Name was Sa’aad Bin Malik Bin Sinaan and his Kunniyah was Abu Sa’eed. He was from the Al-Ansaar from Bani Khidra or Khurda.

In the reply which Imam Ali Ibne Moosa Ar-Reza (A.S.) has written to Al-Ma’moon about those companions who were following Ameerul Momeneen (A.S.) after the Prophet and did not change, he mentioned the name of Abu Sa’eed al-Khudri. Imam Hussain (A.S.) in Karbala in his speech told the army of Yazeed that you can ask Abu Sa’eed al-Khudri. The first battle in which Abu Sa’eed al-Khudri participated was Al-Khandaq than he took part in 12 other battles with Prophet (S.A.W.A.)

May Allah (SWT) bless his soul.

Wassalam.

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Battle of Badr . Sahaba (Companions) . Battles . Sunni-Shi'a

Who were the 313 companions of the Prophet (s) who participated in the battle of Badr and what was their status compared to others? Are all those companions revered by the Shi'a?

Shi'a respect and revere every sincere Muslim who remained obeying the Prophet (SAWA). The companions who took part in the battle of Badr are fully respected unless they did wrong after that. Haatib ibn Abi Balta'ah participated in Badr battle but later on he betrayed the Prophet and Islam by writing a secret letter to the Mushriks of Makkah informing them about the preparations of the Prophet to attack the Mushriks in Makkah.( Siyar A'lamm al-Nobalaa', page 43)

Qudamah ibn Madh'oon was also in Badr battle but later on he committed major sin of drinking alcohol and was punished for that during the government of Umarvibn al-Khattab. ( Siyar A'laam al-Nubalaa' page 162 and al-Esaabah fi Tamyeez al-Sahabah).

We highly respect every companion who fulfilled his duty in obeying Allah (SWT) and the Prophet (SAWA) and did not change till the end of his life.

'Wassalam.

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Ummah . Sunni-Shi'a . Hadith . Sahaba (Companions)

Our Sunni brothers claim that the Prophet said that the best of his Ummah was the first generation of the Sahabah, followed by the generation after that. Do the Shia also have such a narration?

No. In this day and age, this is basically a Salafi idea which is used to justify the belief that reconstructing society as it was during the first four caliphs will fix all the problems in the world.

Since Shi'is do not share the idea that society was ideal or perfect during the first four caliphates, and in fact point to a number of problems during that time, or things which were done which may have been against the Prophet's intent (whether relating to internal matters, such as the caliphate or financial management, or external matters, such as wars), this idea isn't found in Shi'ism.

In fact, we look forward to better times during the advent of the Mahdi (A)!

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Sunni . Islam . Sahaba (Companions) . Sunni-Shi'a

An argument by our Sunni brothers and sisters concerning the companions of the Prophet (s) is that if it wasn’t for them Islam would not have made it through to our age. Is that opinion consistent with the Shia view?

Zoheir Ali Esmail, Shaykh Zoheir Ali Esmail has a Bsc in Accounting and Finance from the LSE in London, and an MA in Islamic Studies from Middlesex University. He studied Arabic at Damascus University and holds a PhD... Answered 1 year ago

Bismillah

Thank you for your question. Shiism revears the companions of the Prophet (saw) and does not deny the role that they played in establishing the religion of Islam alongside the Prophet (saw), especially those that fought and sacrificed their lives, property and families for the divine cause. At the forefront of those who sacrificed in the way of Islam were the household of the Prophet (saw). But all of the companions (if defined as simply those who saw the Prophet (saw)) did not play the same role. Indeed, among those surrounding the Prophet (saw) were those who were hypocrites, or those that only chose Islam after defeat. Some of them later played a detrimental role to the spread of Islam, by preferring political power over the message of Islam. The protection of the essence of Islam, according to the Shia, was a role carried out by the household of the Prophet (saw) due to their knowledge and merit and it is because of them that the message of Islam was not distorted beyond repair for the Muslim

Community as a whole.

May you always be successful

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Sahaba (Companions)

Did Rasool Allah (SAWS) know about the character of some of the companions around him? Why didn't he expose them? Why did he keep them alongside him till his death?

The Prophet Muhammad (SAWA) was putting all his efforts to teach, preach and protect Islam. He had to deal with persons who had tribal links to make their tribes near to Islam or away frm joining the enemies of Islam. He knew that many persons around him are not sincere Muslims but Munafiqs and he said it but with out naming them to avoid more harm for Islam. Allah (SW) in Quran has mentioned the hypocrites who come to the Prophet (SAWA) claiming that they believe in him, but Allah says that they are liars (Sura Al-Munafiqoon).

All the Prophets had around them good and bad persons and they could not expose the bad ones. Prophet Easa (AS) has suffered from a companion from his very close companions who reported him to the enemies to kill him but Allah (SWT) save Easa and raised him to the sky and made that betraying companion in the shape of Easa, then the enemies of Easa caught and killed and crucifies him.

Companions of Prophet Moses (AS) had among them good and bad as well, that is why, many of his companions worshipped an animal when Moses was away from the for 40 days, following one of their leaders (Al-Saamiri) and against the pious leader Haroon who was the successor appointed by Moses.

Wassalam.

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Sunni-Shi'a . Sahaba (Companions) . A'ishah

Do the Shia feel hatred towards the companions of the Prophet (s) and his wife Hazrat Ayesha? If so, what is the justification for it?

Bismillah,

Asalamu Alaykom,

The Shia put the companions into different categories just like the Quran does.

Among the companions, were the pious believers who sacrificed their wealth, lives and even fought against their own relatives in battles. These Sahaba will be those we can consider in jannah and who we want to follow.

On the other hand, we had companions of the Prophet Mohammad (sawa) who were hypocrites and had their own worldly interests.

Some of these companions also insulted the Prophet as well as oppressed his progeny after his martyrdom.

We also have some companions that we aren’t sure about or whose names didn’t reach us. Therefore it is imperative to search through history to determine which companions remained steadfast upon the correct path.

With regard to the wives of the Prophet, we also look through their biographies individually to see if they were pious or not. Allah The Exalted states in the holy Quran:

O wives of the Prophet! You are not like any of the [other] women, provided that you taqwa (consciousness of God)...

Quran 33:32.

This verse is clear in giving a condition to the wives of the holy prophet that they will be respected if they remain pious. The verse is a clear evidence in showing that the wives of the prophet are not immune from going astray and must attain their status through maintaining piety.

Whilst Shias love and respect wives of the prophet such as Lady Khadijah, Umm Salama and Māriyah, we have a negative view on other wives such as Aisha. This isn’t due to personal reasons, rather it is down to clear proofs within the Quran and sunnah of her actions. Below, I will provide some summarised points about Aisha according to the Shia opinion and you may research further inshallah.

Aisha was one of the wives severely condemned in the Quran chapter 66 of the holy Quran for her actions against the Prophet.
She led a war against the Commander of the faithful Imam Ali (peace be upon him) which resulted in the deaths of 30,000 Muslims
She fabricated thousands of Hadiths and falsely attributed them to the Prophet (peace be upon him and his pure family. This besmirched the Prophet’s reputation, degraded his personality and “opened a door of verbal attacks” against him by non-Muslims.

There are many more reasons one can search to get a clear picture of why Aisha is viewed negatively by the Shia Muslims.

May Allah grant you success.