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12. THE POSITION OF THE ṢAḤĀBAH (5) How do scholars know whether a person is a ṣaḥabī (a companion of the Prophet ?)ﷺIt is either through khabar mutawātir (reports handed down in uninterrupted sequence), such as, Abū Bakr and ‘Umar; khabar mashhūr (well-known reports), less known than the previous one; the statement of some ṣaḥābah of his being a ṣaḥabī; the witness of reliable tābi‘īn (the following generation of the ṣaḥābah) that he was a ṣaḥābī; the person himself claimed to have accompanied the Prophet ( )ﷺafter verifying and clarifying his identity, and passing the evaluation test called ( الجرح والتعديلlit. “injuring and straightening”), i.e. evaluating his deficiency and truthfulness. The ‘adālah (honesty, honourable record) of the ṣaḥābah is known through the Qur’ān, the Sunnah of the Prophet ()ﷺ, the statements of al-salaf al-ṣāliḥ (“the pious predecessors,” i.e., the first three generations of Muslims: of the Prophet, the ṣaḥābah, and the tābi‘īn), their conditions, and their biographies. Although there are many definitions of ‘adālah given by scholars, the most accepted one by scholars of ḥadīth might be the one given by Ibn Ḥajar, as follows: “It is a trait of character related to preserving taqwā (piety).” What is meant by taqwā is avoiding bad deeds, among which are shirk (idolatry), fisq (sinfulness, moral depravity), and bid‘ah (innovation). It does not mean that they are ma‘ṣūm (infallible), as prophets are the only people who have this peculiar feature. Ibn Ḥazm mentions seven aspects which make a person better than the other, as follows: ْ quality, essence, nature) of the deed, 1. Māhiyah, (ال َما ِه َية, whether the whole obligation is done completely, or not, but added with recommended deed. 2. Kammiyyah ( ْال َكمِّية, magnitude), namely, the presentation of the deed, whether it is done purely for the sake of Allah, which is better, or it is mixed with the intention of having