14. T HE POSITION OF THE SAHABAH (7)

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14. THE POSITION OF THE ṢAḤĀBAH (7) Besides the Qur’ānic verses and the ḥadīths of the Prophet (‫ )ﷺ‬here are some statements of the ‘ulamā’ about the position of the ṣaḥābah, as follows: a. ‘Abd al-Raḥmān al-Ījī (700-756/1301-1355): “It is necessary to honor all of the ṣaḥābah, and refrain from defaming them, because Allah has honored and praised them in many verses of the Qur’ān, and the Prophet has loved them and praised them in many ḥadīths.” b. His student Sa‘d al-Dīn al-Taftāzānī (722-792/1322-1390): “Adherents of the truth have agreed on honoring the ṣaḥābah, and refraining from defaming them, especially the Muhājirīn and the Anṣār, because praising them has been mentioned in the Qur’ān and the Sunnah.”

As mentioned earlier the number of the ṣaḥābah of the Prophet was about 120 thousands. According to al-Ṣadūq Ibn Bābawayh al-Qummī (305-381/923-991) of the Twelver Shī‘ah the number of the ṣaḥābah was twelve thousands, eight thousands were in al-Madīnah, two thousands were in Makkah, whereas the remaining two thousands lived in other places. He said further that none of them were followers of Qadariyyah, Murji‘ah, Khawārij, Mu‘tazilah, nor adherents of personal opinions )‫(أَصْ َحابُ الرَّ أي‬.1 According to al-Shāfi‘ī their number was about sixty thousands. Al-Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar al-‘Asqalānī (733852/1372-1448) recorded 12,297 names of men and women among the ṣaḥābah in his Iṣābah )‫صا َب ُة فِي َمعْ ِر َف ِة الص َّحابة‬ َ ‫(اإل‬, whereas those who narrated hadiths from the Prophet were about three thousands, and about 90% of the ḥadīths were transmitted by only twenty people among them. Ibn al-Jawzī (d. 597/1201) mentioned that there were only 1,858 ṣaḥābah who transmitted ḥadīths, while other scholars say that they were 1,500 of them.

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See .51 ‫ الحديث رقم‬,046 .‫ابن بابويه القمي في كتابه الخصال ص‬

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According to Baqī ibn Makhlad al-Qurṭubī (265-276/816889) that the number of ḥadīths transmitted by Abū Hurayrah was 5,874, but actually it was the number of channels through which the ḥadīths were transmitted. Recent research shows that the actual number of ḥadīths transmitted by him was 1,236 only. If one ḥadīth, for example, is transmitted by Abū Hurayrah through five channels, then the ḥadīth is considered five ḥadīths, some are strong, others are weak, depending on the ‘adālah (honesty, honourable record) and ḍabṭ (accuracy, precision) of the transmitters. In other words, one matn (text) of a ḥadīth consists of five isnāds (chains of transmitters on which a ḥadīth is based), in the above example, are five ḥadīths. Abū Hurayrah had at least nine students who wrote ḥadīths from him.

Ibn ‘Umar who was said to have transmitted 2,630 ḥadīths and had written a collection of ḥadīths had at least eight students who wrote ḥadīths from him. Anas ibn Mālik who transmitted 2,286 ḥadīths had at least sixteen persons had ḥadīths from him in written form. ‘Āishah who transmitted 2,210 ḥadīths had at least three persons wrote ḥadīths from her, including her nephew, ‘Urwah. Ibn ‘Abbās who transmitted 1660 ḥadīths had at least nine students who wrote ḥadīths from him. Jābir ibn ‘Abdullah who transmitted 5,540 ḥadīths had at least fourteen students who wrote ḥadīths from him.

‘Umar the second caliph had transmitted 137 ḥadīths, and he used to quote them in his official letters, so that many of them were recorded by him. ‘Ali the fourth caliph had transmitted 536 ḥadīths had at least eight students who had them in written form. These collections of ḥadīths are extremely important to learn as our guidance after the Holy Qur’ān.

The ‘adālah (honesty, honourable record) of the Ṣaḥābah ْ of the ṣaḥābah according to Ahl The term ‘adālah )‫(ال َع َدا َلة‬ al-Sunnah wa ’l-jamā‘ah (“the Upholder of the Sunnah of the Prophet and Muslim community”, i.e., Sunni Muslims) means

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that they do not lie intentionally about the Prophet due to their strong faith, and their preserving their piety, virtues, eminent morality, and being away from inferior stuffs. Their ‘adālah does not mean that they are infallible from sin, forgetting or mistake, as no one among scholars say that. Therefore, we should know that those among them, who had committed sin, were punished as expiation for their sins and repented sincerely, and were a very small minority; their case should not be taken predominant over the vast majority of the eminent ṣaḥābah who were upright, and avoid minor or major sin and disobedience, either apparent or hidden. Al-Imām Abū’l-Ḥasan al-Abyārī (d. 616/1219) confirmed this view and said that their ‘adālah does not mean that they are infallible from sin, and that they are free from disobedience; it means that their reports are accepted without endeavor to find the reasons of their ‘adālah or requiring their credibility…2 There are many different views concerning the ‘adālah of the ṣaḥābah, among which are as follows: 1. According to many ‘ulamā’, such as Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ (d.643/ 1245), Ibn Ḥazm and Ibn al-Ḥājib (570-646/1174-1249) from the Mālikī school, as the ṣaḥābah are the only people whose salvation was guaranteed by Allah—as mentioned in many Qur’ānic verses and ḥadīths-- they are reliable people.

Their ‘adālah does not need investigation, and their reports should be accepted without any condition. Unlike the ṣaḥābah, people of the following generation (tābi‘īn) and of further generations do not have such a guarantee of salvation, and therefore, in Ibn Ḥazm’s view, their ‘adālah should be investigated. According to the Shāfi‘ī qāḍī Abū Bakr al-Bāqillānī (338-402/950-1013), this is also the view of the ṣaḥābah and the tābi‘īn. According to the Shāfi‘ī jurist al-Imām al-Ḥaramayn al-Juwaynī (d. 478/5681), the ‘adālah

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278/5 ‫ وإرشاد الفحول‬60 /3 ‫فتح المغيث للسخاوي‬

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of the ṣaḥābah is ijmā‘ based on certain Qur’ānic verses and ḥadīths mentioned earlier.

The view of Abū ’l- Ḥusayn ibn al-Qaṭṭān (d. 316/676), the Mu‘tazilī Ibrāhīm al-Naẓẓām (185-231/791-845), and the Shī‘ah Rāfiḍah is that the ‘adālah of the ṣaḥābah, like that of other people, should be investigated. Ibn al-Qaṭṭān gives the examples of the ṣaḥābah whose ‘adālah was rejected, like al-Wahshī who killed Ḥamzah, and al-Walīd who drank intoxicants (khamr). Al-Naẓẓām among the Mu‘tazilīs gave the example of a ṣaḥābī who slandered another ṣaḥābī. If the slanderer was right, al-Naẓẓām contends, the slandered would not be ‘adl. Yet, if the slanderer was wrong, he would not be ‘adl. Muḥammad Bāqir al-Majlisī (428-504/10371111), the shaykh of Ṣafawī dynasty and the resource and authority of contemporary Twelver Shī‘ah, said that like the rest of the people, some of the ṣaḥābah were ‘udūl, others were hypocrites, and misguided godless which were the majority.3 Contemporary scholars of Shī‘ah Imāmiyyah Muḥammad Jawād Mughanniyyah (1322-1400/1904-1979) and ‘Abd al-Karīm al-Zanjānī (1304-1388/1887-1968) held the same view that some ṣaḥābah were good and others were godless.

The view of the Mu‘tazilī ‘Amr ibn ‘Ubayd (d. 142/760) who maintains that the ṣaḥābah were all ‘udūl, before the fitan (sing. fitnah, dissentions), i.e., the civil wars, e.g., the battles of Ṣiffīn and al-Jamal. After these fitan, the ‘adālah of the ṣaḥābah should be investigated.

The view of a group among the Mu‘tazilīs and the Shī‘īs who maintain that all of the ṣaḥābah were ‘udūl.

The view of al-Māwardī (d. 416/5618) who maintains that a ṣaḥābī who was known for his keeping company with the Prophet (‫ )ﷺ‬was ‘adl; otherwise, his ‘adālah should be investigated.

‫ وعلى‬46 ‫ ونقله عنه المعلق على كتاب اإليضاح البن شاذان ص‬8/8 ‫بحار األنوار للمجلسي‬ ‫ على حد قوله‬- ‫ أي كان أكثر الصحابة منافقا وفاسقا وضاال‬38 ‫كتاب أمالي المفيد ص‬

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Ibn Ḥazm (d. 456/1064) and al-Shawkānī (d. 5211/5836) accept the first view and reject the four others. Ibn Ḥazm asserts that the ṣaḥābah include the infidel who heard the Prophet (‫ )ﷺ‬and later became Muslims. He was then also ‘adl. According to Ibn Ḥazm the ‘adālah of a person in the time of the ṣaḥābah became a condition only during the time he was giving the warning and the report, not when he was witnessing what he had reported. This is because there were hypocrites in Madīnah during the time of the Prophet (‫)ﷺ‬, as well as people whose conditions were unfavorable. There were also an unidentified man who falsely claimed to have been sent and authorized by the Prophet (‫ )ﷺ‬to rule the people of an area at Banī ’l-Layth, two miles outside of Madīnah. With his trick he intended to marry a girl who had rejected him in the time of the Jāhilīyah (pre-Islamic paganism). But his scheme was discovered when people came to the Prophet (‫)ﷺ‬. This man, and any person who deceived the Prophet (‫)ﷺ‬, was not considered a ṣaḥābī. He contends further that reports are accepted only from respectable persons whose merit is known.

This statement seems to contradict the previous one where Ibn Ḥazm maintained that all the ṣaḥābah were ‘udūl. What he meant was that if a person is known to be a ṣaḥābī he is ‘adl.

There are many ways to know whether a person is a ṣaḥābī, among which are: his participation in one of the Prophet’s campaigns and battles, e.g., the battles of Badr, Uḥud, Ḥunayn, etc., his participation in one of the two pledges of ‘Aqabah, and his participation as a member of the envoys from the Arab tribes which visited the Prophet (‫)ﷺ‬. On the other hand, there were only 130 and some ṣaḥābah who reported fatāwá (formal legal opinions) in matters of ‘ibādāt (acts of devotion) and aḥkām (legal judgments).

According to Shi‘ah’s understanding the term ṣaḥābah is in its linguistic term, not in its technical term. Therefore, some of them are praised in the Qur’ān, such as those early coverts

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(Q. 9:100), who pledged allegiance under the tree (Q. 48:18), the Muhājirīn (Emigrants), and the Anṣār (Helpers) (Q. 59:8-10).

Others are blameworthy, such as the hypocrites, the sinners, and doubters. According to the Sunni view, they are still considered ṣaḥābah with the exception of the hypocrites, unless the repented and became Muslims. The sinners if they were punished for their sins and earnestly repented, and the doubters when they became convinced, they were all included among the ṣaḥābah. Otherwise, they would not be considered ṣaḥābah. If they conceal their sin Allah would either punish them in the Hereafter or forgive them. Worldly punishment is atonement for sin, so that no more punishment would await for the sinners in the Hereafter. The Prophet (‫ )ﷺ‬said: ,‫ك‬ َ ِ‫اب َش ْي ًئا مِنْ َذل‬ َ ‫ص‬ َ َ‫ َو َمنْ أ‬,.‫ار ُت ُه‬ َ ‫ِب ِب ِه َفه َُو َك َّف‬ َ ‫ك َش ْي ًئا َفعُوق‬ َ ِ‫اب مِنْ َذل‬ َ ‫ص‬ َ َ‫ َو َمنْ أ‬... َّ ‫ّللا إِنْ َشا َء‬ َّ ُ‫َف َس َت َره‬ )‫ َوإِنْ َشا َء َغ َف َر لَ ُه (رواه البخاري‬, ‫ّللا ُ َع َّذ َب ُه‬ ِ َّ ‫ َفه َُو إِلَى‬, ُ ‫ّللا‬ …and whoever committed any of them (i.e., stealing and adultery) and was punished for it, then it became his atonement [for his sin], and whoever committed any of them, and Allah concealed it, then if Allah wills, He would punish or forgive him. (Reported by al-Bukhārī) َّ ْ‫ال َّتائِبُ مِن‬ )‫ب َل ُه (رواه الطبراني و ابن ماجة‬ ِ ‫الذ ْن‬ َ ‫ب َك َمنْ َال َذ ْن‬ The person who repents is like the one who has no sin (Reported by al-Ṭabrānī and Ibn Mājah) (CIVIC, 9 December, 2016) :‫المراجع‬ ‫المكتبة الشاملة‬ (‫ هـ‬356 .‫تفسير الطبري (ت‬ ( ‫ هـ‬075 .‫تفسير القرطبى (ت‬ (‫ هـ‬774 .‫تفسير ابن كثير (ت‬ M.A. Samad. Ibn Ḥazm’s Concept of Ijmā‘. M.A. Thesis M.M. Azami. Studies in Hadīth Methodology and Literature http://www.dd-sunnah.net/forum/showthread.php?t=136726. http://shiaweb.org/books/adalat_alsahaba/pa3a.htm http://alburhan.com/Article/index/8627 http://al-imamia.blogfa.com/page/3aidsa.aspx