Shia point of view about the companions is very logical and natural. It is according to Quran and hadith.
Shia says neither all the companions were righteous nor all companions were bad. There were so many pious and righteous personalities among the companions of the holy Prophet but not all.
According to Shia, loving the faithful companions of the Prophet surely is the symbol of faith. Among those personalities are very prominent names like Soliman , Abu zar, Miqdad, Ammar Yasir, Jabir bin Abdullah , Abdullah bin Mas,ood, Abu Saeed khudri, Abu Ayoub Ansari, Bilal, Zaid bin Haris, Hudhaifa Yamanai, Sohaib Roomi,Ebadah bin Saamat, Saad bin Ma,adh, Musaab bin Umair and many more (may Allah bless them and pleased with all of them).
According to the general definition of companion they were those who accepted Islam and met the Prophet (pbuh). If we will study Quran carefully we will find out that there are three groups among those companions.
1- Faithful companions - Islam was deeply in their hearts, Quran and hadith praised them. Their faith never get shaken. They fulfilled their oath with the Prophet(pbuh) till their last breath.
2- Companions who accepted Islam but still Islam was not deeply penetrated in to their hearts - When there was difficult time and pressure, their faith got shaken.
3- People who accepted Islam and remained in the company of the Prophet - They were among the companions and also called themselves as companions of the Prophet but actually they were hypocrites.
Our Sunni brothers mixed up all of them, claiming that all of the sahaba are righteous. In our previous article we made commentary on our Sunni brothers that purposely developed an ideology about the companions which does not match with Quran and hadith.
1- Faithful Companions
There are many verses about the faithful companions. We don’t have to say much about it because Shia and Sunni both agreed with this category. But still we will mention one verse from the holy Quran.
Muhammad is the messenger of Allah; and those who are(ideologically) with him are strong against Unbelievers, (but) compassionate amongst each other. Thou wilt see them bow and prostrate themselves (in prayer), seeking Grace from Allah and (His) Good Pleasure.
On their faces are their marks, (being) the traces of their prostration. This is their similitude in the Taurat; and their similitude in the Gospel is: like a seed which sends forth its blade, then makes it strong; it then becomes thick, and it stands on its own stem, (filling) the sowers with wonder and delight. As a result, it fills the Unbelievers with rage at them. Allah has promised those among them who believe and do righteous deeds forgiveness and a great Reward. (Quran 48:29)
(Our Sunni brothers have so much misconception about this verse; we will make commentary on this verse in our next article: Questions on Shia point of view about the companions.)
2- Those Companions who did not have deeply penetrated faith in to their hearts.
Here are some verses about this second category.
“The Bedouins say, "We have believed." Say, "You have not [yet] believed; but say [instead], 'We have submitted,' for faith has not yet entered your hearts. And if you obey Allah and His Messenger, He will not deprive you from your deeds of anything. Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful." - ( Quran 49:14)
This verse says that those people accepted Islam verbally but it does not deeply penetrated in to their hearts. Accepting Islam verbally is different from having true faith in to hearts. These two categories can be differentiated easily at the time of test. The true faith comes not only saying words verbally but it comes with the constant obedience of messenger of Allah(swt).
Please read the narration from Sahih Muslim explaining above verse of Holy Quran.
“They regard as favor upon you (O Muhammad SAW) that they have embraced Islam. Say: "Count not your Islam as a favor upon me. Nay, but Allah has conferred a favor upon you, that He has guided you to the Faith, if you indeed are true.” - ( Quran 49:17)
Quran talks about those people who accepted Islam then tried to impress the Prophet by making it look like as if they were doing a favor to the Prophet by becoming Muslim. Quran answered those people. It shows that such people entered Islam but they did not have true understanding of Islam yet. If someone has true understanding of Islam and true faith he would be humble thanking Allah(swt) and his messenger.
It needs a lot of hard work to understand Islam. It needs complete obedience to the messenger of Allah(swt) to have the taste of belief in the hearts. Everyone has different levels some people are blessed with the true taste of faith while others are unfortunate not to get the blessings.
Please read this verse of Surah Al- Nisa
“But no! By your Lord! They do not believe (in reality) until they make you a judge of that which has become a matter of disagreement among them, and then do not find any straightness in their hearts as to what you have decided and submit with entire submission.” (Quran 4:65)
This verse was revealed about two companions Zubair bin aawam and another companion from Ansar. The Ansari companion was not happy with the Prophet’s decision (Tafseer ibn e kathir, Bukhari). If all companions were righteous and role model then why the Ansari companion was not happy with the Prophet’s decision?
Please review the verses about the battle of Uhod.
When you ran off precipitately and did not wait for any one, and the Messenger was calling you from your rear, so He gave you another sorrow instead of (your)sorrow, so that you might not grieve at what had escaped you, nor (at) what befell you; and Allah is aware of what you do.” Quran (3:153)
These verse talk about the battle of Ohad wherein on the difficult situation on that war, most of the companions run away by leaving the Prophet in danger while there are few righteous companions that did not leave the Prophet. They Fought bravely, sacrificed their lives, got wounds on their bodies, saved the Prophet and pushed back the pagan’s army.
We know about the battle of Hunain which was fought after the victory of Mecca. Quran talks about the battle of Hunain
“God has helped you on many occasions including the day of Hunayn (name of a place near Mecca). When you were happy with the number of your men who proved to be of no help to you and the whole vast earth seemed to have no place to hide you (from your enemies) and you turned back in retreat.”
(Quran 9:25)
We know that faith was not deeply penetrated in those companion’s hearts that is why they run away leaving the Prophet in danger.
Quran describes the virtues of those who are blessed with genuine faith in their heart
“Muhammad is the messenger of Allah; and those who are (ideologically) with him are strong against Unbelievers, (but) compassionate amongst each other.
(Quran 48:29).
We know that when test comes, people falls in to different categories. It is easy to claim being a believer but when testing time comes during pressure and dangers people find it difficult to prove it. Both Shias and Sunnis agreed that “One cannot be a true believer if he do not love Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) more than his life, his parents and his family.”
Is this a symbol of true believer? Leaving the Prophet on the middle of the battle in the hands of enemies and saving your own lives?
Quran mentions the situation of battle of AH-ZAB
”Eyes became dull and hearts almost reached the throat when they attacked you from above and below and you started to think of God with suspicion. There the believers were tested and shaken with a severe shaking. And when the hypocrites and those in whose hearts is disease said, " Allah and His Messenger did not promise us except delusion,"
(Quran 33:10-12)
If we will pay attention on verse 33:12 we will see that there were people among companions having disease in to their hearts (that faith could not penetrate deeply) and those people were another kind than hypocrites.
وَإِذْ يَقُولُ الْمُنَافِقُونَ وَالَّذِينَ فِي قُلُوبِهِم مَّرَضٌ مَّا وَعَدَنَا اللَّـهُ وَرَسُولُهُ إِلَّا غُرُورًا
The Holy Quran mentioned them separately from hypocrites those people said that at the time of test during difficult situation the messenger of Allah gave them false promises.
The Holy Quran mentioned the situation of second category of companions in the battle of Ah-zab and in different wars that they were scared even run away in the battlefields. We want to mention here another verse of the Holy Quran. Quran mentioned the virtues of true faithful believers.Quran tells us about true faithful believers that they remain patient in distress and in the time of war.
Please read the verse (2:177)
"Righteousness is not determined by facing East or West during prayer. Righteousness consists of the belief in God, the Day of Judgment, the angels, the Books of God, His Prophets; to give money for the love of God to relatives, orphans, the destitute, and those who are on a journey and in urgent need of money, beggars; to set free slaves and to be steadfast in prayer, to pay the religious tax (zakat) to fulfill one's promises, and to exercise patience in poverty, in distress, and in times of war. Such people who do these are truly righteous and pious."
We believe there is no need to mention further more verses about the second Category of companions. Our brothers and sisters are easily able to understand from Quran about such companions who were other than hypocrites but faith was not deeply penetrated in to their hearts
3- Hypocrites
Hypocrites are those people who entered Islam for the destruction of Islamic movement. They accepted Islam, yes they were among the companions but they were not actually Muslims. Those hypocrites were also labeled as companions. There are lots of verses about hypocrites, in fact there is one Surah in Quran named as Hypocrites (Surah-63).
Please read Surah Al-Munafqoon (63) about hypocrites but still we would like to mention here some more verses about this third category.
“How shall Allah guide those people who disbelieved after their belief and had witnessed that the Messenger is true and clear signs had come to them? And Allah does not guide the wrongdoing people. Those - their recompense will be that upon them is the curse of Allah and the angels and the people, all together, Abiding eternally therein. The punishment will not be lightened for them, nor will they be reprieved.” (Quran 3:86-88)
“Have you not seen those who claim to have believed in what was revealed to you, [O Muhammad], and what was revealed before you? They wish to refer legislation to Taught, while they were commanded to reject it; and Satan wishes to lead them far astray.”
(Quran 4; 60)
“Say, "Spend willingly or unwillingly; never will it be accepted from you. Indeed, you have been a defiantly disobedient people. And what prevents their expenditures from being accepted from them but that they have disbelieved in Allah and in His Messenger and that they come not to prayer except while they are lazy and that they do not spend except while they are unwilling.” (Quran 9:53-54)
“And they swear by Allah that they are from among you while they are not from among you; but they are a people who are afraid.” (Quran 9:56)
“They swear by Allah to you [Muslims] to satisfy you. But Allah and His Messenger are more worthy for them to satisfy, if they should be believers.” (Quran 9:62)
“If the hypocrites and those in whose hearts is disease and those who spread rumors in al-Medina do not cease, We will surely incite you against them; then they will not remain your neighbors therein except for a little.” (Quran 33:60)
“And among those around you of the Bedouins are hypocrites, and [also] from the people of Medina. They have become accustomed to hypocrisy. You, do not know them, we know them. We will punish them twice [in this world]; then they will be returned to a great punishment.” (Quran 9:101)
The above verse (9:101) clearly says that those hypocrites were living in the society as companions. They disguised themselves, they were recognized in society as companion but actually they were hypocrites.
At the end we want to mention a hadith from Sahih Muslim, Please click here to read the hadith.
The Holy Prophet (pbuh) told that among my companions there are 12 hypocrites, 8 of them cannot enter in heaven, not at all.
There are other Hadith in Sahih Muslim about these people in the same chapter and in the other books. These are those hypocrites who planned to kill the Prophet while he was in his journey coming back from Tabook. (These people were called companions of Uqba in Sunni books).
Sahih Muslim proves that the Prophet told to Hudhaifa Yamani (ra) the names of those hypocrites who wanted to kill the Prophet, but no one else know about those 12 hypocrites (who planted conspiracy of Prophets killing) other than Hudhiafa Yamani.
We believe that our brothers and sisters are able to understand who were among the companions belong to the third category. We again want to remind here that the formula "follow any companion and you will be guided" will never work. You never know maybe the companion you are following is actually himself a hypocrite.
Shia point of view about the companions is very logical and does not go against the Quran. Our Sunni brothers try to impose to everyone the theory that all companions are righteous which is clearly contradicting with holy Quran.
We mentioned above that the Shia point of view is according to the Holy Quran and we have quoted only Quranic verses. This will be more interesting if we will look at the narrations in Bukhari and Muslim then we could easily come up with the conclusion that not all the Companions were righteous.
Narrations about the Companions of The Holy Prophet in Sahih al Bukhari
Narrations about the Companions of The Holy Prophet in Sahih Muslim
Sunni scholars make people emotional on the name of companions because they do not want people to figure out who were the wrong sahaba and who were the righteous people.
Quran mentioned the stories about the other Prophets on how people disobeyed them and how their companions gave them hard time. We easily accepted it. But when it comes to the companions of the last Prophet, our Sunni fellows become emotional and closed their eyes.
Our Sunni brothers blamed Shia by telling that shias do not believe in Sahaba. We would like to ask them, does being a companion a divinely appointed designation?
We know that Prophethood is a divinely appointed designation. But being a companion is not a divine designation and believing a companion or not believing in a companion does not make somebody a Muslim or a Kafir.
Sometimes our Sunni fellows accused all Shias that Shia use bad words for the companions. (We do not appreciate using bad words publicly as we mentioned earlier).
We asked our Sunni fellows how about Moawiya? Moawiya who officially started bad words and cursing on Imam Ali(as), Moawiya ordered to his governors to do this cursing on Imam Ali(as) publicly and in mosques, it remained for decades until the time of Ummaya caliph Omar bin Abdul Aziz, who finally stopped the cursing to the Imam (Sunni sources proved it, we can also check the narration in Sahih Muslim, chapter virtues of Imam Ali, Moawiya appointed Saad bin Abi waqas governor and asked for it).
Same opinion should be applied on Moawiya who started cursing on a companion like Imam Ali, The Holy Prophet said Ali is from me I am from Ali, anybody who will curse on Ali he curses on me.
Some of our Sunni brothers give us the answer that those are all companions they can kill each other or they can do this cursing to each other. We want to remind them that the companions are the first students of Prophet. They are the first people who must act upon the teachings of Prophet (pbuh).
Please find our next article, Questions on Shia point of view about the companions. We will discuss the verses which our Sunni brothers claim that all companions are righteous.
May Allah (swt) guide those who seek for truth and send blessings to Holy Prophet Mohammad(pbuh) and his Ahlalbait