INTRODUCTION
Beginning with Basmala, this book is written in the name of Allah! The best refuge is in the name of Allah! His blessings are beyond all calculations; Most Compassionate, Most Forgiving is Allah!
Allâhu ta’âlâ created Paradise and Hell beforehand. Preordaining, in the eternal past, that He would fill both of them with men and genies, He declared this fact in His Books. As there have been believing and good people deserving Paradise since (the first man andProphet) Âdam ‘alaihis-salâm’, there have also been faithless, unwise and wicked people who have been committing the evils which will carry them to Hell. These two groups of people will go on occupying the earth till Doomsday. The number of angels is incomparably greater than that of men, and they are all faithful and obedient. Men, by contrast, are more rarely faithful than they are faithless, disobedient and transgressive.
Good people and wicked ones have always tried to annihilate each other, the wicked have also attacked one another and lived in distress and anxiety throughout history. Believers have performed jihâd in order to discipline unbelievers and to guide them to true faith and thereby to endless bliss, and to steer mankind to a happy and peaceful life in this world and the next. Unbelievers, on the other hand, have established dictatorial regimes, wherein a minor group abuses the weak and the inferior in order to lead a life of debauchery and dissipation and to satisfy their voluptuous desires. And, in order to conceal their evils, harms and disservices, they have attacked Prophets ‘alaihim-us-salâm’ and the religions they brought because they established the principles of ethics, virtue and integrity. In some centuries these attacks were pressed with deadly weaponry, and sometimes they were made in clandestine warfare, which included false propaganda, mischief-making, raising social commotions, subversion, undermining religions from within, and destroying Islamic states from the within.
Likewise, the luminous Islamic religion, which is a guide to salvation and improvement and a -beacon to material and spiritual progress, and which was revealed to our master, the final and the -highest Prophet Muhammad Mustafâ ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wa sallam’, whom Allâhu ta’âlâ created as the most superior, the most beautiful and the most honourable one of the entire mankind worldover in all respects, and chose and sent him as the Prophet to all nations, was subjected to the same treatment. Faithless, immoral and lecherous people not only attacked His religion in crusading expeditions, which included all sorts of torment and barbarity, but also strove hard to dupe Muslims by disguising themselves as Muslims, making mendacious and misleading oral and written statements, setting brothers against one another and thereby demolishing Islam from within. The damage caused by their seditionary endeavours howls of their success.
Subversive activities among Muslims date back to the time of the Ashâb-i-kirâm ‘alaihim-ur-ridwân’, when a Yemeni Jew, who had professed to embrace Islam and changed his name to Abdullah bin Saba’, sowed the first seeds of discord among Muslims. He started a diabolical trend. He attempted to vilify the Sahâba, who were the companions of the Messenger of Allah ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’. The heresy invented by the Jew was called the Rafidî sect, an appellation which has ultimately changed into the Shiite sect. His example was followed by many an enemy of religion, who invented many a heresy under the cloak of religious men and misled millions of Muslims out of the true course.
The Messenger of Allah ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ had foretold about this deplorable catastrophe that was going to befall his Umma (Muslims), with the following statements: “My Umma will part into seventy-three different groups. Seventy-two of them will swerve from the right path and end up in Hell. One group will abide by my and my Sahâba’s path.” This group of the right path has been called Ahl as-sunna(t).
The earliest of these heretical sects, the Râfidî sect, which is the worst, too, reappears from time to time and spreads among ignorant communities, and the faithless fan it to exploit it as a weapon. That this sect is a non-scientific assortment of distorted facts and events reinforced with some misinterpreted Koranic verses and Prophetic utterances manifests itself in the so-called book Husniyya, one of their recent publications, in the booklets which they sometimes hand out to uneducated people at the entrances of mosques, and in the statements they make. Naming a few valuable books is one of the stratagems that they use to make their absurdities believable, although they cannot cite a single line from those authentic books. When uneducated people hear the names of those books, they believe these people. Their absurd and unsound slanders, and the true tenets of belief explained in the light of Qur’ân al-kerîm and hadîth-i-sherîfs by the scholars of (the right path called) Ahl as-Sunnat, are collated under the adjudication of authentic documents in the book Ashâb-i-kirâm (Sahâba ‘The blessed’), by Sayyid Abdulhakîm Effendi ‘rahmatullâhi ’aleyh’. During the printing of this book, a list of the biographies of the two hundred and sixty-five celebrities mentioned in the book was appended in alphabetical order for the purpose of informing our dear readers about them. The Turkish original, Ashâb-i-kirâm, of our book ‘Sahâba the Blessed’ was printed in 1982 for the first time. Allâhu ta’âlâ has now blessed us with the lot of realizing its twenty-second edition, (and also this first edition in English).[1]
May Allâhu ta’âlâ bless Muslims with reading this book with unbiased attention and thereby learning the true path!
Muslims on the earth today have parted into three groups. The first group are Muslims who follow the path led by the Ashâb-i-kirâm. They are called the Ahl as-Sunnat, or the Sunnî Muslims (Sunnites), or the Firqa-i-nâjiyya (the group to be saved from Hell). In the second group are the enemies of the Ashâb-i-kirâm. They are called Râfidîs, or Shiîs (Shiites), or Firqa-i-dâlla(heretical group). The third group are inimical towards the Shiites as well as towards the Sunnites. They are called Wahhâbîs, or Nejdîs, which comes from the Arabian province Nejd, the birthplace of their heresy. The third group are also called the Firqa-i-mel’ûna (the accursed group). Indeed, it is written in our (Turkish) books Kıyâmet ve Âhıret and Se’âdet-i Ebediyye, (and also in our publications in English, such as Advice for the Muslim, and in the fourth chapter ofThe Sunnî Path,) that they call Muslims ‘disbelievers’. Our Prophet has accursed a person who calls a Muslim ‘disbeliever’. The breaking of Muslims into these three groups was contrived by Jews and British plotters.
Any person who indulges in the sensuous desires of his nafs and has an evil heart will go to Hell, regardless of the group he belongs to. Every Muslim should continually say the words, “Lâ ilâha il-l-Allah,” in order to purify himself of the unbelief and sinfulness which are inherent in his nature, -this act of purification is termed ‘Tazkiya-i-nafs’-, and also the words, “Astaghfirullah,” in order to purify his heart from the disbelief and sinfulness which he contracted from his nafs, from the devil, from evil company or from harmful and subversive books. If a person obeys the (commandments and prohibitions of the) Sharî’at, his prayers will certainly be accepted. Not performing (the daily prayers called) namâz, looking at women who have not covered their bodies properly or at other people who expose those parts of their body that must be covered, and consuming goods that have been earned through (an illegal way called) harâm, are symptoms of a person’s disobeying the Sharî’at. Such a person’s prayers will not be accepted.
THE SAHÂBA
‘alaihim-ur-ridwân’
If any person thanks and praises any other person in any manner at any place at any time and for any reason, all this thanks and praise belong to Allâhu ta’âlâ by rights. For, He, alone, is the creator, the educator, the trainer of everything and the maker and the sender of every goodness. He, alone, is the owner of power and authority. To say that a certain person ‘created a certain thing’ would mean to attribute ‘creation’ to someone other than Allâhu ta’âlâ, which in effect would, like praising a fly for having constructed an apartment house or for driving, be a squalid sin, not to mention the derision it would provoke against the person concerned.
May all benedictions and good wishes be on Muhammad ‘alaihis-salâm’, His Prophetand Darling, on his Ahl-i-Bayt (immediate relatives), and on all his Ashâb (Companions) ‘ridwânullâhi ta’âlâ ’alaihim ajma’în’!
Nişancızâde Muhammed bin Ahmed ‘rahima hullâhu ta’âlâ’, the author of the grand tome of history entitled Mir’ât-i-kâinât, states as follows: “The Sahâba have been described in various ways. It is written in Mawâhib-i-ladunniyya that a Believer who saw our Prophet ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ at least for a moment, or who talked with him at least for a moment, if he was a blind person, as the Prophet was alive and after he had been appointed as the Prophet, is called a Sâhib or a Sahâbî, regardless of his age at that blessed moment. When they are more than one, they are called Ashâb, or Sahâba, or Sahb. A person who was a disbeliever when he saw the Messenger of Allah ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ and became a Believer after the Prophet’s passing away, or a person who was a Believer when he saw him and reneged Islam –may Allâhu ta’âlâ protect us against it– after the Prophet’s passing away, is not a Sahâbî. Ubaydullah bin Jahsh and Sa’laba bin Abî Khâtib were among the Sahâba, but afterwards they reneged Islam. According to scholars, if a person who reneged Islam (after the blessed event that had made him a Sahâbî) became a Muslim once again, he is still a Sahâbî.” Wahshî ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’ also was one of the Sahâba, and he passed away as a Sahâbî. The phrase that reads as “Wahshî (wild, untamed both in name and in body,” in the well-known book entitled Muhammediyye means his state before converting to Islam. Why shouldn’t Washî have been a Sahâbî while other people became Sahâbîs by joining the Believers and seeing only once the blessed face of our master the Prophet ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ after an eighty years’ life as unbelievers? Also Jinnîs who have these qualifications are Sahâbîs.
The book of explanations entitled Hadîqat-un-nadiyya, written by Abdulghanî Nablûsî ‘rahima-hullâhu ta’âlâ’, is very valuable. It was printed in Istanbul in 1290 [A.D. 1873]. Its first part was reproduced by offset process in 1400 [A.D. 1980]. It is written as follows on its thirteenth page: “A jinnî or a human being who met the Messenger of Allah ‘sall-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’alaihi wa sallam’ after having become a Believer and who is known to have died as a Believer is called a Sahâbî. According to this definition, a blind person as well as a person who did not see for more than a moment, are Sahâbîs. An angel cannot be a Sahâbî. When the Messenger of Allah ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ passed away, there were more than one hundred and twenty-four thousand Sahâbîs. They were all learned, mature and noble people.”
All religious authorities say in consensus that the Sahâba ‘alaihim-ur-ridwân’ are the third best and highest creatures after Prophets ‘alaihimussalawâtu wa-t-taslîmât’ and angels. A Muslim who saw Rasûlullah (Messenger of Allah) ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ at least once is much higher than those who did not see him, including Weys al-Qarânî, (who did not see him, either). When the Sahâba entered Damascus, Christians who saw them admired them and said, “These people are higher than the apostles of Îsâ (Jesus) ‘alaihis-salâm’.” Abdullah ibni Mubârak ‘rahima hullâhu ta’âlâ’, one of the greatest scholars in this religion, said, “The dust that drifted into the nostrils of the horse that Hadrat Mu’âwiya ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’ was riding as he accompanied Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’alaihi wa sallam’ was a thousand times higher than ’Umar bin ’Abdul’azîz, (who was not a Sahâbî).
The virtues of the Sahâba ‘alaihim-ur-ridwân’ are cited in a number of âyat-i-kerîmas and hadîth-i-sherîfs.
It is purported in Sûra Âl-i-’Imrân: “Of the entire human race, you are the best umma and the best community.” In other words, “You are the second best people after Prophets.”
Sûra Tawba purports: “Allâhu ta’âlâ is pleased with those Sahâbîs who, born and living in the blessed city of Mekka as they were, migrated to the illuminated city of Medina, as well as with those Muslims who have been following their example in goodness. And they, too, are pleased with Allâhu ta’âlâ. Allâhu ta’âlâ has prepared Gardens of Paradise for them.”
As is purported in Sûra Anfâl, Allâhu ta’âlâ addresses to His beloved Prophet: “Allâhu ta’âlâ and Believers who follow you will suffice for you.” At that time the Ashâb-i-kirâm were very few in number. However, their grades in the view of Allâhu ta’âlâ being very high, they were said to be adequate in spreading Islam.
It is purported in Sûra Fat-h: “Muhammad ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ is theProphet of Allâhu ta’âlâ, and all those people who are with him, [i.e. all the Ashâb-i-kirâm,] are harsh towards the unbelievers. Yet they are compassionate and tender towards one another. You will see most of them making the rukû’ (bowing with both hands on knees during the performance of prayer called namâz or salât) or making the sajda (prostration during namâz). They beg Allâhu ta’âlâ to give all people all sorts of goodness and superiority in this world and the next. They also wish for ridwân, i.e. that Allâhu ta’âlâ be pleased with them. It will be seen on their faces that they have been making the sajda very much. These facts about their states and honours have been stated in the Torah as well as in the Injîl (the original,genuine Bible revealed to Îsâ ‘alaihis-salâm’). As is stated in the Injîl, they are like crops. As a flimsy sprout appears from the soil, becomes thicker and taller, likewise, they were few in number and weak, yet they spread far and near in a short time. They filled everywhere with lights of îmân. As others marvel at a sprout’s growing in a short time, likewise, as these people’s beautiful manners and fame spread over the earth, those who saw it were astonished and they admired them, while unbelievers became angry.” The fame stated in this âyat-i-kerîma covers not only those Muslims who were among the Ashâb-i-kirâm when it was revealed, but also those who would join those most fortunate Believers afterwards. It is a known fact that Mu’âwiya ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’ also was a Sahâbî who rendered great services to the spread of Islam. Like any other Sahâbî, he, too, is included in these praisals showered on them by Allâhu ta’âlâ.
The following hadîth-i-sherîfs telling about the greatness and the high grades of the Ashâb-i-kirâm ‘radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’anhum ajma’în’ are written on the three hundred and twenty-sixth (326) page of the book entitled Mir’ât-i-kâinât:
1– “Do not speak ill of any of my Ashâb. Do not say something that would not be worthy of their honour! I swear in the name of Allâhu ta’âlâ, whose power holds my nafs, that if any one of you paid gold as huge as the mount Uhud in the name of alms, he would not earn thawâb (blessings, rewards that a Muslim will be given in the Hereafter for the pious acts he has done in the world) equal to the amount earned by one of my Ashâb for paying one mudd.” Giving alms is an act of worship. The thawâb earned for acts of worship is dependent on the purity of intention. This hadîth-i-sherîfshows how pure the hearts of the Ashâb-i-kirâm ‘radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’anhum ajma’în’ were. [Mudd means ‘menn’, which is equal to two ritls, or 260 dirham-i-shar’î, or 875 grams. Sadaqa-i-fitr (the alms that a Muslim rich enough has to pay poor Muslims on the ’Iyd day after the holy month of Ramadân)[2] is half a sâ’ (at least), which makes two mudds, or 1750 grams of wheat.]
2– “Each and every one of my Ashâb is like the stars in the sky. Adapting yourself to any one of them will guide you to love of Allâhu ta’âlâ.” In other words, if you act in accordance with the advice given by any one of them, you will be walking along the right way. As the stars help people out in the sea or in a desert to find the direction they have to follow, so those who follow the directions given by these people will be walking in the right path.
3– “Fear Allâhu ta’âlâ that you should speak ill of my Ashâb! After me, do not use them as targets of your evil purposes! Do not feel grudge against them by following your nafs! Those who love them do so because they love me. Those who dislike them do so because they dislike me. Those who hurt them with their hands and tongs will have hurt Allâhu ta’âlâ (by doing so), which is an offence that will incur exemplary punishment without any delay.”
4– “The most useful and the best of the (Muslim) people of all times are the people of my time, [which means all the Ashâb-i-kirâm]. Next to them are the Believers of the second century (after me), and next are those of the third century.”
5– “The fire of Hell will not burn a Muslim who has seen me, nor any (Muslim)who has seen those who have seen me.”
Ahmad ibn Hajar Haytamî Makkî ‘rahima-hullâhu ta’âlâ’ was one of the greatest scholars of the Islamic religion. He lived in a time when India, (his country,) was rich in scholars and Walîs and the sun of Islam had reached the height to enlighten the entire world. Yet there were still some heretics whose hearts had been blackened with ignorance and egoistic personal ambitions and who therefore were vilifying the Ashâb-i-kirâm, so much so that their bigotry had driven them beyond the boundaries of decency. Fortunately, however, it happened to be the time of Humâyûn Shâh ‘rahima-hullâhu ta’âlâ’, the Indian Sultân, a deeply pious sovereign who was extremely respectful to scholars. He was a champion of justice and benevolence, an adroit statesman under whose administration each and every personality would receive the due treatment, and a generous benefactor of Muslims. He was the founder of the Jurjânî state in India and the son of Bâbur Shâh ‘rahima-hullâhu ta’âlâ’. Scholars of that happy time came together and resorted to Hadrat Ibn Hajar for the silencing of the heretics. Upon this, he wrote two huge books containing explanations about the virtues of the Ashâb-i-kirâm ‘radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’anhum ajma’în’. With authentic documents, proofs and testimonies, he gave the lie to the enemy. The following are the English translations of two of the hadîth-i-sherîfs written in Sawâ’iq-ul-muhriqa, one of the books:
6– “Allâhu ta’âlâ chose me from among the Qoureish tribe, the noblest people, and selected the best people as companions for me. He chose a few of them as my viziers and my assistants in communicating Islam to people. And he singled out some of these few as my As-hâr, i.e. my relatives through marriage. May those who abuse them or slander them or swear at them be accursed in the view of Allâhu ta’âlâ,and in the view of all angels and men! On the Rising Day Allâhu ta’âlâ will reject their fard and sunnat acts of worship.” [Abû Bakr and ’Umar ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anhumâ’ were both his viziers and his as-hâr. For, the former was the father of Âisha ‘radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’anhâ’, one of the Azwâj-i-mutahhara (the Blessed Wives of the Messenger of Allah), and the latter was the father of Hafsa ‘radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’anhâ’, (another one of the Blessed Wives). Also Mu’âwiya ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’, who was a brother of our Prophet’s ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ blessed wife Umm-i-Habîba ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anhâ’, and also his father Abû Sufyân and his mother Hind ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anhum’ were among the as-hâr. These three people are therefore included in this hadîth-i-sherîf.]
7– The following hadîth-i-sherîf is written in the same book:
“Protect my right concerning the affection (I feel) for my Ashâb, for my relatives, for those who help me, and for those who follow the path I have shown! Those who protect my right of Prophethood by loving them: Allâhu ta’âlâ will protect them against harms and disasters in this world and the next. Allâhu ta’âlâhates those people who disregard my right of Prophethood by hurting them. So near is the time when Allâhu ta’âlâ will torment the people He hates.”
These hadîth-i-sherîfs show clearly that we should love and respect each and every one of the As-hâb-i-kirâm ‘radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’anhum ajma’în’. We should believe that the combats among them were intended to carry out the commandment of Allâhu ta’âlâ. None of those who joined those combats had any ambitions for position, fame or money. They all meant to carry out the commandment of an âyat-i-kerîma and a hadîth-i-sherîf.
When ’Uthmân ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’ attained martyrdom, all the Muslims elected Hadrat Alî ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’ Khalîfa. The first thing Hadrat Khalîfa tried to do was to re-establish peace. Most of the Sahâba-i-kirâm ‘radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’anhum ajma’în’ demanded of the Khalîfa that he arrest the murderers of Hadrat ’Uthmân ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’ as soon as possible and retaliate on them. Among the people who supported this view were two of the ’Ashara-i-mubashshara,[3] i.e. Talha ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’, who was related to our master the Prophet‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ by the seventh grandfather in retrospect and who had joined the Believers during the earliest days of Islam and had undergone very cruel torments inflicted by the unbelievers, –for instance, the unbelievers would tie him and Abû Bakr ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’ to a post in order to prevent them from performing namâz-, (and he and Khâlid ibn Zayd abâ Ayyûb al-Ansârî ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’ were brothers of the Hereafter,) and Zubayr ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’; and our Mother Âisha ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anhâ’, who had attained the honour of being praised in the Qur’ân al-kerîm by Allâhu ta’âlâ and who had been ourProphet’s ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ darling till death separated them. Yet the Khalîfa said, “The country is still in turmoil. If I start now, it may escalate the fitna and may perhaps cause a second catastrophe. Let me put down the insurrection first, and then I will carry out the retaliation, which is a commandment of Allâhu ta’âlâ[4]. The other party was of the ijtihâd that any delay would “make it quite impossible to find the murderers and carry out Islam’s commandment. Now is the best time to do it.”
Talha ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’, who was one of the holders of the former ijtihâd, had not joined the Holy War of Bedr because he had been in Damascus for some duty, yet he had joined all the other Holy Wars. In the War of Uhud, for one, he had undergone various tortures in the way of Allâhu ta’âlâ. He had shielded Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ with his own body and had carried our master ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ on his back up to the rocks under a shower of arrows.
It is reported on the authority of Hadrat Alî ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’ that Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ stated, “Talha and Zubayr are my neighbours in Paradise.” Zubayr bin Awwâm ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’ was the son of Hadîja-t-ul-kubrâ’s[5] ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anhâ’ brother, and his mother was Safiyya, a paternal aunt of our master ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’. He was fifteen years old when he embraced Islam during the earliest days of Islam. He was the first person to draw a sword in the way of Allâhu ta’âlâ. In other words, he was the first Islamic officer. At the most dangerous moments of most of the Holy Wars, he fought before the Messenger of Allah, which cost him many a wound. Our master the Prophet ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ stated, “Every Prophet has a hawârî (apostle). My hawârî is Zubayr.” Two of the six people whom ’Umar ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’ named as the people whom he thought would be worthy of succeeding him as Khalîfa as he was about to pass away were Talha and Zubayr. Zubayr was very rich and had sacrificed all his wealth for the sake of the Messenger of Allah.
These great persons insisted positively that qisâs (retaliation) be made immediately because their ijtihâd showed so. At that time, the ijtihâd performed by the As-hâb-i-kirâm ‘radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’anhum ajma’în’ led them to three different conclusions. The ijtihâd of one group agreed with that of the Khalîfa, while another group were of the ijtihâd concordant with that of the other party. There was yet a third group whose members preferred silence. Each and every one of these people had to act upon his own ijtihâd and not to follow someone else. People in the first and second groups increased in number. Meanwhile, a Jew named Abdullah bin Saba’ incited the difference into a warlike situation, which ended in the events called Basra and Jamal (Camel).
In those days Mu’âwiya ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’ was in Damascus, as the governor of the territory. Being of the ijtihâd concordant with that of the third group, he did not let Muslims under his administration take part in the combats. Owing to his policy, all the Muslims living there led a life of comfort and peace. However, when Alî ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’ invited the Damascenes, Mu’âwiya ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’ reconsidered the situation in the light of a number of hadîth-i-sherîfs and reached a new ijtihâd agreeing with that of the other party. The Khalîfa was about to make an agreement with the Damascenes, when the Jews intruded their Zionist finger into the matter, inflaming the two parties to the warfare known as the combats of Siffîn.
In those wars, the Ashâb-i-kirâm ‘radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’anhum ajma’în’ never thought of hurting one another, wreaking vengeance on one another, or attaining caliphate, sovereignty, high positions or wealth; all they endeavoured to do was to carry out Islam’s commandment, on which they had different ijtihâds. A number of documentary accounts of the wars expose the fact that even during the wars they exchanged letters, counselled one another and extended best wishes to one another. For instance, during the war of Siffîn, Constantine II, the emperor of Byzantium, was harassing the Muslim cities along the border. Mu’âwiya ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’ wrote him a letter that said: “If you do not stop this molestation right away, I will make peace with my master, assume commandership of his army, be there and burn your cities, making you a swineherd.” It was amidst those same commotions when Alî ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’, the Khalîfa, addressed to a mass audience, saying, “Our brothers disagree with us. This does not make them sinners or disbelievers. It is their ijtihâd that is different.” As they fought against each other, one party said, “My brother,” about the other, while the other party said, “My master,” about the former. Their fights were on account of different ijtihâds and were not intended to seize power, to acquire wealth, or to achieve fame. Our Prophet ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ stated that a mujtahid with the correct ijtihâd would receive two to ten blessings whereas the mistaken one would be given one. All the Ashâb-i-kirâm were mujtahids. And it is fard (obligatory) for each mujtahid to act upon his own ijtihâd.
Abû Zur’at-ir-râzî, one of the great teachers who added to Imâm-i-Muslim’s education ‘rahimahumallâhu ta’âlâ’, states as follows in a book of his: “A person who belittles or vilifies the Ashâb-i-kirâm ‘radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’anhum ajma’în’ is a zindiq.[6] Muslims should know the enemies of the Messenger of Allah ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ as their own enemies, and they should feel deeper ant