Chapter 3 — Outward Refutation of the
Conception
Formally, the Sahaba's ultimate decency conception, adopted by Sunnis, is, generally, refuted from two faces:
First Face: Admission and Witnesses
The Holy Quran is, indisputably, the (Reminder) intended in God's saying: (Surely We have revealed the Reminder and We will most surely be its guardians). The Prophet's traditions are, beyond any dispute, explanations and interpretation of the (Reminder.) God, the tremendously Almighty, has committed Himself of guarding that Reminder all over times. In this manner, guardianship of the Reminder is divinely guaranteed. The honorable Sahaba are not involved in such a guarantee or guardianship. Without need to witnesses, this religion is under guardianship and consonant since Allah is the witness and He is the guardian and the explainer. Only after God's perfecting the religion and completing the divine grace, The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) moved to his Elevated Associate.
Mohammed, hence, is the witness on Muslims. Muslims of every time are the witnesses on people of their time. Likewise, the Book is revealed from God and none, to any extent, can add, change or erase any single letter. This is because it is a divine arrangement.
Along with the revelation of any group of the Quranic Verses, there was the divine guidance concerning position of these Verses in the Quran book. At the Prophet's decease, the Quran, as a whole, was arranged as exactly as we have now. It was thoroughly written, not only in hearts of men — as some brothers claim — but also on papers. View of the Sahaba's ultimate decency shall not add anything to the consonant or the defended thing and, in the same way, view of the only sincere Sahaba’s decency shall neither vibrate nor influence consonance or safe. It is really unreasonable for them to discuss matter of the divine guardianship of the Quran for the purpose of proving the ultimate decency of the Sahaba as a whole. In this manner,
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thanks is God's particularly, and pride is Mohammed's, his folks' and his faithful companion's, who encompassed him. As a matter of fact, the Prophet would have been killed, like many other prophets, if his folks had let him down or delivered him to chiefs of Quraish and, as a sequence, his progeny would have not suffered all those years of blockade, pains and mistreatments. By the way, I wonder where the entire Sahaba were while the Hashemites were detained in Cols of AbuTalib, having from leaves of trees and their children were sucking sands due to their starvation and thirst!! It is, positively or divinely, fair to measure the detainer and the detained in the same scale? (What is the matter with you?! On which grounds are you judging?!)
Second Face
For the following reasons, the claim of reckoning those who malign any of the Sahaba, with the miscreants, is not acceptable:
Since Islam is the last and final heavenly form of God's religion, it is presented and designed in a way enables every individual to understand it according to individual capability. Ideal understanding, however, is that fitting the legal intendment of the text so as to attain what God has exactly meant. This mission, at any rate, is not easy. It is perfectly a matter of specialization. This is why God forwards messengers with the Divine Books, and guides with the guidance. In the same way, it is the reason beyond the existence of Imams and the prophets' leadership. As a result, it becomes obvious that Islam is different from our understanding of Islam which depends upon our diverse education.
Difference of opinions and variance of cognition cannot be regarded as disbelief. It is to add that there was a number of Sahaba who maligned the Prophet and criticized his justice. As an example, you may refer to IbnulKhuweissira's following saying: “O Mohammed! Be just. You, by God, did not seek God's satisfaction by opting for such a sort of distribution!”
The Prophet, however, did not describe him as a miscreant or a hypocrite. He only answered him with the following statement: “Woe is you! Who will be just if I am not?!”
Are the Sahaba enjoying a standing higher than the Prophet's, then? How
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come do you rule of ultimate decency of all of the Sahaba while the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family), the leader of mankind, says: “I am but a human. I may be right or, may be, wrong?”
Sunnis unanimously agree, or might be only showing so, that the Prophet is right, and what he has come with is right, too. As long as the Sahaba were the only persons who transferred these rights to us, they are the only witnesses on authenticity of their beliefs. Those vilifying at those Sahaba are attempting to negate the Book and the traditions we are pursuing. Those are miscreants, then.
27You are not allowed to share those vilifiers at any Sahabi in a meal or a drink or even perform the funeral prayer for them.
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Prefatory Perusal
1st — Confusion
Belief of authenticity of the Prophet, the Quran and traditions is indisputably considerable by Muslims with their various sects. In an equal degree, all of Muslims are belonging to the religion and bearing its eternal identity. The religion, however, consists of two major sections; the Prophet as a person, his sayings, deeds and signature, and the revealed Book of God. This is an unanimity among Muslims. Their discrepancy, in fact, is in their understanding of legal intendment of this religion. It is unacceptable to confuse the religion and our understanding of it. Religion is the constant center, and our understandings are variables. Our understandings are practically differing among individuals and groups. This depends upon degree of knowledgeability, capability of grasping, activity and deserting one's fancies.
Had it been effectual to impose a single understanding to a text, God would have imposed it and there have been unnecessary to pursue the unanimous agreement or, even, the understanding itself. With existence of more than a conception of a definite text, this will definitely incite individuals opting for various understandings of the same text to prove their claim of grasping the legal intendment, to re study severally for attaining a united conception since each text does have one meaning only. Any other theory will grant
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27 bn-Hajar Al-Asqalani's Al-Issabeh Fi Tamyizis-Sahaba, page 17-9.
28 Ad-Dehbi's Al-Keba'ir, page 238.
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discrepancies and differences the mark of legality. Likewise, every sect will appoint a different path as its goal while the good of this nation is achieved only by their unification. As an addition it is to say that achievement of any understanding, other than the very one intended by God, does not flow in the good of any. The good of this nation is acquired only by gaining the very understanding meant by God and putting it into action.
It is impermissible for us to confuse our understandings with the religion in various intendments, whether good or bad. It is also inappropriate to dedicate the religion to our inferable understandings so firmly that we sentence those who disagree with us to punition. By opting for such actions we should be exceeding the area of following into that of legislation which is God's concern exclusively. The judgment of regarding individuals embracing contrary opinions as miscreant, and the decision of forbidding sharing them in food and drink, and performing the funeral prayers for their bodies, are not admitted by religion. Such judgments are ruled as groundless punition and an aggression against others' properties. Furthermore, they are basically void and valueless.
2nd — Suggestive Words
Islam is a distinct term of a definite meaning. It is:
1. Mohammed, the Prophet, as a person, his words, deeds and signature. Likewise, it is the Holy Quran with its two aspects; theory and practice. These aspects are forming the total exemplary juristic structures that God revealed to His Prophet who, in turns, explained to people. It is the divine creed intended, by Allah, to be religion of the obedient creatures. It is an idiosyncratic denotation.
2. The virtuous Sahaba who pursued the religion and acceded to the Prophet in his divine missive and establishment of the Islamic government. Neither being the religion itself nor a pillar part of it, they are mere followers.
3. The Muslims who followed and aspired to Islam. Considering them as more than followers, Muslims are not Islam itself. There is a great distance between belief and individuals embracing. The same is said about law and people and, in the same way, judges and the judged.
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3rd — Protection and Covering Up
Benefits of Islam and Muslims is achieved by understanding the genuine intendment of the Islamic doctrine, that is exactly intended by Allah, the Elevated. Conceiving such an intendment, which is the demand of every person, requires specialization and individual talents. Unfortunately, there are some individuals who occupied others' fields and attempted, peacefully or coercively, at imposing their false conclusions on people. Furthermore, they locked the way to inspecting and searching for the true intendment, and they ruled of atheism of those who contradict them as they judged that their elicitation is the religion itself.
They, however, are not rightful to declare so since there is a great difference between religion, as a belief, and them, as individuals. It is to add that contradicting such individuals has no relation to contradiction of the religion. Opting for such a false perception is regarded as deciding the proofless choice and as an impressive custody. This will definitely make the whole process a form of utilizing the religion for covering up and protecting a certain belief or conception.
Precisely, contrariety about the understanding of a text does not lead to apostasy of somebody or godliness of another. Such a conception is judged as a proofless preponderance and a baseless outrage. It flows only in the arteries of those who dominated the Islamic nation by discriminating them into various groups and sects using means of dishonest political trickeries. This was done by aid of the ill scholars of this nation who used to stand against consensus and unification of Muslims. It is they who used various names and attributes to the Muslims; such as unbelievers, Sunnis, Shias and the like. Even the unbelievers of the Scriptuaries disdained the naughty matters of discrimination that is detested by sound sense and pure nature. At any rate, it does show the narrow-mindedness of those opting for, and does contravene principals of Islamic fraternity and its general spirit.
The literal degree of oddity and detestability of excessive enthusiasm is recognized by God alone. In his thesis about the most authentic narrators of hadiths, AtThehbi says:
AbuOmarbnAbdilBerr says: It was narrated that MohammedbnWeddah had said: “I sought YahyabnMu'in's opinion about Ashafi'i.YahyabnMu'in is one of the most considerable scholars of evaluating narrators of hadiths and traditions whose opinion is highly taken
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into account and ruled as a decisive evidence. He answered that Ashafi'i is distrustful! Regarding Ja'farbnMohammed AsSadiq, except for AlBukhari who excluded him from the group of acceptable narrators, AbuHatem and AnNisa'i ruled of his authenticity.”
See how YahyabnMuin, the well known scholar, denied honesty of Ashafi'i, and how AlBukhari denied Imam Ja'far AsSadiq's being among the admissible narrators, while others of less standing, were considered. Imam Ja'far AsSadiq, however, is the chief of AhlulBeit Sect. He is the tutor of founders of the four schools of jurisprudence. He is the unprecedented and the most celebrated savant, from whose school four thousand students of jurisprudence and hadith were graduated. Moreover, he is the sixth Imam of the Prophet's progeny whose fathers are Mohammed, Ali ZainulAabidin, AlHussein and AlibnAbiTalib.
Despite all these specifications, AlBukhari did neither regard Imam Ja'far as one of the reliable relators nor did he rule of his authenticity! Even though they are Sahaba according to the conception of Sunnis, the Imams' narratives were ignored by AlBukhari.
A Topical Refutation of the Sahaba's Ultimate Decency
Conception
It is a common belief among Sunnis that all of the Prophet's companions are unexceptionably decent. While this conception was invented by the dominant politicians — of that time — for a specific wicked purpose, as we are to verify sooner, they could prove to feeble people that it was a pillar part of Islam and a constant principal of this divine doctrine. They could cheat those people that he should be ruled as a miscreant and should be abandoned that who attempts to disbelieve, discuss or criticize this conception.
It is undeniable that companionship of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) is a remarkable honor and a high standing. According to the lexical and the terminological meaning unanimously adopted by Sunnis, all of people of the Prophet's government are included. Characteristics that defining the Prophet's companionship are:
1. Meeting the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family).
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2. Declaring true believing in his message. This characteristic can easily be gotten by the hypocrites, like those who spared no efforts for fighting Islam, but they declared their being Muslims when they had been fully surrounded and when the entire doors had been locked in their faces except that of Islam. God, however, alone knows the real intents.
3. Keeping on this state till death.
Those faithful believers, the ostentatious hypocrites and the unbelievers were not of the same degree so that we can ruled of their equal decency! As a matter of fact, among them there were those who showed their Islam while they were hiding disbelief and defiance. Those are the group of the Muslim hypocrites who lived with and after the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family).
The Holy Quran divulged constancy on hypocrisy, treason, mendacity, dishonesty, prevarication, planning for rebellion, hurting the Prophet and disobedience of such individuals.
Beginning with expansion of the Islamic state, elevation of the Prophet's pennon, domination all over the Arabia, mastery over the entire people, perfection of the religion and crowning of God's grace till the Prophet's decease, situations of that faction of hypocrites showed no change at all, whereas the other Muslims were of discrepant standings in believing and sacrificing.
The Wonder of Wonders
With or without political introductories, the entire individuals of the Prophet's state became Sahaba! They, as a whole, did see, or were seen by, the Prophet. They believed faithfully or ostentatiously in him and kept on such a believing to the end of their life. This conception, nevertheless, was invented in the Umayid reign before the extinction of generation of Sahaba. This is to mean that they ruled of the decency before waiting for the end!
In this manner, this mentioned conception is basically annulled.
Aspect of Annulment
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1. This conception opposes categorical Quranic texts.
2. This conception opposes traditions of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) in their three aspects; words, deeds and signature.
3. This conception opposes actuality.
4. This conception opposes general spirit of Islam, concept of the unforeseen end result and concept of cause finale.
