be to Allaah.
One of the basic principles of Ahl al-Sunnah wa’l-Jamaa’ah
is that they have nothing against the Companions of the Messenger of
Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and they do not say anything
against them. Their hearts are free of any hatred, resentment and rancour
(towards them) and they do not say anything (about them) that is not
appropriate or befitting, because Allaah says (interpretation of the
meaning):
“And those who came after them say: ‘Our Lord! Forgive
us and our brethren who have preceded us in Faith, and put not in our
hearts any hatred against those who have believed. Our Lord! You are
indeed full of kindness, Most Merciful’”[al-Hashr :10]
And
they obey the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) who said: “Do not revile
my companions, for by the One in Whose hand is my soul, if one of you
were to spend in charity gold equal to the size of Mount Uhud, he would
not achieve the status of one of them, or even come halfway.” (narrated
by al-Bukhaari, 3637; Muslim, 2541).
One
of the basic principles of Ahl al-Sunnah is that they accept that which
has been narrated in the Qur’aan and Sunnah, and the consensus of the
scholars, concerning the virtues and status (of the Sahaabah). They
give precedence to those who spent and fought before the victory – the
treaty of al-Hudaybiyah – over those who spent and fought afterwards,
because Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“Not equal among you are those who spent and fought
before the Victory. Such are higher in degree than those who spent and
fought afterwards. But to all Allaah has promised the best (reward).
And Allaah is All-Aware of what you do”
[al-Hadeed 57:10]
They
give precedence to the Muhaajireen over the Ansaar, because Allaah says
(interpretation of the meaning):
“And the foremost to embrace Islam of the Muhaajiroon
and the Ansaar and also those who followed them exactly (in Faith).
Allaah is well-pleased with them as they are well-pleased with Him.
He has prepared for them Gardens under which rivers flow (Paradise),
to dwell therein forever. That is the supreme success”
[al-Tawbah 9:100.] So the aayah
gives precedence to the Muhaajireen over the Ansaar.
They
believe that Allaah said concerning the people of Badr – who numbered
three hundred and umpteen – “Do whatever you like, for I have forgiven
you,” because the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said, “Maybe Allah looked
at the people of Badr and said, ‘Do whatever you like, for I have forgiven
you.’” (Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 3007; Muslim, 2494 - from the hadeeth
of ‘Ali ibn Abi Taalib)
They
believe that no-one who gave the oath of allegiance (bay’ah) under the
tree will enter Hell, as the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said. Rather Allaah is pleased
with them and they are pleased with Him, and they numbered more than
one thousand and four hundred. Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):
“Indeed, Allaah was pleased with the believers when
they gave the Bay‘ah (pledge) to you (O Muhammad) under the tree, He
knew what was in their hearts, and He sent down As-Sakeenah (calmness
and tranquillity) upon them, and He rewarded them with a near victory”[al-Fath
48:18]
And the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “In sha Allaah, no
one among the companions of the tree, those who gave their oath of allegiance
beneath the tree, will enter Hell.” (Narrated by Muslim, 2496). Among
those who pledged allegiance beneath the tree were Abu Bakr, ‘Umar,
‘Uthmaan and ‘Ali, may Allaah be pleased with them all.
And they (Ahl al-Sunnah) bear witness that those will
enter Paradise who the Messenger of Allaah bore witness that they would
enter, such as the ten (who were given the glad tidings of Paradise),
and Thaabit ibn Qays ibn Shammaas, and others among the Sahaabah (may
Allaah be pleased with them). The Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: “Abu Bakr will be
in Paradise, ‘Umar will be in Paradise, ‘Uthmaan will be in Paradise,
‘Ali will be in Paradise, Talhah will be in Paradise, al-Zubayr will
be in Paradise, ‘Abd al-Rahmaan ibn ‘Awf will be in Paradise, Sa’d will
be in Paradise, Sa’eed will be in Paradise and Abu ‘Ubaydah ibn al-Jarraah
will be in Paradise.” (Narrated by Abu Dawood, 4649; al-Tirmidhi, 3747;
classed as saheeh by al-Albaani).
They affirm that which has been narrated in mutawaatir
reports from ‘Ali ibn Abi Taalib (may Allaah be pleased with him) and
others, that the best among this ummah after its Prophet is Abu Bakr,
then ‘Umar. It was narrated that Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah said: “I
said to my father (‘Ali ibn Abi Taalib), ‘Which of the people is the
best after the Messenger of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)?’ He said, ‘Abu Bakr.’ I
asked, ‘Then who?’ He said, ‘ ‘Umar.’ I was worried that he would say
‘Uthmaan, so I said, ‘Then is it you?’ He said, ‘I am just a man among
the Muslims.’” (Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 3671). So they (Ahl al-Sunnah)
list ‘Uthmaan as the third and ‘Ali as the fourth, may Allaah be pleased
with them.
See al-Waasitiyyah by Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah,
with commentary.
Secondly: it is part of the belief of Ahl al-Sunnah that
the most deserving of the people to succeed the Messenger of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) was Abu Bakr al-Siddeeq
(may Allaah be pleased with him). The evidence for the leadership of
Abu Bakr (may Allaah be pleased with him) is as follows:
1 – It was narrated from Muhammad ibn Jubayr ibn Mut’im
that his father said: “A woman came to the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and he told her to come
back later. She said, ‘What if I come back and do not find you?’ as
if she was referring to death. He
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said, ‘If you do not find
me, then go to Abu Bakr.’” (Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 3659).
2 – It was narrated that Ibn Mas’ood said: “The Messenger
of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: ‘Take as your leaders
those who come after me, Abu Bakr and ‘Umar.’” (Narrated by al-Tirmidhi,
3805; classed as saheeh by al-Albaani).
3 – It was narrated that Ibn ‘Umar (may Allaah be pleased
with them both) said: “The Messenger of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: ‘Whilst I was standing
by a well, drawing water from it, Abu Bakr and ‘Umar came. Abu Bakr
took the bucket and drew one or two buckets, but there was some weakness
in his drawing. May Allah forgive him. Then ‘Umar bin Al-Khattaab came
and the bucket turned into a very large one in his hands. I had never
seen such a mighty person as he in doing such hard work till all the
people drank to their satisfaction and watered their camels that knelt
down there.’” (Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 3676).
Ibn Hajar said in his commentary on this hadeeth:
“Whilst I was standing by a well” means, in a dream.
“Drawing water from it” means, filling a bucket with water. “He drew
one or two buckets (dhanooban aw dhanoobayn)”: dhanoob
refers to a large bucket when it is full of water. It seems to me that
this refers to the major conquests which took place during his reign
(as khaleefah), which numbered three. Hence the hadeeth does not refer
to the number of buckets in the case of ‘Umar, rather it describes his
drawing of water as ‘mighty’, referring to the many conquests that would
occur during his reign as khaleefah. And Allaah knows best.
Al-Shaafa’i mentioned the interpretation of this hadeeth
in al-Umm, where after quoting it he said: The meaning of the
phrase “but there was some weakness in his drawing” is that his time
of leadership was short, because of his untimely death and the fact
that the war against the apostates (ahl al-riddah) kept him from reaching
the level of conquests attained by ‘Umar during his lengthy reign as
khaleefah.
With regard to the phrase “May Allaah forgive him,” al-Nawawi
said: This is a du’aa’ on the part of the one who is speaking, i.e.,
there can be no other interpretation. Others said that it was an indication
that the death of Abu Bakr was close. A similar case is to be seen in
the aayah in which Allaah says to His Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him):
“So glorify the Praises of your Lord, and ask His
forgiveness. Verily, He is the One Who accepts the repentance and Who
forgives”[al-Nasr 110:3 – interpretation of the meaning]
This aayah was an indication that the death of the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) was close. I say: it may
be that it was an indication that the small number of conquests during
his time was not his fault, because the reason for that was the brevity
of his rule, and the meaning of forgiveness is to remove any blame from
him.
“And the bucket turned into a very large one in his hands”
means, it became a huge bucket. “I had never seen such a mighty person
as he” means that he achieved the ultimate.
4 – It was narrated that ‘Aa’ishah said: “The Messenger
of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said to me when he was sick,
‘Call Abu Bakr for me, your father and your brother, so that I may dictate
a letter. For I am worried lest someone who is ambitious says that he
is more entitled to the position of leadership, but Allaah and the believers
will not accept anyone other than Abu Bakr.’” (Narrated by Muslim, 2387).
5 – During his final illness, the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) appointed Abu Bakr al-Siddeeq
to lead the Muslims in prayer and he did not accept anyone else to take
his place. The fact that he was appointed to take his place in the case
of minor leadership (leading the prayers) indicates that he would succeed
him in the case of major leadership (as imaam or khaleefah).
And Allaah knows best.
Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid
![[Valid Atom 1.0]](valid-atom.png "Validate my Atom 1.0 feed")
No comments:
Post a Comment