The Virtue of the Sahaba and the Impermissibility of Cursing Them

[Shehzad Sattar]

By Sheikh Abdur Razaaq Al-Badr (a chapter from his treatise: ‘Our Duty With Regards to the Sahaba’)

It has been narrated in the two most authentic texts of Hadith that the Messenger of Allah (may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) warned his nation against cursing his companions and at the same time made clear their rank, he (may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said:

((Do not curse my companions, for by The One in Whose Hands lay my soul, if one of you were to spend the size or amount of mount Uhud in gold (in charity), it would even amount to a Mudd (a unit of measurement) of one of them, nor even half of that.)) Narrated by Bukhari and Muslim.

So if one the Sahaba (may Allah be pleased with them) were to spend a Mudd of food on the poor, and you brought forth gold the size or amount of Uhud – and no one is able to do this- and if an individual possessed gold the size or weight of Uhud, it would tempt him and overcome him and he would become stingy and miserly. However, if it were made obligatory upon us to spend the size or weight of Uhud if we had it, it would not amount to the spending of the Sahaba (may Allah be pleased with them). So be aware, and comprehend their status (may Allah be pleased with them).

((Do not curse my companions)), this is the speech of the Prophet (may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), and not the speech of one of the people or the Ulama. He (may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) is advising the Ummah and warning them against falling into degrading any of them (may Allah be pleased with them) and making the Ummah aware of their rank and position.

And the amount of Ahadith on this matter is great, explaining the position of the Sahaba, to the point that if some of the Ulama were to compile the Ahadith on the position of the Sahaba, they could not do so in one volume, rather it would require volumes upon volumes due the great amount of Ahadith soundly attributed to the Messenger of Allah (may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), praising the Sahaba individually and generally.

There is no one worthy of worship except Allah! No one is mightier than them (from this Ummah) no one is loftier in rank than them, no one’s prestige is greater than theirs and there isn’t a greater obligation upon the Muslim concerning them (may Allah be pleased with them).

And Allah ordered the people of faith to supplicate for the Sahaba and ask for forgiveness for them so do so. However, some people do the opposite and turn the matter upside down, so they do the opposite of what has been sought from them in the Quran and do the opposite of what has been sought from them in the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). So they place instead of forgiveness, cursing, and instead of praise, degradation and regarding this it comes in Sahih Muslim that Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) said to Urwa ibn Az-Zubair: ‘’Oh son of my sister, they were ordered to ask for forgiveness for the companions of the Messenger of Allah (may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), so they curse them’’.

However, Allah Has placed in this wisdom, Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her), as it has been mentioned by Ibn Al-Atheer in his book Jami’ Ul-Usool, on the authority of Jabir Ibn Abdillah (May Allah be pleased with him): ‘’It was said to Aisha: verily, the people are ridiculing the companions of the Messenger of Allah (may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), even Abu Bakr and Umar, so she said: and what amazes you about that? They can no longer do good deeds, but Allah does not want the reward to cease for them’’.

How is that? We know for sure from the Sunnah that whenever someone degrades another without due right, his good deeds are transferred to the victim, as it is mentioned in the Hadith of the bankrupt one, to the extent that we know because of the hadith, what will happen to the one that degrades the Sahaba, the Messenger of Allah (may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said to his companions one day:

((Do you know who is the bankrupt one? They said: Oh Messenger of Allah, the bankrupt one from us is the one who does not own even a dirham and has no happiness, he (may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him said) said: verily, the bankrupt one from my Ummah is the one who comes on the day of judgement with salah and fasting and zakah, and it comes to light that he cursed this one, and accused this one, and ate the wealth of this one, and spilt the blood of this one, and hit this one, so this one is given his good deeds, and this one is given his good deeds and if his good deeds finish before he has given his due, then the evil deeds of his victims will be thrown onto him and he will be thrown into the hellfire.)) Narrated by Muslim.

We ask Allah for His pardon and to save us.

This is for the one who curses one of the Muslims, so what about the one who curses the Sahaba? Is there a greater disaster than this? When this one who used to curse the Sahaba comes forward on the day of judgement, his good deeds will be taken and given to the Sahaba, and if his good deeds cease, it will be taken from the bad deeds of the ones he used to curse and thrown at him and then he will be thrown into the hellfire!

Is there a greater problem for the one who curses the Sahaba? Is there a greater tribulation or more sever loss than coming on the day of judgement bankrupt? Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) takes from his good deeds, and Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) takes from his good deeds, and Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him) takes from his good deeds, and the wives of the Messenger of Allah (may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) takes from his good deeds, and likewise the rest of the Sahaba.

And the strange matter is, that the Mother of the Believers Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) is not safe from their abuse. Even though Allah declared her innocence from the accusations of the liars, and regarding this ayah sent down by Allaah in surah An-Noor, which will be recited in Masajid until the day of judgement. And still, you will find those who curse her, so what will happen for Aisha on the day of judgement?

It will be a great amount of good deeds, then he will come, the one who used to curses her, on the day of judgement bankrupt, because he used mourn whilst cursing the Sahaba, until some even make it a habit when waking and sleeping to abuse and curse the companions of the Messenger of Allah (may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). We seek refuge on Allah from that. How will there situation be on the day of judgement when they meet Allah?

Some of them even say: Oh Allah, curse the two falsely praised ones of Quraish, and their two deviators, and their two Copts and their two sons, Abu Bakr and Umar. Even though the Messenger of Allah (may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said with regards to the characteristics of a believer:

((The believer is not one who defames, nor one who curses, nor one who commits vice and nor one who uses obscene language.)) Narrated by Imam Ahmed, Bukhari in Al-Adab Al-Mufrad,Tirmithi, Hakim from Ibn Masud (may Allah be pleased with him).

Instead, when it was said to the Messenger of Allah (may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): ‘supplicate against the polytheists, he said: I was not sent as one who curses’. Then comes a group of people amongst lowly ones and choose the elite of the Ummah and the best of it and curse them.

We seek refuge in Allah from lowliness.

Translated by Hussain Suleiman.