Answering Al-Tijani in his claim that the Prophet (peace be upon him) slanders the Companions
Al-Tijani says,
“The Messenger of Allah (saw) said: As I was standing, there came a group of people whom I recognized, and a man stood between the group and myself, then said: "Let us go." I said, "Where to?" He said, "To Hell, by Allah!" I asked, "What have they done?" He answered, "They turned back after you had departed, and I expect only a few will reach salvation. The Messenger of Allah (saw) also said: I shall arrive at the pool before you, and he who passes by me will drink, and whoever drinks from it will never feel thirsty. There will come to me people that I know and they know me, but we shall be separated, then I shall say, "My companions." An answer shall come, "You do not know what they did after you left." Then I shall say, "Away with those who changed after me." When we look deeply at the various sayings that have been referred to by the Sunnis in their books, we will have no doubt that most of the Companions changed or even became apostates after the departure of the Messenger of Allah, except a few who were considered to be the minority. The above sayings could not be applied to the third type [of Companions], for they were the hypocrites, and the text states: I shall say, "My companions." [1]
First,Through the conciliation of Allah, we answer Al-Tijani’s nonsense:
The two hadeeths that Al-Tijani mentioned here were not found in Saheeh Al-Bukhari or Muslim as it is. Al-Tijani did not mention the complete version of the first hadeeth. In addition he distorted the hadeeth. It is not strange that a person as Al-Tijani who rose on distortion, lie, and discrepancy to do that.
Narrated Abu Hurayrah:
“The Prophet said, "While I was sleeping, a group (of my followers were brought close to me), and when I recognized them, a man (an angel) came out from amongst (us) me and them, he said (to them), 'Come along.' I asked, 'Where?' He said, 'To the (Hell) Fire, by Allah' I asked, 'what is wrong with them' He said, 'They turned apostate as renegades after you left.' Then behold! (Another) group (of my followers) were brought close to me, and when I recognized them, a man (an angel) came out from (me and them) he said (to them); Come along.' I asked, "Where?' He said, 'To the (Hell) Fire, by Allah.' I asked, what is wrong with them?' He said, 'They turned apostate as renegades after you left. So I did not see anyone of them escaping except a few who were like camels without a shepherd." [2]Take a notice how Al-Tijani changed the word from ‘sleeping’ to ‘standing’. In addition, Muslim did not narrate this hadeeth in his Saheeh.
Second, I do say that Ahl Al-Sunnah narrated such hadeeths in their Saheeh books. But did Al-Tijani refer to the explanations of Ahl Al-Sunnah regarding these hadeeths? Or is it his norm to interpret the way he desires? To show the truth for whoever seeks it, we will present what Ahl Al-Sunnah said about who were meant by these hadeeths.
Third, the scholars disagreed on the meaning of the apostasy mentioned in the hadeeth. Qubaysah said, (They are the people who tergiversated in the time of Abu Bakr, and were killed and died on disbelieve, and Al-Khattabi said, “No one of the Companions tergiversated, but some antipathetic Bedouins did. These Bedouins did not have a stake in Islam. Therefore, there is no slander against the grand Companions.” Ibn Al-Teen said, “It is possible that they were the hypocrites or the big sins doers.”) [3]
Ibn Hajar says in Al-Fath, “It was said that they were a people from the antipathetic Bedouins who entered Islam because of fear or need.” [4]
Al-Imam Al-Nawawi says, “This is what the scholars disagreed upon. Some say they were the renegade hypocrites, and some say they were the people who lived in the times of the Prophet peace be upon him and tergiversated after his demise.” [5]
And some scholars said that they were the people of innovation and desire. Ibn Hajar says in Al-Fath, “And some said they were the people of innovation and the big sins doers who died as Muslims.” [6] Al-Nawawi says, “They are the big sins doers who died as monotheists and the people of innovation who stayed on Islam regardless of their innovation.” [7] Al-Imam Al-Hafedh Abu Omar bin Abdul Bar says, “Anyone who added anything to Islam is driven away from the pool like the Kharijites, the Rafidites, and rest of innovation people.” [8]
Abu Ishaq Al-Shatubay says,
It is more obvious that they were the people who entered this Ummah (Islam), because they were mentioned as having white blaze on their foreheads and white marks on their feet because of the traces of ablution. And the people of pure disbelief, whether as original disbelievers or apostates, do not have these characteristics. In addition, it was said, “They changed the religion after you left,” and if it was disbelief, then it would have been said, “They disbelieved after you.” Therefore, the people who changed the Sunnah of the Prophet peace be upon him are the people of innovation. And some say it was hypocrisy. And that is not far away from our meaning since the hypocrites acted upon Islamic Law out of hypocrisy not out of belief. Hence, the hypocrites did not put the Islamic Law in its place, and that is the heart of innovation. [9]Therefore, the tergiversators in the hadeeth mean the apostates and the hypocrites, in addition to the people of desire and innovation. Hence, it is clear for us now that the Companions were not meant by this hadeeth, but if Al-Tijani refuses this and insists on rejecting the truth, then I am compelled to refer to his Shia sayings about who were meant in the hadeeth so that truth would stand clear from falsehood. Allah refuses except to show the truth through their tongues. Al-Fadl Al-Tubrusi says in his interpretation book Majma’a Al-Bayan when interpreting the verse: (to those whose faces will be black, (will be said): "Did ye reject Faith after accepting it?) [3, 106] “ Scholars differed on who were meant by this verse.” And Al-Tubrusi mentions four sayings. The fourth idea that these people were the people of innovation and desire. Then Al-Tubrusi takes the hadeeth of apostasy as an argument, and says, “The fourth idea is that they were the people of innovation ad desire. Ali peace be upon him said that they were the apostates, and narrated from the Prophet peace be upon him who said, ‘By Allah, some of the people who accompanied me will come to the pool. When I see them, they tremble and I say, ‘my companions, my companions, my companions.’ Then I am told, ‘you do not know what they did after their belief. They became apostate after you left.’ Al-Tha’alabi mentioned that in his Quranic interpretation. Abu Umamah Al-Bahilay said, ‘They are the Kharijites’” [10]
And that was the explanation of the hadeeth that Al-Tubrusi provided that these people were the people of desire like the Kharijites and alike. This is the same explanation the Sunnis provided for this verse and hadeeth. Al-Tubrusi did not even point out that they were the companions of the Prophet peace be upon him.
And Al-Kashani when explaining the preceded verse, takes the pool hadeeth as an argument to prove that the people mentioned in the verse are the people of innovation and desire and says, “In the Majma’a, Commander of the faithful [Ali] peace be upon him said that they were people of innovation from this Ummah, and narrated from the Prophet peace be upon him who said, ‘By Allah, some of the people who accompanied me will come to the pool. When I see them, they tremble and I say, ‘my companions, my companions, my companions.’ Then I am told, ‘you do not know what they did after their belief. They became apostate after you left.’ Al-Tha’alabi mentioned that in his Quranic interpretation” [11]
And this is what the Shia say on who were meant by the previous hadeeth. And how hard Al-Tijani tries to interpret the sayings of his Shia differently; he cannot prove that his Shia meant the companions. The grandest evidence is that the Shia slandered the companions in many of their Quranic interpretation books, and the Shia connected many of the verses to the companions, where in reality these verses have nothing to do with the companions. Except for this verse the Shia did not slander the companions! So that this verse be an argument against them, not for them. Praise be the Lord! Hence, we know that the hadeeth does not concern the companions at all. The companions are not renegades, or followers of whims.
To remove doubt from the hearts, and to covert it into truth, so that the people of Al-Sunnah increase in faith, and the Shia increase in falsehood, and to hope for the guidance of the Shia who are looking for the truth, I will provide some of the sayings of the Shia that says that the companions are free from apostasy and free from whims. Ali Bin Abi Talib mentioned in many different places that the companions are free from apostasy. He mentioned that from the most authenticated Shia books. And Ali bin Al-Hussain Zayn Al-Abideen, mentions the companions and asks Allah for mercy and forgiveness for them because of their help to the Prophet peace be upon him in spreading the call of monotheism and propagating the message of Allah to His people. [12]
And Al-Kulayni says: Mansour bin Hazim said that he asked Abu Abdullah peace be upon him, “How come that I ask you a question, you give me an answer, and when another person asks you the same question, you give him a different answer?” Abu Abdullah said, “We answer people by addition and subtraction.” Mansour said, “Then tell me about the companions of the Messenger of Allah peace be upon him, did they believe in him or not?” Abu Abdullah answered, “They believed in him.” Mansour asked, “Then how come they disagreed?” Abu Abdullah answered, “Don’t you know that when a man approaches the messenger of Allah peace be upon him and asks him a question, the Prophet answers the question, then the Prophet later answers the same question differently, an answer which overrides the previous answer, therefore, hadeeths abrogated each others. [13]
Al-Imam Al-Hasan Al-Askari, the eleventh Imam of the Shia says in his Quran interpretation when the Prophet Mousa asks Allah some questions, “Are there any companions of the prophets more beloved to you than my companions?” Allah the Almighty answered, “O’ Mousa, did not you know that the superiority of the companions of Muhammad over all the companions of the prophets is like the superiority of Aal Muhammad over all the Aals of the prophets, and is like the superiority of Muhammad over all the messengers.” [14]
Al-Hasan Al-Askari also says, “And if a man among the best companions of Muhammad is weighted against all of the companions of the prophets, then he would out weight them.” [15]
After all this clarity, it is obvious for us that the companions are free from apostasy.
In proving that the companions were error free from following the whims, Al-Qummay mentions in Al-Khisal that Hisham bin Salim said that Abi Abdullah peace be upon him said, “The companions of the messenger of Allah and his family were twelve thousands: eight thousands from Medina, two thousands from Makkah, and two thousands free men. None of them was Qadari, Murji’, Huraray (Kharijites), Mu’atazili, or innovators. They wept day and night and said, “[O’ Allah] take our soul before we eat the bread of Khameer.” [16]
Therefore, it is clear for us that the companions are free from following desire and whim. These were what the grandest Shia scholars said, their book speaks of true, and what is after true but falsehood O’ Al-Tijani?
Fourth, it is false that Al-Tijani takes the wording “my companions” as an argument to prove that the Prophet meant his companions, because we have to examine the other versions of this hadeeth to know exactly what the term “ashabi” (my companions) means. “With respect to ‘company’, it is a generic noun which have no limit in the jurisprudence neither in language. The general rule regarding this matter had been disagreed upon. The Prophet peace be upon him did not limit ‘company’, neither did he give it a value, but he took it as it is, and in this manner, it means seeing.” [17]
Not even two people disagree that the Prophet peace be upon him saw the apostates and the hypocrites in his lifetime, and they saw him too, which gives the preponderance that the people mentioned in the pool hadeeth were the apostates and the hypocrites. Ahmed and Al-Tabarani narrated with a good attribution that Abi Bakrah said that the Prophet peace be upon him said, “Some men who accompanied and saw me will come to the pool” [18].
Moreover, the Prophet peace be upon him mentioned the word ‘companion’ in a diminution form. Anas Bin Malik narrated in Al-Bukhari and Muslim that the Prophet peace be upon him said, “Some of the people who accompanied me will come to the pool, and when I see them, they tremble. I would say, ‘Asuyhabi, Asuyhabi [the diminution from of companion]’ and some would say to me, ‘you don’t know what they had done after you left.’” [19]
Furthermore, in some of the narrations, the word ‘my companion’ was substituted with other words, like ‘they are from my Ummah,” “men among you,” and “group”. Therefore, it is not appropriate to limit the meaning to one version of the narration, therefore, is not a slander against the companions. It is clear for us now that the whole matter is one of the lies of the Rafidhites.
Fifth, Al-Tijani mentions that the Prophet peace be upon him said that he knew them, but it does not mean the Prophet peace be upon him knew them per se, but he knew them from some special characteristics as the following hadeeth explains:
Abu Hurayrah reported the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) said: My people would come to me on the Cistern [pool] and I would drive away persons (from it) just as a person drives away other people's camels from his camels. They (the hearers) said: Apostle of Allah, would you recognize us? He replied: Yea, you would have a mark, which other people will not have. You would come to me with a white blaze on your foreheads and white marks on your feet because of the traces of ablution. A group among you would be prevented from coming to me, and they would not meet me, and I would say: O my Lord, they are my companions. Upon this an angel would reply to me saying: Do you know what these people did after you. [20]
This hadeeth informs us that the hypocrites and the people of innovation will be rammed by the white blaze on their forehead and the white marks on their feet because of the traces of ablution. The Prophet peace be upon him said, ‘a group among you’ meaning that the hypocrites and the people of innovation would be rammed in hell although they have some of the marks of believers, as the Prophet peace be upon him said in a different hadeeth, ‘and the hypocrites will stay in this Ummah.’
After this illustration, it is not permissible to equate these narrations to the companions of the Prophet peace be upon him, i.e. the Muhajireen and the Ansar, and the grand companions like Abu Bakr, Omar, Uthman, Ali, Al-Zubair, Talha, and Mu’awiyah, may Allah be pleased at them all. It is not permissible to do that for many reasons. First, the Prophet peace be upon him was pleased by his companions and defended them, “The best people are those living in my generation, and then those who will follow them, and then those who will follow the latter. Then there will come some people who will bear witness before taking oaths, and take oaths before bearing witness.” [21]
In this hadeeth, the Prophet peace be upon him confirmed goodness to the generation of the companions.
Muslim narrated in his Saheeh that Abi Bardah narrated from his father who said that the Prophet peace be upon him lifted his head towards the sky and it often happened that as he lifted his head towards the sky, he said, ‘The stars are a source of security for the sky and when the stars disappear there comes to the sky, i.e. (it meets the same fate) as it has been promised (it would plunge into darkness). And I am a source of safety and security to my Companions and when I would go away there would fall to the lot (of my Companions) as they have been promised with and my Companions are a source of security for the Ummah and as they would go there would fall to the lot of my Ummah as (its people) have been promised.’ [22]Al-Nawawi said in his explanation of Saheeh Muslim, “Companions are a source of security for the Ummah and as they would go there would fall to the lot of my Ummah as (its people) have been promised’ means what innovation in religion will occur, and afflictions will happen, the emergence of the devil’s horn, the attack of the Romans against them, the violation of Makkah and Medina, and other things. And this is considered one of the miracles of the Prophet peace be upon him.” [23]
Moreover, the Prophet peace be upon him gave the good tidings to his companions that they will enter heaven. Abdulrahman Bin Owf said that the Prophet peace be upon him said, “Abu Bakr is in heaven, Omar is in heaven, Uthman is in heaven, Ali is in heaven, Talha is in heaven, Al-Zubair is in heaven, Abdulrahman bin Owf is in heaven, Sa’ad bin Abi Waqqas is in heaven, Sa’eed bin Zayd is in heaven, and Abu Obaydah bin Al-Jarrah is in heaven.” [24]
Ahmed narrated in his Musnad that Jabir bin Abdullah said that the Prophet peace be upon him said, “Any person who was present at Badir and Al-Hudaybiyah will not enter hell.” [25]
The Prophet peace be upon him passed away and he was pleased at his companions. Furthermore, it is not proven that any of the Muhajireen nor Ansar became apostates. Al-Imam Abdulqadir Al-Baghdadi said in his book Al-Farqu bayna Al-Firaq, “Ahl Al-Sunnah agreed that the people who became apostates after the demise of the Prophet peace be upon him: the Kanadas, Hunayfas, Fizaras, Bani Asads, Bani Bakr bin Wael, were not Ansar nor Muhajireen before the conquest of Makkah. Jurisprudence named anyone who migrated to the Prophet peace be upon him before the conquest of Makkah as Muhajireen, and those people, thanks to Allah, were on the right path.” [26]
How could this go hand in hand with what Al-Tijani claims that the majority of the companions became apostates? And I wonder, does the Prophet peace be upon him contradict himself when he says to a companion that he is in heaven, then he finds the same companion among the apostates in the pool? Is not that an obvious slander against the Prophet peace be upon him? There is no doubt that the Prophet peace be upon him knew that his companions were not among the apostates. Al-Tabarani narrated through a good attribution that Abu Darda’a said, “O’ Messenger of Allah, pray to Allah so that he does not make me among them [the apostates]. The Prophet peace be upon him answered: You are not.” [27]
Moreover, the first hadeeth that Al-Tijani changed by saying ‘while I was standing’, but the truth is that the Prophet said ‘while I was sleeping,’ which confirms that the Prophet peace be upon him saw in his sleep what will happen to him in the after life. So if the companions were the ones who would be apostates, then he would have told them … does an intelligent person say that the Prophet peace be upon him does not know the destiny of his companions as the story of Abi Darda’s? Perhaps the Prophet peace be upon him will find Abu Darda’a among the apostates! I do not believe anyone would say this save for Al-Tijani and alike.
Then how could the Prophet peace be upon him say to Abu Bakr, “Allah had freed you from hell,” [28] to Omar, “I entered heaven, and I saw a palace made of gold. I asked, ‘To who does this palace belong to?’ I was answered, ‘To a young man from Quraysh.’ I thought the voice meant me, so I asked, ‘Who is he?’ They answered, ‘Omar bin Al-Khattab.’” [29] And the Prophet peace be upon him said to Uthman, “Uthman is in heaven.” And perhaps the narrator of the pool hadeeth, who is Abu Hurayrah, who narrated the hadeeth after the demise of the Prophet peace be upon him, would find himself one of the apostates! In addition to the eighty companion who shared Abu Hurayrah in narrating this hadeeth!
Sixth, and if Al-Tijani does not admit to this fact, then he must tell us exactly who are those companions. And if there were not answer, then Al-Tijani’s meaning must be valid also upon Ali bin Abi Talib, Al-Hassan, Al-Hussain, Ammar bin Yasser, Aba Thar Al-Ghufari, Salman Al-Farisi, Al-Miqdad bin Al-Aswad, Khuzaymah bin Thabit, and Ubay bin Ka’ab. And Al-Tijani could not exempt any of these companions without crystal clear evidence. But if Al-Tijani said that there were some hadeeths that exempt these companions and prove they are in heaven, then the same argument is valid for the other companions! There are many proofs from the Quran and Al-Sunnah that confirms Allah and the Prophet’s contentment of them, and that they are the true believers, and provide edge cutting evidence that they are in heaven, so what would be the answer of Al-Tijani?
Seventh, and the saying, “You don’t know what they changed after you.” It is known as a fact that the companions did not change a thing after the demise of the Prophet peace be upon him. Al-Sayyed Muhamed Siddeeq Hasan Al-Qunuji Al-Bukhari, may Allah have mercy on his soul, said in his book The Pure Religion,
A Rafidhite asked a Sunni: ‘What do you say about the companions?’ The Sunni answered, “I say whatever Allah said about them in the Quran, ‘Allah well-pleased with them, and they with Allah.’ [5, 119] The Rafidhite asked again, ‘They had changed Islam after the demise of Prophet peace be upon him!’ The Sunni answered, “Allah says, “They have never changed in the least.” [33, 23] and we do not believe in a deity tells us a thing and he does not know that it will change later.” [30]
But if Al-Tijani claimed that the companions changed lots of things like their refusal of the leadership of Ahl Al-Bayt and the distortion of Al-Quran, then through Allah’s permission, we will refute these allegations in later articles.
Eighth, then Al-Tijani says, “we will have no doubt that most of the Companions changed or even became apostates after the departure of the Messenger of Allah, except a few who were considered to be the minority” This saying shows the ignorance of Al-Tijani of the meaning of the hadeeth. He is like the woodcutter in the night, gathering what he thinks is slanders against the companions. The Prophet peace be upon him meant by minority those people who were closed to the pool and were about to drink from it but were rejected, and not everyone who came close to it. Abu Hurayrah narrated in another version of the same hadeeth that the Prophet peace be upon him said, ‘In the Day of Judgment, a group [riht] of my companions come close to me, but they are taken away from the pool. So I say, “O Allah! They are my companion!” Allah answers, “You do not know what they did after you left. They became apostates.” [31] As it is known, the word ‘riht’ in Arabic means a group of people less that ten. Al-Tijani shows a great deal of thinking when he says that the majority of the companions became apostates!
Ninth, then Al-Tijani contradicts himself when he says, “The above sayings could not be applied to the third type [of Companions], for they were the hypocrites, and the text states: I shall say, "My companions."” Praise be the Lord! It is a strange thing indeed to make the hypocrites not part of companions! Wasn’t he the one who divided the companions into three sections, and the last of these sections was the hypocrites? And now he denies it here? And says ‘could not be applied to the third type [of Companions], for they were the hypocrites.’ And why? Because ‘The text states: I shall I say, ‘My companions’! And I say to this guided one, what do you chose? If you said that one of the divisions of the companions are the hypocrites, then you answered yourself, but if you said they are not, then you destroyed your whole book from the beginning to the end! Because you built your book on the assumption that the hypocrites are parts of the companions.
To bring you out from this paradox, I say there is no doubt that the hypocrites are not a part of the companions, but the Prophet peace be upon him mentioned them and the apostates in some hadeeths as “my companions” in a diminution form because they accompanied the Prophet in his life. In addition, the diminution form was used to indicate their unworthy status, not to exalt them. The Prophet peace be upon him did not use the diminution form to his companions, the Muhajireen and Ansar, where his narrations to them where in the form of exalt and grandness.
In the end, I say that Al-Tijani wants to lead us to the conclusion that the majority of the companions were apostates. What does that suppose to mean? It means that the religion we have for fourteen centuries, the Quran in our hands, the Sunnah that we follow, and the worship that we perform, are all false!!! Because the apostates transmitted them to us? And it means that those apostates who conquered east and west was not for the sake of Allah but to force the people of these lands into apostasy? It also means that Musaylimah The Liar, Sajjah and others are the right people, because they did not turn against Islam, but turned against the apostates! As if Al-Tijani is saying, “O’ People of Al-Sham, O’ People of Egypt and Maghrib, O’ people of Iraq, O’ people of Al-Jazeera, O’ people of the beyond the two rivers, all of you are apostates! And to hell is your destiny!”
References:
1) Then I was Guided, Al-Tijani, p.104
2) Saheeh Al-Bukhari, vol.5, The Book of Al-Riqaq, No.6215
3) Fath Al-Bari, vol.11, p.393
4) Ibid
5) Muslim with explanation, vol.3, p.173
6) Fath Al-Bari, vol.11, p.393
7) Muslim with explanation, vol.3, p.173
8) Ibid, p.174
9) Al-I’tisam, vol.1, p.168
10) Majma’a Al-Bayan, vol.2, p.162
11) Tafseer Al-Safi, vol.1, p.341
12) Al-Saheefa Al-Kamilah Al-Sijjadiyah, Imam Zayn Al-Abideen, p.27-28
13) Usool Al-Kafi, Al-Kulayni, vol.1, p.52, Kitab fadl Al-Elm
14) Tafseer Al-Hasan Al-Haskari, p.11, surat Al-fatiha
15) Ibid, surat Al-Baqarah, verse 88, p.157
16) Kitab Al-Khisal, Al-Qummi, p.639-640, chapter 12
17) Minhaj Al-Sunnah Al-Nabawiyah, Ibn Taymiyah, vol.8, p.387
18) Fath Al-Bari, vol.11, p.393
19) Saheeh Muslim with explanation, vol.5, No.2304 AND Al-Bukhari, Kitab Al-Riqaq, No.6211
20) Saheeh Muslim, vol.3, No.247, Kitab Al-Taharah
21) Saheeh Al-Bukhari, vol.3, Kitab Fada’el Al-Sahabah, No.3451
22) Saheeh Muslim with explanation, vol.16, Kitab Fada’el Al-Sahabah, No.2531
23) Ibid, p.125
24) Sunan Al-Turmithi, Kitab Al-Manaqib, chapter of Abdulrahman bin Owf, No.3747, also Saheeh Al-Turmithi, No.2946
25) Musnad Imam Ahmed, vol.5, No.15262, p.213, also Al-Silsilah Al-Saheehah, vol.5, No.2160
26) Al-Farq bayn Al-Firaq, p.318-319
27) Fath Al-Bari, vol.11, p.393
28) Sunan Al-Turmithi, Kitab Al-Fada’el, No.3679, also Saheeh Al-Turmithi, No.2905
29) Sunan Al-Turmithi, Kitab Al-Fada’el, No.3688, also Saheeh Al-Turmithi, No.2911, and Saheeh Al-Bukhari, No.3476
30) Al-Deen Al-Khalis, vol.3, p.382
31) Saheeh Al-Bukhari with Al-Fath, vol.11, p.473, No.6585