Ruling on hating the Sahaabah
Q: I was having a discussion with some
people about the Sahaabah (may Allaah be pleased with them), and he
told me that it was possible for any one of us to hate any one of
the Sahaabah without that contradicting Islam. He said perhaps that
(hating the Sahaabah) may put a person beyond the pale of faith but
he would still remain a Muslim. We hope that you can explain this
matter to us.
A: Praise be to Allaah.
Undoubtedly it is a sign of great misfortune and misguidance if a
person's faith is based on slandering the companions of the best of
mankind (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) or arguing
about the disputes that arose among them, instead of occupying
himself with doing that which will benefit him in both his worldly
and spiritual affairs.
No one should have any reason to slander or hate or bear grudges
against the companions of the Prophet (peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him). Their virtues are many, for they are the ones
who supported Islam and spread the faith; they are the ones who
fought the mushrikeen; they are the ones who transmitted the
Qur'aan, Sunnah and rulings. They sacrificed themselves, their
blood and their wealth for the sake of Allaah. Allaah chose them to
be the companions of His Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him), so no one slanders them or hates them except a hypocrite
whose does not love Islam or believe in it.
It was narrated that al-Bara' (may Allaah be pleased with him)
said: I heard the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him) say: «The Ansaar: no one loves
them but a believer and no one hates them but a hypocrite. Whoever
loves them, Allaah will love him, and whoever hates them, Allaah
will hate him» [Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 3672; Muslim,
75].
If a man who hates the Ansaar cannot be a believer and that makes
him a hypocrite, then how about one who hates the Ansaar and
Muhaajireen and those who followed them in truth, and slanders
them, curses them and denounces them and those who love them as
kaafirs - as the Raafidis do? Undoubtedly they deserve more to be
regarded as kaafirs and hypocrites, and of not being
believers.
Al-Tahhaawi said, discussing the
beliefs of Ahl al-Sunnah wa'l-Jamaa'ah:
"We love the companions of the Messenger of Allaah (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) and we do not neglect to love any
one of them, nor do we disavow any one of them. We hate those who
hate them and who criticize them, and we only mention them in good
terms. Loving them is part of religious commitment, faith and
ihsaan, and hating them is kufr, hypocrisy and wrongdoing".
Shaykh Saalih al-Fawzaan
said:
"The way of Ahl al-Sunnah wa'l-Jamaa'ah is to love the family (ahl
al-bayt) of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him).
The Naasibis love the Sahaabah but hate the family of the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), hence they were called
Naasibis because they set themselves up (nasb) as enemies of the
family of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him).
The Raafidis are the opposite: they love the Prophet's family (ahl
al-bayt) - or so they claim, but they hate the Sahaabah, whom they
curse, denounce as kaafirs and criticize.
Whoever hates the Sahaabah hates Islam, because they are the
bearers of Islam and the followers of the Chosen Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him). So whoever hates them hates
Islam, and this indicates that there is no faith in the hearts of
such people and that they do not love Islam.
This is an important basic principle which the Muslims should
understand, namely loving and respecting the Sahaabah, because that
is part of faith. Hating them or hating one of them is kufr and
hypocrisy, because loving them is part of loving the Prophet (peace
and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and hating them is part of
hating the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)"
(Sharh al-'Aqeedah
al-Waasitiyyah).
Some of the scholars explained in detail what is meant by hating
the Sahaabah. They said: If a person hates some of them for some
worldly reason, then that is not kufr and hypocrisy, but if it is
for a religious reason, because they were the companions of the
Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), then
undoubtedly this is hypocrisy.
This is a good explanation which does not contradict what we have
mentioned above, rather it explains it further and reinforces
it.
Abu Zar'ah al-Raazi said: "If
you see a man criticizing one of the companions of the Messenger of
Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), then know that
he is a heretic".
Imam Ahmad said: "If you see a
man mentioning one of the companions of the Messenger of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) in a bad way, then call
his Islam into question".
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah
said:
"If a person slanders them in a way that does not impugn their good
character or religious commitment, such as describing one of them
as being stingy or cowardly or lacking in knowledge or not being an
ascetic and so on, then he deserves to be rebuked and disciplined,
but we do not rule him to be a kaafir because of that. This is how
the words of those who were not regarded as kaafirs by the scholars
are to be understood.
If a person curses them and slanders them in general terms, this is
an area of scholarly dispute, depending on whether this cursing is
motivated by mere feelings or religious doctrines. If a person goes
beyond that and claims that they apostatized after the death of the
Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him),
apart from a small group of no more than ten or so individuals, or
that most of them rebelled and did evil, then there is no doubt
that such a person is a kaafir, because he has denied what is
stated in more than one place in the Qur'aan, that Allaah was
pleased with them and praised them. Indeed whoever doubts that such
a person is a kaafir is himself a kaafir, because this implies that
those who transmitted the Qur'aan and Sunnah were kaafirs or
evildoers and that the best of this ummah which is described in the
verse "You are the best of peoples ever raised up for mankind" [Aal
'Imraan 3:110 - interpretation of the meaning] {كُنتُمْ خَيْرَ أُمَّةٍ أُخْرِجَتْ
لِلنَّاسِ}, Transliteration: Kuntum Khayra 'Ummatin
'Ukhrijat Lilnnāsi - the first generation - were mostly kaafirs and
hypocrites. It implies that this ummah is the worst of nations, and
that the first generations of this ummah are the most evil. No
doubt this is blatant kufr, the evidence for which is quite
clear.
Hence you will find that most of those who proclaim such views will
sooner or later be shown to be heretics. Heretics usually conceal
their views, but Allaah has punished some of them to make an
example of them, and there are many reports that they were turned
into pigs in life and in death. The scholars have compiled such
reports, such as al-Haafiz al-Saalih Abu 'Abd-Allaah Muhammad ibn
'Abd al-Waahid al-Maqdisi, in his book (al-Nahi 'an Sabb al-Ashaab) in which
he narrated the punishments that befell such heretics.
In conclusion, there are some groups of those who slander the
Sahaabah concerning who them is no doubt that they are kaafirs,
others who cannot be judged to be kaafirs, and others concerning
whom there is some doubt regarding that" (Al-Saarim al-Maslool 'ala Shaatim
al-Rasool, p. 590-591).
Taqiy al-Deen al-Subki
said:
… "This refers to one who slanders some of the Sahaabah. But if a
person slanders all of the Sahaabah, then he is undoubtedly a
kaafir. The same applies if he slanders one of the Sahaabah just
because he is a Sahaabi, because this is demeaning the virtue of
the Sahaabah and indirectly slandering the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him). So undoubtedly the person who
does this is a kaafir. Based on this, the words of al-Tahhaawi,
"and hating them is kufr" should be understood as meaning that
hating all of the Sahaabah is undoubtedly kufr, but if a person
slanders a Sahaabi not because he is a Sahaabi but for some
personal reason, and that Sahaabi was, for example, one of those
who became Muslim before the Conquest of Makkah and of whose virtue
we are certain - such as the Raafidis who slander the two Shaykhs
[Abu Bakr and 'Umar] - then al-Qaadi Husayn stated that the one who
slanders the two Shaykhs is a kaafir.
The reason for the scholarly dispute on this issue is if a person
slanders a specific person it may be for some personal reason, or
he may hate someone for a worldly reason etc. This does not imply
that he is a kaafir. But undoubtedly if he hates one of the two
Shaykhs because he was a companion of the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him), then this is kufr, and indeed
hating any of the Sahaabah who was lower in status than two Shaykhs
just because he was a companions of the Prophet (peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) is also definitely kufr" (Fataawa al-Subki, 2/575).
And Allaah knows best.
Islam Q&A
- Category: