In the Name of Allah, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate
Assalaamu alaykum
Dear Friends
I pray that you are well.
The blessed Companions have been described in the Qur'an fully, because the Prophet (ﷺ) is the Final Messenger and there shall be no prophet or messenger after him. He left behind him the Book of Allah and the paradigm of noble Companions to follow. Specific injunctions have been laid down to emulate their pattern of life. Therefore, the Qur'an too describes the merits of the blessed Companions, and encourages and emphasizes to follow their model of life.
Allah Almighty says,
مُّحَمَّدٌ رَّسُولُ ٱللَّهِ ۚ وَٱلَّذِينَ مَعَهُۥٓ أَشِدَّآءُ عَلَى ٱلْكُفَّارِ رُحَمَآءُ بَيْنَهُمْ ۖ تَرَىٰهُمْ رُكَّعًا سُجَّدًا يَبْتَغُونَ فَضْلًا مِّنَ ٱللَّهِ وَرِضْوَٰنًا ۖ سِيمَاهُمْ فِى وُجُوهِهِم مِّنْ أَثَرِ ٱلسُّجُودِ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ مَثَلُهُمْ فِى ٱلتَّوْرَىٰةِ ۚ وَمَثَلُهُمْ فِى ٱلْإِنجِيلِ كَزَرْعٍ أَخْرَجَ شَطْـَٔهُۥ فَـَٔازَرَهُۥ فَٱسْتَغْلَظَ فَٱسْتَوَىٰ عَلَىٰ سُوقِهِۦ يُعْجِبُ ٱلزُّرَّاعَ لِيَغِيظَ بِهِمُ ٱلْكُفَّارَ ۗ وَعَدَ ٱللَّهُ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَعَمِلُوا۟ ٱلصَّـٰلِحَـٰتِ مِنْهُم مَّغْفِرَةً وَأَجْرًا عَظِيمًۢا ﴿٢٩[Qur'an, Al-Fath 48:29]
Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ); and those with him are forceful against the disbelievers, merciful among themselves. You see them bowing and prostrating [in prayer], seeking bounty from Allah and [His] pleasure. Their mark is on their faces from the trace of prostration. That is their description in the Torah. And their description in the Gospel is as a plant which produces its offshoots and strengthens them so they grow firm and stand upon their stalks, delighting the sowers - so that Allah may enrage by them the disbelievers. Allah has promised those who believe and do righteous deeds among them forgiveness and a great reward. (29)
The first quality of the Companions mentioned here is that they are hard against the disbelievers, and merciful to one another. It was proven time and again that they were harsh against the unbelievers. They sacrificed all their ethnic and tribal relations for the sake of Islam. This was especially demonstrated on the occasion of Hudaibiyah. The tenderness of the blessed Companions was especially demonstrated when Islamic brotherhood [mu'akhat] was created between muhajirs [emigrants from Makkah] and ansars [helpers from Madinah]. Ansar invited the muhajirin to share with them in their holdings. The Qur'an describes this quality of the blessed Companions first, because nothing they (the Companions) practiced - whether friendship or enmity, love or hatred - was for any selfish reasons. Everything was for the sake of Allah and His Messenger (ﷺ)- and this is the highest degree of perfect faith.
The Prophet (ﷺ) said,
He who loves for the sake of Allah and hates for the sake of Allah has attained the highest degree of faith.[Bukhari]
This means that anyone who has subjugated his friendship, love, hatred and enmity under the Will of Allah has perfected his faith. This clarifies another point: The Companions' being hard against the non-believers does not imply that they were never tender towards any non-believer. In fact it means that where Allah and His Messenger (ﷺ) enjoins them to be hard against the non-believers, they would simply comply without taking into account the relations of kinship or friendship. As far as kind and equitable dealing with them is concerned the Qur'an itself promulgates:
لَّا يَنْهَىٰكُمُ ٱللَّهُ عَنِ ٱلَّذِينَ لَمْ يُقَـٰتِلُوكُمْ فِى ٱلدِّينِ وَلَمْ يُخْرِجُوكُم مِّن دِيَـٰرِكُمْ أَن تَبَرُّوهُمْ وَتُقْسِطُوٓا۟ إِلَيْهِمْ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يُحِبُّ ٱلْمُقْسِطِينَ ﴿٨[Qur'an, Al-Mumtahina 60:8]
Allah does not forbid you from those who do not fight you because of religion and do not expel you from your homes - from being righteous toward them and acting justly toward them. Indeed, Allah loves those who act justly. (8)
There is a large number of incidents where Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) and the blessed Companions displayed their kindness and compassion to the helpless and needy unbelievers. Treating them with justice and equity is the general injunction of Islam. No activity flouting justice and equity is permissible even in the field of pitched battle.
The second quality of the blessed Companions is that they are generally preoccupied with bowing and prostrating. The first quality is the mark of their perfection in faith and the second quality is the mark of their perfection in deeds, because salah is the most meritorious of all the good deeds.
Their distinguishing feature is on their faces from the effect'of sajdah (prostration). That is to say, salah (prayer) has become such a permanent routine of their life that the special effects of salah and sajdah are evident on their faces. These distinguishing features do not necessarily refer to any physical sign on the forehead on account of constant prostration. This in fact refers to the light and brightness that is reflected naturally on the faces of the devout as a result of humility, meekness and gentleness of disposition. Particularly this is one of the effects that follow from offering tahajjud salah regularly. It is recorded in Ibn Majah on the authority of Sayyidna Jabir that the Prophet (ﷺ) said: "He who offers his salah abundantly at night, his face looks good during the day."
Hasan Basri has said that the "features" in the verse refer to the light that the faces of those who pray will emit on the Day of Judgement.
There is unanimity among ummah on the point that all the noble Companions are impartial, unbiased and worthy of confidence. All Companions are inhabitants of Paradise and their sins are forgiven and to belittle them is a major sin. Many verses of the Qur'an bear testimony to this fact. For example,
Allah Almighty says,
وَعَدَ ٱللَّهُ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَعَمِلُوا۟ ٱلصَّـٰلِحَـٰتِ مِنْهُم مَّغْفِرَةً وَأَجْرًا عَظِيمًۢا ...[Qu'ran, Al-Fath 48:29]
... Allah has promised those who believe and do righteous deeds among them forgiveness and a great reward. (29)
وَٱلسَّـٰبِقُونَ ٱلْأَوَّلُونَ مِنَ ٱلْمُهَـٰجِرِينَ وَٱلْأَنصَارِ وَٱلَّذِينَ ٱتَّبَعُوهُم بِإِحْسَـٰنٍ رَّضِىَ ٱللَّهُ عَنْهُمْ وَرَضُوا۟ عَنْهُ وَأَعَدَّ لَهُمْ جَنَّـٰتٍ تَجْرِى تَحْتَهَا ٱلْأَنْهَـٰرُ خَـٰلِدِينَ فِيهَآ أَبَدًا ۚ ذَٰلِكَ ٱلْفَوْزُ ٱلْعَظِيمُ ﴿١٠٠[Qur'an, At-Tawba 9:100]
And the first forerunners [in the faith] among the Muhajireen and the Ansar and those who followed them with good conduct - Allah is pleased with them and they are pleased with Him, and He has prepared for them gardens beneath which rivers flow, wherein they will abide forever. That is the great attainment. (100)
The Prophet (ﷺ) is reported to have said:
The best of generations is my generation, then that which follows it immediately and then that which follows it immediately.(Bukhari)."
In a Hadith the Prophet (ﷺ) is reported to have said:
Do not revile my Companions, for if one of you contributed as much gold as the mount 'Qud, it would not amount to as much as the mudd of one of them, or half of it.(Bukhari).
A mudd in Arabia was a measure which, according to the Hanafi school of Fiqh, is equal to 1.032 litre or 815. 39 grams and, according to the other three major schools, it is equal to 0.687 litre or 543 grams.
Bazzar records with a sound chain of transmitters that Prophet (ﷺ) is reported to have said:
Of all the people in the entire world Allah has chosen my Companions, and of all the Companions He has particularly chosen four for me - Abu Bakr, 'Umar, 'Uthman and 'Ali.
There is a Hadith recorded in Tirmidhi on the authority of 'Abdullah Ibn Mughaffal. In it the Prophet (ﷺ) said:
Fear Allah, fear Allah regarding my Companions! Do not make them a target of your criticism after me. He who loves them does so on account of my love; he who hates them does so on account of hating me; and he who injures them has injured me, and he who injures me has injured Allah. He who intends to injure Allah will soon be punished by Him.
These all should tell us a lot what kind of loyalty we should have to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ).
In our times, there are people who see the Messenger (ﷺ) as the best example, which all of us are supposed to see. And there are those who are inspired by the Qur'an and are going to realize that the Messenger (ﷺ) is asking for help. He was here to do a task and the task is not done yet. We are supposed to be a part of that task. So many people don't know the words of Allah. So many people still don't know the Message, they haven't seen it. The people that are left to carry on the task are us. Allah says, "Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ); and those with him ..." [Al-Fath 29] When you are with someone, you are traveling with him -- it means when they are on a mission/task, you are on a mission/task with them. Believing in someone does not mean you are with them.
إِنَّآ أَرْسَلْنَـٰكَ شَـٰهِدًا وَمُبَشِّرًۭا وَنَذِيرًۭا ﴿٨﴾ لِّتُؤْمِنُوا۟ بِٱللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِۦ وَتُعَزِّرُوهُ وَتُوَقِّرُوهُ وَتُسَبِّحُوهُ بُكْرَةً وَأَصِيلًا ﴿٩[Qur'an, Al-Fath 48:8-9]
Indeed, We have sent you as a witness and a bringer of good tidings and a warner (8) That you [people] may believe in Allah and His Messenger and honor him and respect the Prophet and exalt Allah morning and afternoon. (9)
If you have ta'zeer and tawqeer (honor and respect) for the Messenger (ﷺ) and really want to do tasbih of Allah (glorification of Allah), then you have crossed the stage of believing in him (ﷺ), now it is the time to be with him (ﷺ), now it is time to join his (ﷺ) mission, now it is the time to go out of your way to help accomplish what is needed to be done.
Identify at least one legacy that you are going to help, to serve Allah's Deen and out of your loyalty to the Messenger (ﷺ), which you are going to give your life to it. Once you find it and what Allah has made you capable of, you give yourself to it. Maybe they are other people who are doing something along the lines you are thinking, so you help them.
No one person can own reviving the entire legacy of the Messenger (ﷺ). No one person can carry his legacy. It takes the entire ummah to do and carry not even an ounce of what he carried himself in the 23 years of Prophethood. We have to pick something and give yourself to it so we may take those few drops before Allah in Day of Judgment and hope that those few things we do could earn us a good word from the Messenger on Judgment Day, the Day when nobody get to speak, and he speaks.
It was narrated that Anas ibn Maalik said: The Prophet (ﷺ)told us:
When the Day of Resurrection comes, the people will surge with each other like waves. They will come to Adam and say, ‘Intercede for us with your Lord.’ He will say, ‘I am not fit for that. Go to Ibraaheem for he is the Close Friend of the Most Merciful.’ So they will go to Ibraaheem, but he will say, ‘I am not fit for that. Go to Moosa for he is the one to whom Allaah spoke directly.’ So they will go to Moosa but he will say, ‘I am not fit for that. Go to ‘Eesa for he is a soul created by Allaah and His Word.’ So they will go to ‘Eesa but he will say, ‘I am not fit for that.[Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 7510]
Go to Muhammad (ﷺ).’ So they will come to me and I will say, I am fit for that.’
Then I will ask my Lord for permission and He will give me permission, and He will inspire me with words of praise with which I will praise Him, words that I do not know now. So I will praise Him with those words of praise and I will fall down prostrate before Him. He will say, ‘O Muhammad, raise your head. Speak and intercession will be granted to you, ask and you will be given, intercede and your intercession will be accepted.’ I will say, ‘O Lord, my ummah, my ummah!’ He will say, ‘Go and bring forth everyone in whose heart there is faith the weight of a barley-grain.’ So I will go and do that.
Then I will come back and praise Him with those words of praise and I will fall down prostrate before Him. He will say, ‘O Muhammad, raise your head. Speak and intercession will be granted to you, ask and you will be given, intercede and your intercession will be accepted.’ I will say, ‘O Lord, my ummah, my ummah!’ He will say, ‘Go and bring forth everyone in whose heart there is faith the weight of a small ant or a mustard-seed.’ So I will go and do that.
Then I will come back and praise Him with those words of praise and I will fall down prostrate before Him. He will say, ‘O Muhammad, raise your head. Speak and intercession will be granted to you, ask and you will be given, intercede and your intercession will be accepted.’ I will say, ‘O Lord, my ummah, my ummah!’ He will say, ‘Go and bring forth from the Fire everyone in whose heart there is faith the weight of the lightest, lightest grain of mustard-seed.’ So I will go and bring them forth.”
When we left Anas I [the narrator of the hadeeth] said to some of our companions, “Why don’t we go to al-Hasan, who is hiding in the house of Abu Khaleefah, and tell him what Anas ibn Maalik has told us?” So we went to him, greeted him with salaam and he gave us permission to enter. Then we said, “O Abu Sa’eed, we have come to you from your brother Anas ibn Maalik, and we have never heard anything like what he narrated to us about intercession.” He said, “Tell me.” So we narrated the hadeeth to him and we came to this point and he said, “Keep going.” We said, “He did not tell us any more.”
He said, “He told me this hadeeth when he was a young man, twenty years ago. I do not know if he forgot or if he did not want to let you depend on what he might have said. We said, “O Abu Sa’eed, tell us.” He smiled and said, “Man was created hasty. I only mentioned that because I wanted to inform you of it. Anas told me the same as he told you, and said that the Prophet (ﷺ) added: “Then I will come back a fourth time and praise Him with those words of praise and I will fall down prostrate before Him. He will say, ‘O Muhammad, raise your head. Speak and intercession will be granted to you, ask and you will be given, intercede and your intercession will be accepted.’ I will say, ‘O Lord, give me permission (to bring forth) all those who said Laa ilaaha ill-Allaah.’ He will say, ‘By My Might, My Majesty, My Supremacy and My Greatness, I will most certainly bring forth from it those who said Laa ilaaha ill-Allaah.’
May Allah use and choose us to carry the legacy of His Beloved Messenger (ﷺ) and grant us success. Ameen.
Allahumma salli 'ala Muhammad wa 'ala aalihi wa sahbihi wassallam
Please don't forget us in your night prayers. Jazakallahu khairan.
And Allah knows best.
Wassalaam
Source: Tafsir Maariful Qur'an
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