14. THE POSITION OF THE ṢAḤĀBAH (7)
Besides the Qur’ānic
verses and the ḥadīths of the Prophet (ﷺ) here are
some statements of the ‘ulamā’ about the position of the ṣaḥābah,
as follows:
a. ‘Abd
al-Raḥmān al-Ījī (700-756/1301-1355): “It is necessary to honor all of the ṣaḥābah,
and refrain from defaming them, because Allah has honored and praised them in
many verses of the Qur’ān, and the Prophet has loved them and praised them in
many ḥadīths.”
b. His
student Sa‘d al-Dīn al-Taftāzānī (722-792/1322-1390): “Adherents of the
truth have agreed on honoring the ṣaḥābah, and refraining from defaming them,
especially the Muhājirīn and the Anṣār, because praising them has been
mentioned in the Qur’ān and the Sunnah.”
As mentioned earlier the number of the ṣaḥābah of
the Prophet was about 120 thousands. According to al-Ṣadūq Ibn Bābawayh al-Qummī
(305-381/923-991) of the Twelver Shī‘ah the
number of the ṣaḥābah was twelve thousands, eight thousands were in
al-Madīnah, two thousands were in Makkah, whereas the remaining two thousands
lived in other places. He said further that none of them were followers of
Qadariyyah, Murji‘ah, Khawārij, Mu‘tazilah, nor adherents of personal opinions (أَصْحَابُ الرَّأي).[1] According
to al-Shāfi‘ī their number was about sixty thousands. Al-Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar
al-‘Asqalānī (733-852/1372-1448) recorded 12,297 names of men and women among
the ṣaḥābah in his Iṣābah (الإصَابَةُ
فِي مَعْرِفَةِ الصّحَابة), whereas those who narrated hadiths from the Prophet
were about three thousands, and about 90% of the ḥadīths were
transmitted by only twenty people among them. Ibn al-Jawzī (d. 597/1201) mentioned
that there were only 1,858 ṣaḥābah who transmitted ḥadīths,
while other scholars say that they were 1,500 of them.
According
to Baqī ibn Makhlad al-Qurṭubī (201-276/816-889)
that the number of ḥadīths transmitted
by Abū Hurayrah was 5,874, but actually it was the number of channels through
which the ḥadīths were transmitted. Recent research shows that the
actual number of ḥadīths transmitted by him was 1,236 only. If one ḥadīth,
for example, is transmitted by Abū Hurayrah through five channels, then the ḥadīth
is considered five ḥadīths, some are strong, others are weak,
depending on the ‘adālah (honesty, honourable record) and ḍabṭ (accuracy, precision) of the transmitters. In other words, one matn
(text) of a ḥadīth consists of five isnāds (chains of
transmitters on which a ḥadīth is based), in the above example, are five
ḥadīths. Abū Hurayrah had at least nine students who wrote ḥadīths from
him.
Ibn ‘Umar who was said to have transmitted 2,630 ḥadīths and had written a collection of ḥadīths
had at least eight students who wrote ḥadīths from him. Anas ibn Mālik who
transmitted 2,286 ḥadīths had at least sixteen persons had ḥadīths from him in written form. ‘Āishah
who transmitted 2,210 ḥadīths had at least three persons wrote ḥadīths
from her, including her nephew, ‘Urwah. Ibn ‘Abbās who transmitted 1660 ḥadīths
had at least nine students who wrote ḥadīths from him. Jābir ibn
‘Abdullah who transmitted 1,540 ḥadīths had
at least fourteen students who wrote ḥadīths from him. ‘Umar the second
caliph had transmitted 537 ḥadīths, and he used to quote them in his
official letters, so that many of them were recorded by him. ‘Ali the fourth
caliph had transmitted 536 ḥadīths had at least eight students who had
them in written form. These collections of ḥadīths are extremely
important to learn as our guidance after the Holy Qur’ān.
The ‘adālah (honesty, honourable record) of the
Ṣaḥābah
The term ‘adālah(الْعَدَالَة)
of the ṣaḥābah according to Ahl
al-Sunnah wa ’l-jamā‘ah (“the Upholder of the Sunnah of the Prophet and
Muslim community”, i.e., Sunni Muslims) means that they do not lie
intentionally about the Prophet due to their strong faith, and their preserving
their piety, virtues, eminent morality, and being away from inferior stuffs.
Their ‘adālah does not mean that they are infallible from sin,
forgetting or mistake, as no one among scholars say that. Therefore, we should
know that those among them, who had committed sin, were punished as expiation
for their sins and repented sincerely, and were a very small minority; their
case should not be taken predominant over the vast majority of the eminent ṣaḥābah
who were upright, and avoid minor or major sin and disobedience, either
apparent or hidden. Al-Imām Abū’l-Ḥasan al-Abyārī (d.
616/1219) confirmed this view and said that their ‘adālah does
not mean that they are infallible from sin, and that they are free from disobedience;
it means that their reports are accepted without endeavor to find the reasons
of their ‘adālah or requiring their credibility…[2]
There are many different
views concerning the ‘adālah of the ṣaḥābah, among which are as
follows:
1. According
to many ‘ulamā’, such as Ibn al-Ṣalāḥ (d.643/ 1245), Ibn Ḥazm and Ibn
al-Ḥājib (570-646/1174-1249) from the Mālikī school, as the ṣaḥābah are the only people
whose salvation was guaranteed by Allah—as mentioned in many Qur’ānic verses
and ḥadīths-- they are reliable people. Their ‘adālah does not
need investigation, and their reports should be accepted without any condition.
Unlike the ṣaḥābah, people of the following generation (tābi‘īn)
and of further generations do not have such a guarantee of salvation, and
therefore, in Ibn Ḥazm’s view, their ‘adālah should be
investigated. According to the Shāfi‘ī qāḍī Abū Bakr al-Bāqillānī
(338-402/950-1013), this is also the view of the ṣaḥābah and the tābi‘īn.
According to the Shāfi‘ī jurist al-Imām al-Ḥaramayn al-Juwaynī (d. 478/1085),
the ‘adālah of the ṣaḥābah is ijmā‘ based on certain Qur’ānic verses and ḥadīths
mentioned earlier.
2. The
view of Abū ’l- Ḥusayn ibn al-Qaṭṭān (d. 359/970), the
Mu‘tazilī Ibrāhīm al-Naẓẓām (185-231/791-845), and the Shī‘ah Rāfiḍah is that
the ‘adālah of the ṣaḥābah, like that of other people, should be
investigated. Ibn al-Qaṭṭān gives the
examples of the ṣaḥābah whose ‘adālah was rejected, like al-Wahshī
who killed Ḥamzah, and al-Walīd who drank intoxicants (khamr). Al-Naẓẓām
among the Mu‘tazilīs gave the example of a ṣaḥābī who slandered another ṣaḥābī.
If the slanderer was right, al-Naẓẓām contends, the slandered would not be ‘adl.
Yet, if the slanderer was wrong, he would not be ‘adl. Muḥammad Bāqir al-Majlisī
(428-504/1037-1111), the shaykh of Ṣafawī dynasty and the resource and
authority of contemporary Twelver Shī‘ah, said that like the rest
of the people, some of the ṣaḥābah were ‘udūl, others were
hypocrites, and misguided godless which were the majority.[3] Contemporary scholars of Shī‘ah Imāmiyyah Muḥammad Jawād Mughanniyyah
(1322-1400/1904-1979) and ‘Abd al-Karīm al-Zanjānī
(1304-1388/1887-1968) held the same view that some ṣaḥābah were good and others were godless.
3. The
view of the Mu‘tazilī ‘Amr ibn ‘Ubayd (d. 142/760) who maintains that the ṣaḥābah
were all ‘udūl, before the fitan (sing. fitnah,
dissentions), i.e., the civil wars, e.g., the battles of Ṣiffīn
and al-Jamal. After these fitan, the ‘adālah of the ṣaḥābah should
be investigated.
4. The
view of a group among the Mu‘tazilīs and the Shī‘īs who maintain that all of
the ṣaḥābah were ‘udūl.
5. The
view of al-Māwardī (d. 450/1058) who maintains that a ṣaḥābī who was
known for his keeping company with the Prophet (ﷺ) was ‘adl; otherwise, his ‘adālah should be
investigated.
Ibn Ḥazm (d. 456/1064) and al-Shawkānī
(d. 1255/1839) accept the first view and reject the four others. Ibn Ḥazm
asserts that the ṣaḥābah include the infidel who heard the Prophet (ﷺ) and later became Muslims. He was then also ‘adl. According to Ibn Ḥazm the ‘adālah of a
person in the time of the ṣaḥābah became a condition only during the
time he was giving the warning and the report, not when he was witnessing what
he had reported. This is because there were hypocrites in Madīnah during the
time of the Prophet (ﷺ), as well
as people whose conditions were unfavorable. There were also an unidentified
man who falsely claimed to have been sent and authorized by the Prophet (ﷺ) to rule
the people of an area at Banī ’l-Layth, two miles outside of Madīnah. With his trick he intended to marry a girl
who had rejected him in the time of the Jāhilīyah (pre-Islamic
paganism). But his scheme was discovered when people came to the Prophet (ﷺ). This man, and any person who deceived the Prophet (ﷺ), was not considered a ṣaḥābī. He contends further that
reports are accepted only from respectable persons whose merit is known. This
statement seems to contradict the previous one where Ibn Ḥazm maintained that
all the ṣaḥābah were ‘udūl.
What he meant was that if a person is known to be a ṣaḥābī he is
‘adl. There are many ways to know whether a person is a ṣaḥābī,
among which are: his participation in one of the Prophet’s campaigns and
battles, e.g., the battles of Badr, Uḥud, Ḥunayn, etc., his
participation in one of the two pledges of ‘Aqabah, and his participation as a
member of the envoys from the Arab tribes which visited the Prophet (ﷺ). On the other hand, there were only 130 and some ṣaḥābah
who reported fatāwá (formal legal opinions) in matters of ‘ibādāt
(acts of devotion) and aḥkām (legal judgments).
According to Shi‘ah’s understanding
the term ṣaḥābah is in its linguistic term, not in its technical term.
Therefore, some of them are praised in the Qur’ān, such as those early coverts
(Q. 9:100), who pledged allegiance under the tree (Q. 48:18), the Muhājirīn (Emigrants),
and the Anṣār (Helpers) (Q. 59:8-10). Others are blameworthy, such as
the hypocrites, the sinners, and doubters. According to the Sunni view, they are
still considered ṣaḥābah with the exception of the hypocrites, unless
the repented and became Muslims. The sinners if they were punished for their
sins and earnestly repented, and the
doubters when they became convinced, they were all included among the ṣaḥābah.
Otherwise, they would not be considered ṣaḥābah. If they conceal their
sin Allah would either punish them in the Hereafter or forgive them. Worldly
punishment is atonement for sin, so that no more punishment would await for the
sinners in the Hereafter. The Prophet (ﷺ) said:
... وَمَنْ أَصَابَ مِنْ ذَلِكَ شَيْئًا فَعُوقِبَ
بِهِ فَهُوَ كَفَّارَتُهُ., وَمَنْ أَصَابَ شَيْئًا مِنْ ذَلِكَ ، فَسَتَرَهُ اللَّهُ
، فَهُوَ إِلَى اللَّهِ إِنْ شَاءَ اللَّهُ عَذَّبَهُ ، وَإِنْ شَاءَ غَفَرَ لَهُ
(رواه البخاري) …and
whoever committed any of them (i.e., stealing
and adultery) and was punished for it, then it
became his
atonement [for
his sin], and whoever committed any of
them, and Allah
concealed it, then if Allah wills, He
would punish or forgive him. (Reported by al-Bukhārī)
التَّائِبُ مِنْ الذَّنْبِ
كَمَنْ لَا ذَنْبَ لَهُ (رواه الطبراني و ابن ماجة)
The person who repents is like the one who has
no sin (Reported by al-Ṭabrānī and Ibn Mājah)
(CIVIC,
9 December, 2016)
المراجع:
المكتبة الشاملة
تفسير الطبري (ت. 310 هـ(
تفسير القرطبى (ت. 671
هـ
تفسير ابن كثير (ت.
774 هـ(
M.A. Samad. Ibn Ḥazm’s Concept of Ijmā‘. M.A.
Thesis
M.M. Azami. Studies in Hadīth Methodology and
Literature
http://www.dd-sunnah.net/forum/showthread.php?t=136726.
http://shiaweb.org/books/adalat_alsahaba/pa3a.htm
http://alburhan.com/Article/index/8627
http://al-imamia.blogfa.com/page/3aidsa.aspx
No comments:
Post a Comment