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b3.0 THE PRACTICE OF THE PROPHETIC
COMPANIONS (SAHABA)
b3.1 (Muhammad Sa'id Buti:) A
second aspect is the consensus of scholars that the Companions of the Prophet
(Ar. Sahaba, anyone who personally met the Prophet (Allah bless him and him
peace) and died while believing in Islam)
were at various levels of knowledge in religion; not all of them were capable
of giving formal legal opinion (fatwa), as Ibn Khaldun has noted, nor was the religion taken from all of them. |
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b3.0 The Path of the Companions May Allah be pleased with them
b3.1 Muhammad Saeed al-Buti: The
second aspect is what the consensus indicates, that the companions of the
Messenger of Allah, (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), varied in
their knowledge, and not all of them were experts in various fields, as Ibn
Khaldun said - nor was religion taken from all of
them. |
Before
we talk about the Sahaba, the Companions we need to define what a companion is
to better under literally means companions, but in Islamic tradition, it refers
specifically to those who were close to Prophet Muhammad, learned from him, and
carried forward his teachings.
According
to the Seekers Pathway, Sahaba, “literally means companions, but in Islamic
tradition, it refers specifically to those who were close to Prophet
Muhammad, learned from him, and carried forward his teachings. They were not
only his friends and supporters but also guardians of the faith, transmitters
of the Qur’an and Sunnah, warriors of Islam, and leaders after his death.”[1] It should be said, that many
Islamic sites have differing and contradictory answers to the definition of
Companion [sahaba]. Some insist there were around 12,000 companions [sahaba].
While others place the number in the 50s or lower. Note that Seekers Pathway’s definition here
excludes acquaintances, who would be people you meet rarely and barely interact
with.
Asking
people what they think the word companion means provides interesting responses
that come with wisdom. “A companion can be a friend, but a friend is higher on
the relationship chart.”
If
we accept the definition given by Seeker’s Pathway, it appears to state that
the not all of the companions of Muhammad are to be taken as experts on Islam. Yet,
they are experts in differing things. It also appears that their differences
would rarely result in a consensus. This probable lack of consensus sounds like
it would create major issues in Islam. This lack of consensus of the companions
of Muhammad might be the foundation for the lack of consensus by the established
Islamic scholars like ibn Abbas and ibn Kathir.
The
last phrase, “nor was religion taken from all of them,” appears to communicate
that some if not most of the companions of Muhammad may have left Islam. A very
interesting statement for the beginning of shariah. Simple research reveals
that yes indeed some of Muhammad’s closest followers did indeed leave Islam.
Taha Jabir
Alalalwani wrote of even more of Muhamad’s companions leaving him after he
shared the Night Journey story. He wrote that
… the majority of historians and
scholars of the Prophet’s biography mention that some of the people who had
earlier embraced Islam committed apostasy after the messenger spoke of what had
happened to him on the night he was taken on his miraculous journey from Makah
to Jerusalem. Among those who mention this are Ibn Hisham who, in his biography
of the Prophet, quotes Ibn Ishaq on the authority of al-Hassan who, in his
hadith concerning the Prophet’s night journey, states, “most of the people
said, ‘That can’t possibly be true. It takes one of our caravans an entire
month to get from Makkah to Damascus, and another month for it to get back! So
can Muhammad make the same journey and return to Makkah in a single night?’ And
many of those who had embraced Islam turned away from the faith.”[2]
However he does not name or specify the number of those who apostatized.[3]
Ubayd Allah ibn Jahsh
ibn Ri'ab was one of those who went to Abyssinia to escape the persecution of
the Meccans against Muhammad’s followers. Ubayd is said to be a first cousin to
Muhammad in Ibn Ishaq’s Life
of Muhammad (Sirat al Rasul), and a nephew to Muhammad’s wife Hamza (Sirat al
Rasul). When he and his wife arrived in Abyssinia, they rejected Muhammad’s
teaching and followed Christ. Dr. Taha Jabir Al-Alwani recorded in his book, Apostasy in
Islam, that he and his wife became evangelists to Muhammad’s followers.
Abdullah
ibn Sa'd ibn Abi Sarh, was an early convert to Islam. He became one of
Muhammad’s scribes. But he rejected Muhammad’s claim of divine revelations while
he was a scribe, because he made many suggestions about the wording of claimed
revelations and Muhammad easily accepted these changes. This includes “So
blessed be Allah, the Best of creators!” 23:14. According to Islamic histories Abi
Sarh left Islam and eventually moved back to Mecca. This made him a threat to Muhammad
and his divine revelations that would become the Qur’an. Simply put, if the
word of Allah had been allowed to be edited by any man after “it was revealed
to Muhammad, the credibility of the Qur'an was also a threat to Muhammad's credibility.
No real prophet would allow the word of God to be changed. [4]
On the day Islamic histories record Muhammad entering Mecca. Muhammad ordered
the murder of 10 people living in Mecca. Muhammad said "God forbid killing
in Mecca, except for this one day." Abi Sarh was one of the people
Muhammad ordered to be murdered. His crime? He had left Islam because
Muhammad’s claimed revelations from Allah could be easily edited. Muhammad
understood this and believed Abi Sarh constituted a threat to the credibility
of the Qur'an and his prophethood.
Sunan an-Nasa’I 4067 records this
order from Muhammad:
On the day of the Conquest of
Makkah, the Messenger of Allah granted amnesty to the people, except four men
and two women. He said: 'Kill them, even if you find them clinging to the
covers of Ka'bah.' (They were) 'Ikrimah bin Abi Jahl, 'Abdullah bin Khatal,
Miqyas bin Subabah and 'Abdullah bin Sa'd bin Abi As-Sarh. 'Abdullah bin
Khatl was caught while he was clinging to the covers of Ka'bah. Sa'eed bin
Huraith and 'Ammar bin Yasir both rushed toward him, but Sa'eed, who was the
younger of the two, got there before 'Ammar, and he killed him. Miqyas bin
Subabah was caught by the people in the marketplace, and they killed him.
'Ikrimah traveled by sea, and he was caught in a storm. The crew of the ship
said: 'Turn sincerely toward Allah, for your (false) gods cannot help you at
all in this situation.' 'Ikrimah said: 'By Allah, if nothing came to save me at
sea except sincerity toward Allah then nothing else will save me on land. O Allah,
I promise You that if You save me from this predicament I will go to Muhammad
[SAW] and put my hand in his, and I am sure that I will find him generous and
forgiving.' So he came, and accepted Islam. 'Abdullah (bin Sa'd) bin Abi
Sarh hid in the house of 'Uthman bin 'Affan, and when the Messenger of
Allah called the people to give their Oath of Allegiance, he brought him, and
made him stand before the Prophet. He ('Uthman) said: 'O Messenger of Allah!
Accept the allegiance of 'Abdullah.' He raised his head and looked at him three
times, refusing his allegiance each time, then he accepted his allegiance after
three times. Then he turned to his Companions and said: 'Was there not any
sensible man among you who would get up when he saw me refusing to give him my
hand and kill him?' They said: 'We did not know, O Messenger of Allah, what was
in your heart. Why did you not gesture to us with your eyes?' He said: 'It is
not befitting for a Prophet that his eyes be deceitful.'"[5]
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b3.2 Rather, there were those of
them capable of legal opinion and ijtihad, and these were a small minority in
relation to the rest, and there were those of them who sought legal opinion
and followed others therein, and these were the vast majority of them.
(n: Suyuti, in Tadrib al-rawi, quotes Ibn Hazm's report that most of the
Companions' legal opinions came from only seven of them: 'Umar, 'Ali, Ibn
Mas'ud, Ibn 'Umar, Ibn 'Abbas, Zayd ibn Thabit, and 'A'isha; and this was
from thousands of the Companions (Tadrib al·raHJi fi shar:.h Taqrib
al-Nawawi (yl09), 2.219).) |
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b3.2 Rather, among them were the
mujtahid mufti, and they were the few compared to the rest, and among them
were the mustafti the muqallid, and
these are the large majority among them. (T: Al-Suyuti quoted in
Tadrib al-Rawi on the authority of Ibn Hazm that most of the fatwas (decrees) of the Companions were issued by seven: Umar and Ali, Ibn Mas'ud, Ibn Umar, Ibn Abbas and Zayd
ibn Thabit and Aisha.
And that is from thousands
of the Companions. Tadrib al-Rawi: 2/219). |
Definitions
matter. Rekhta Dictionary[6] was used to provide the define the words below.
Mufti a “Muslim priest or law-giver, an
expounder of Muslim law, judge, magistrate.”
Mustafati is “one who consults a mufti, one
who demands a fatwa.”
Mujtahid is an “authority, reformer,
religious scholar recognized as competent to interpret, derive and frame
religious laws or rules.”
Muqallid the
imitating mufti, “a follower, a disciple.”
In the previous law, we discussed
the definition of the term companion. Seekers Pathway of the word companion
limit the term to those close to Muhammad not mere acquaintances. But shariah
here contradicts this by claiming that Muhammad had thousands of companions. Sahih
Muslim 1856 denies this claim by stating “we were 1,500.”[7] There are hadiths that
state the best number of companions is four (Sunan Ibn Majah 2827,[8] Riyad as-Salihin 961,[9] Sunan Abi Dawud 2611[10]). This vast difference in
number poses a question. Why is it important to the person(s) who wrote shariah
that Muhammad had a large number of companions after naming the seven?
Sunnis accept Aisha’s hadiths.
However, women are not allowed under shariah to give testimony without a second
woman present, or a man who also was a witness. This appears contradictory.
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b3.3 Nor did the individual
Companion giving a legal opinion necessarily mention the evidence for it to
the person who had asked about it. AI Amidi notes in his book al-lhkam:
"As for scholarly
consensus [ijma', dis: b7.2], it is that ordinary people in the times of the Companions and
those who immediately
followed them, before there were dissenters, used to seek the opinion of
mujtahids and would follow them in rules of Sacred Law. "The
learned among them would unhesitatingly answer their questions without
alluding to mention of evidence. No one censured them for doing this; a fact
that establishes scholarly consensus on the absolute permissibility of the
ordinary person following one capable of ijtihad." |
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b3.3 The mufti among the Companions was not obligated to explain the evidence for the
questioner along with the ruling. Al-Amidi said in his book Al-Ihkam: As for the consensus, it is that the common people in the time of the Companions and the Successors, before the emergence of dissenting groups, used to seek legal opinions from the mujtahids. And they would follow them in matters of Islamic law [shariah], and the scholars among them would hasten to answer their questions without mentioning the evidence, and they would not forbid them from doing so out of arrogance. Thus, there was a consensus on the permissibility of the common person following the mujtahid in all matters. |
In Arabic it states “the mufti among the Companions.” Who is the mufti? Why is this not defined? We know the names of Muhammad’s closest followers. So who could be defined as the Mufti after Muhammad died? This likely was the Caliph of the time, which would allow each of the first four caliphs to claim the position of Mufti mentioned here.
Shariah
here attempts to define the word consensus. In the Merriam-Webster Dictionary
it means a “general agreement (as of opinion or fact) among a group of people
or things.”[11]
In Arabic the word is Ijma (إجماع). Shariah is based
partially on consensus of scholars. But the definition of consensus here is
that people follow the answers they are given and it does not mean that
scholars agree. This is important to grasp, because moving forward we will find
the term consensus used, and must return to their “definition” for true
understanding of shariah.
Is this evidence that scholars often
disagree more than they agree? This actually provides a reason for Muslims not to
trust what is written in shariah, it claims it is correct because people follow
it. This is circular logic. It is fallacious reasoning. This by itself
establishes a clear reason not to have any trust in Islamic law. The writers of
shariah believe they are great because people believe them. This does not give
any reason to trust the judgement of these men.
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b3.4 The Prophet (Allah bless him
and give him peace) used to dispatch the most knowledge able of the Companions to places whose
inhabitants knew nothing more of Islam than its five pillars. The
latter would follow the person sent to them in everything he gave his
judgement upon and had them do, of works, acts of worship, dealing with one another. and all matters of the lawful and unlawful. Sometimes such a
person would come across a question on which he could find no evidence in the
Koran or sunna, and he would use his own personal legal reasoning and furnish
them an answer in light of it, and they would follow him therein. |
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b3.4 The Messenger (peace and
blessings be upon him) used
to send a learned companion to a place whose inhabitants knew nothing of
Islam except its creed and belief in its pillars, so that they would
follow him in all the rulings he gave them and the acts and worship he
prescribed for them
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In
RofT Keller’s translation states there are five pillars in b3.4, while the
Arabic word for word has no number assigned to the pillars. Why did Keller give
the number five if there is no number? Could the terrorists who have been
recorded making claims that there are more than five pillars be correct?[12]
In
the early age of Islam, the belief structure of Muhammad was being revealed by
revelations over decades. They could not be sure of anything since things were
put into rote memorization, but even that is questionable since Muhammad was
not requiring exactness on the recitations of these revelations. This would
mean that there could be someone close to Muhammad who may know him and his
thoughts who would be sent to guide a group.
But
b3.4 poses a much larger problem for Islam. t essentially states that scholar/leaders
of Islam can make rulings based on their own whims without citing anything
considered Islamic scripture. But of more concern is that shariah demands these
rulings be accepted by the followers.
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b3.5 As for the era of those who
came after them (AT. tabi'in, those who had personally learned from one or
more of the Companions but not the Prophet himself (Allah bless him and give
him peace), the scope of
legal reasoning had expanded, and the Muslims of this time followed
the same course as had the Companions of the Prophet (Allah bless him and
give him peace), except that the legal efforts were represented by the two
main schools of thought, that of juridical opinion (ra'y) and
that of hadith (n: the former in Iraq, the latter in Medina) because of
the methodological factors we previously mentioned when we quoted Ibn
Khaldun. '" There were sometimes discussions and sharp disputes between
leading representatives of the two schools, but the ordinary people and
learners not at the main figures' level of understanding were unconcerned
with this disagreement, and followed whomever they wanted or whomever was
near to them without anyone censuring them for this (al-Lamadhhabiyya
aklltar bid'a tuhad didu al-shari'a al-Islamiyya (y33), 71-73). |
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b3.5 As for the era of the
Successors, the scope
of ijtihad expanded, and the Muslims of this era followed the same
path as the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, (may Allah bless him
and grant him peace). However, ijtihad was represented in two main schools
of thought: the school of opinion and the school of hadith, due to the
factors of ijtihad that we mentioned when we quoted Ibn Khaldun. There were
sometimes heated debates and disputes between the leading figures of these
two schools of thought, but the common people and the educated, who were
less knowledgeable and learned than them, were not concerned with such
disputes, as they followed whomever they wished or whoever was close
to them without any objection from anyone. [Non-affiliation is the most
dangerous heresy threatens Islamic law:
71-73]. |
As
stated previously, ijtihad “refers to the independent reasoning utilized by
jurists, or legal experts to address issues that are not specifically addressed
in the usual sources of legal sources of law, such as the Qur’an and the Hadith
....”[13] This definition conflicts with the claim
that “the scope of ijtihad expanded.” If the same method of reasoning does not
change and is simply passed on the number of those doing legal reasoning
expands, the methodology does not expand.
The
statement that scholars would have heated debates because they disagree
demonstrates that the scholars either did not use the same methodology as
claimed, or did so and had conflicting Islamic sources, or worse. They came to
conclusions without using Islamic sources just using their own methodologies.
This is what creates the concept of non-affiliation as a dangerous
heresy. Itzschak Weisman documented a
history of this in his article, “The Controversy over the Law Schools (lā madhhabiyya)
in Twentieth Century Syria.” In the article he writes of Nasir al-Din al-Albānī
refusing to “adhere to any of the four Sunni schools of law (madhhabs) and
urged his students to directly follow the Prophet’s way through authentic
hadith.”[14]
He believed the law schools created factionalism.[15] This is just one of the
Muslim scholars from the1970s who Weisman documents as believing in
non-affiliation, which RofT/ Umdat al-Salik considers “the most dangerous
heresy.”
[1]
[2]
Cited in Alalwani: Abu Muhammad ‘Abd al-Malik ibn Hisham ibn Ayyub al-Himyari
(218AH/833CE), al-Sirah al-Nabhawiyyah, 1st edition, edited
by al-Saqqa, al Abyari, and Shalabi 1st edition (Beirut: dar
Ihya’al-Turath al-‘Arabi, 1994), 2:12.
[3] Alalwani, T. J. (2011). Apostasy in Islam: A Historical Scriptural Analysis. Hernon, VA: InternationalInstitute of Islamic Thought.page 45.
[4]
al- Wāhidī, Alī ibn Ahmad, (2008) Asbāb
al-Nuzūl, TRANSLATED BY Mokrane Guezzou,
Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought, p. 129 https://www.altafsir.com/Books/Asbab%20Al-Nuzul%20by%20Al-Wahidi.pdf
[8] https://sunnah.com/ibnmajah:2827
[9] https://sunnah.com/riyadussalihin:961
[10] https://sunnah.com/abudawud:2611
[12]
https://www.unaoc.org/repository/Esposito_Jihad_Holy_Unholy.pdf
[14] Weismann, I. (2024, April). The Controvery over Law Schools (la madhhabiyya) in Twentieth-Century Syria. Islamic Law and Society, 1-28.
page 2.
[15]
ibid
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