The virtue of the Companions and the Followers in general

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) that he said: "Never revile the Companions of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), for the standing of any one of them for a short while (for the sake of the religion or in the company of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him)) is far superior in virtue to the worship and good deeds of a whole lifetime of any one of you."
The chain of this athar (report) is sahih (authentic). Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal narrated it in Fada'il al-Sahabah (15) and Ibn Abi Asim in al-Sunnah (1006), and all its narrators are thiqat (trustworthy).

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The example of my Companions in my Ummah is like that of the stars by which people find guidance (in the darkness); when those stars disappear (from sight), people fall into bewilderment and confusion."
Its chain is da'if (weak).

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The example of my Companions is like the stars by which guidance is sought; whichever of them you take the word of, you will be guided."
The narrator named Hamzah is extremely da'if (weak).

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "If a man had gold equal to Mount Uhud, and he spent all that wealth in the path of Allah Almighty and on helping and supporting widows, the needy and orphans, in order to attain the rank that one of my Companions attains in a brief hour of a day, he would never attain it."
Imam al-Tayalisi narrated this hadith; however, the narrator in its chain, Musa bin Mutayr, has been declared da'if (weak) by the imams of narrator criticism.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ja'dah bin Hubayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The best of people are those of my generation, then those who come after them, then those who come after them, then those who come after them, and then those who come after that will be utterly worthless (and worse)."
Imam Abd bin Humayd said that Abu Bakr bin Abi Shaybah narrated this hadith to us with the same chain.
Imam Abu Ya'la said that Zakariyya bin Yahya narrated to us, from Ibn Idris, and then he mentioned the same text as before.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Wathilah bin al-Asqa' (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "You will continue to be in goodness as long as there remains among you someone who saw me and kept my company. And by Allah, you will continue to remain upon goodness as long as there remains among you someone who saw the one who saw me, and kept the company of the one who kept my company."
Imam Abu Bakr bin Abi Shaybah narrated this hadith; its narrators are thiqat (trustworthy), and on the basis of other supporting reports this narration reaches the level of sahih or hasan.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that he said: "Do not curse or revile the Companions of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), for Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, has commanded (the believers) to seek forgiveness for them, even though He (the Exalted) already knew well that they would soon do certain acts and deeds (under trials and human circumstances, on account of which you would criticise them)."
Imam Ahmad bin Mani' transmitted this narration; it is da'if (weak) because one narrator in its chain is unnamed. However, its meaning is established by this blessed verse of the Holy Qur'an: "And those who came after them say: Our Lord, forgive us and our brothers who preceded us in faith" [Surah al-Hashr: 10].

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Hudhayfah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "After me, some slips will occur from my Companions, which Allah Almighty will forgive because of their earlier service with me and their precedence in Islam. But after me some people will come who will act upon those very slips, and Allah Almighty will throw them into the Fire of Hell on their noses."
The chain of this narration contains the narrator Abdullah bin Lahi'ah, because of the confusion (ikhtilat) in whose memory this narration falls into the category of da'if (weak).

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "A time will surely come upon people when an army will set out (for jihad) and it will be asked: Is there any Companion of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) among you? They will search for him but will not find him. Then an army will set out and it will be asked: Is there anyone among you who has seen any Companion of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him)? They will search for him too but will not find him. (Such will be the virtue of the Companions that) if any Companion of mine were even beyond the sea, people would go to him (to seek blessing and help)."
Imam Abu Ya'la also narrated something of similar meaning, in these words: "A time will surely come upon people when one of their armies will set out and it will be asked: Is there anyone among you who had the honour of the company of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), so that through him you may seek Allah's help and be granted victory and support? The answer will be: No. Then it will be asked: Is there anyone among you who kept the company of his (peace and blessings be upon him) Companions? And it will be asked: Has anyone seen someone who kept the company of his (peace and blessings be upon him) Companions? If they heard of such a person even beyond the seas, they would surely go to him."
In the narration of Ibn Numayr the words are: "An army will be dispatched and it will be asked: Is there anyone among you who kept the company of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him)? It will be said: Yes. So he will be searched for and found, and victory will be sought through him. Then another army will be dispatched and it will be asked: Is there anyone among you who has seen the Companions of Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him)? He will be searched for but not found, so that even if he were beyond the sea you would surely go to him. Then there will remain people who recite the Qur'an but do not know what it (really) is."
Al-Haytham bin Kulayb also narrated it via Ja'far bin Awn.
The chain of this hadith is sahih (authentic), but Abu Sufyan fell short (abridged it) in narrating it.
For Imam Bukhari and Imam Muslim narrated it through the route of Amr bin Dinar, and Imam Muslim also through the route of Abu al-Zubayr, both of them from Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him), from Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him), and that (the route via Sayyiduna Abu Sa'id) is correct.
In another narration of Abu Ya'la, from Sayyiduna Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him), he said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: "A time will come upon people when, if they hear of one of my Companions even beyond the sea, they will surely go to him (to meet him)."
Ibn Lahi'ah fell short (abridged it) in both the chain and the text of this hadith.

Not present in the book.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Jabir (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) say: "Indeed, (in times to come) the number of people will keep increasing and (the number of) my Companions will keep decreasing, so never revile them. May Allah Almighty curse whoever reviles them."
Musnad Abi Ya'la: 4189. Its chain contains a narrator named Muhammad bin al-Fadl bin Atiyyah, who is matruk (abandoned); however, there are other authentic hadiths regarding the greatness of the Companions and the prohibition of reviling and abusing them.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The Hour will not be established until a man from among my Companions is sought (in pursuit of knowledge and guidance) the way a lost thing is eagerly searched for, but he will not be found (because they will have departed from the world)."
Takhrij: Musnad Abd bin Humayd: 58, Musnad Abi Ya'la: 404. Its chain contains al-Harith bin Abdullah al-A'war, who is da'if (weak).

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) asked his Companions (may Allah be pleased with them): "How will you be when you are fully satisfied with bread and olive oil?" The Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) cried out and kept proclaiming the takbir aloud for a while, then they said: O Messenger of Allah, when will that be? He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "When the great cities are conquered." Then the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "How will you be when your garments become of different colours and kinds, and you go out in the morning in one garment and come back in the evening in another?" They said: O Messenger of Allah, when will that be? He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "When the great cities are conquered, and the empires of Persia and Rome are conquered." The Companions said: O Messenger of Allah, will those who witness these conquests then be better than us? He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Rather, you are better than them, your children are better than their children, and your children's children are better than their children's children. They will not have fulfilled the right of gratitude, they will not have fulfilled the right of gratitude, they will not have fulfilled the right of gratitude."
Imam al-Harith bin Abi Usamah narrated this hadith; its chain contains Rishdin bin Sa'd, a da'if (weak) narrator.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "The example of my Companions is like salt in food, and food is not right and tasty without salt."
Imam Abu Ya'la narrated it via Suwayd bin Sa'id, Abu Mu'awiyah, Isma'il and al-Hasan al-Basri from Sayyiduna Anas (may Allah be pleased with him). Imam al-Bazzar also transmitted it via Taliq bin Muhammad from Abu Mu'awiyah with the same chain, and he made clear that the narrator named Isma'il is alone in transmitting this narration and that he is not a hafiz, that is, not a strong narrator.

It is narrated from Sayyiduna Awf bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said (out of intense longing): "O how I wish I could meet my brothers!" The Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) said (in surprise): "O Messenger of Allah, are we not your brothers and your companions?" He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Certainly, but (my brothers) are people who will come after you. They will believe in me (with complete faith) just as you have believed, they will affirm me (sincerely) just as you have affirmed me, and they will help and support me (for the sake of the religion) just as you have helped me. So O how I wish I could meet those brothers of mine!"
(196) And the hadith of Sayyiduna Umar al-Faruq (may Allah be pleased with him) with the same meaning has already passed in the Book of Faith.