“My Companions Are Like Stars” – A Fabricated and False Hadith

◈ “My Companions Are Like Stars” – A Fabricated Narration ◈
Source: Fatāwā al-Dīn al-Khāliṣ, Vol. 1, Page 250

❖ The Narration​

"أصحابي كالنجوم بأيهم اقتديتم اهتديتم"
"My Companions are like the stars; whichever of them you follow, you will be guided."


This narration is widely popular among the public, but is it authentic?
The detailed and reason-based analysis below will clarify the truth, as the seeker is bound only to evidence.

① Status of the Narration: Fabricated and Baseless​

This narration is fabricated (mawḍūʿ) both in terms of its chain of transmission (isnād) and its content (matn). Scholars of Ḥadīth have clearly stated that:


This ḥadīth was likely invented by an ignorant person from among Ahl al-Sunnah in reaction to Shīʿī polemics.

② First Reason – Based on Chain of Transmission​

Numerous chains of transmission (asānīd) have been reported for this narration, all of which contain narrators afflicted with:


✘ Severe weakness
✘ Lies
✘ Unreliability


Referenced in:

• Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr: Jāmiʿ Bayān al-ʿIlm wa Faḍlihi (2/191)
• Ibn Ḥazm: al-Iḥkām (6/82)

❖ Problematic Narrators:

1. Salām ibn Sulaym or Salām ibn Sulaymān Ṭawīl
   
   • Ibn Kharrāsh: He is a liar.
   • Ibn Ḥibbān: Narrates fabricated reports.
   • Consensus among muḥaddithūn on his unreliability.
2. Ḥārith ibn Ghuṣayn – Unknown status (majhūl al-ḥāl)
3. Sulaymān ibn Abī Karīmah – Weak narrator

◈ Also found in:

• al-Kifāyah fī ʿIlm al-Riwāyah by al-Khaṭīb (p. 48)
• Tārīkh Ibn ʿAsākir (7/315/2)

1. Juwaybir ibn Saʿīd al-Azdī – Rejected (matrūk al-ḥadīth)
   – Also includes al-Ḍaḥḥāk ibn Muzāḥim, who never met Ibn ʿAbbās, making the report disconnected (maqṭūʿ).
2. Other collections:

• al-Ibānah by Ibn Baṭṭah (4/11/2)
• al-Muntaqā by al-Khaṭīb
• Tārīkh Ibn ʿAsākir (6/203/1)
  Contain narrators like Nuʿaym ibn Ḥammād (weak) and Zubayd al-ʿAmī (liar)

1. ʿAbd ibn Ḥumayd in al-Muntaḳab min al-Musnad
   – Most of his narrations are deemed fabricated by Ibn Ḥibbān

Summary:
All of the chains are either fabricated or weak. Thus, the ḥadīth is completely unauthentic.

③ Second Reason – Based on Its Meaning​

The narration is also false in its meaning, for the following reasons:

❖ 1. The Prophet ﷺ did​

❖ 2. The Companions had​

Not all statements or actions were absolutely correct. Some were accurate; others clearly mistaken.


Examples:

• Thumāmāh ibn Jundub: Considered sale of wine permissible.
• Abū Ṭalḥah: Considered eating hailstones while fasting permissible.
• ʿUthmān, ʿAlī, Ṭalḥah, Ibn Masʿūd رضي الله عنهم: Permitted tayammum for one in the state of janābah.
• Abū al-Sanābil: Issued fatwā on ʿiddah based on abʿad al-ajalayn principle.
• Thumāmāh ibn Jundub: Commanded repetition of missed prayers during menstruation.
• Abū Bakr رضي الله عنه: Erred in dream interpretation.
• ʿUmar رضي الله عنه: Said to Abyssinian emigrants, "We are more deserving of the Prophet ﷺ than you."

Thus, ijtihād can be right or wrong, and we must follow the truth, not every individual companion’s opinion.

❖ 3. Sharīʿah Principle:​

We must weigh every statement and action against the Qur’an and authentic Sunnah.


Anyone who considers the statement of a Companion or an Imām equal to or superior to the Prophet’s ﷺ is in grave error.

❖ 4. Methodology of Ahl al-Sunnah:​

Accept the truth regardless of who said it; reject falsehood even if spoken by a great person.


✔ This was the path of the Imāms of guidance, as detailed earlier.

④ Third Reason – Based on Textual Content​

❖ 1. Faulty Analogy:​

Comparing Companions to stars is flawed.


Just as not every star leads in every direction, not every statement of every Companion leads to guidance.


✘ If someone seeks the North Star (Polaris) and follows another constellation, he will go astray.


✔ Similarly, guidance requires discerning truth from error—even among the best of people.

❖ Conclusion:​

✔ This narration is fabricated (mawḍūʿ), both in chain and content.
✔ Its falsehood is clear, and it is invalid as evidence.


References:

• al-Khulāṣah by Ibn al-Mulaqqin (2/175)
• al-Ḍaʿīfah by al-Albānī (1/78–85), Ḥadīth Nos. 58–63
• Mishkāt al-Maṣābīḥ (2/554)

Note:
This is why the compilers of major authentic ḥadīth collections have not recorded this narration.


If you seek salvation, avoid misguidance and exercise due reflection.

❖ Final Summary:​

The narration “My Companions are like the stars…” is fabricated in both chain and meaning.


It should not be accepted, nor should others be misled by it.


Religion is defined by adherence to the Qur’an and Sunnah.
✘ Blind following without evidence is a path to misguidance.


This is what I hold to be correct, and Allah knows best.