This excerpt is taken from the book of Sheikh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Amanpuri Hafizahullah Difa-e-Sahaba Radi Allahu Anhum.
Did the Companions become apostates?
The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, once mentioned his pond while delivering a sermon. Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them both, narrates that the Prophet, peace be upon him, said in that sermon:
ألا وإنه يجاء برجال من أمتي فيؤخذ بهم ذات الشمال، فأقول: يا رب أصيحابي، فيقال: إنك لا تدري ما أحدثوا بعدك، فأقول كما قال العبد الصالح : وَكُنتُ عَلَيْهِمْ شَهِيدًا مَّا دُمْتُ فِيهِمْ ۖ فَلَمَّا تَوَفَّيْتَنِي كُنتَ أَنتَ الرَّقِيبَ عَلَيْهِمْ ۚ وَأَنتَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ شَهِيدٌ فيقال: إن هؤلاء لم يزالوا مرتدين على أعقابهم منذ فارقتهم.
“The people of my Ummah will come to my pond. They will be seized from the right side. I will say: O Allah! These are my followers. It will be said: O Prophet! You do not know what innovations they introduced after you. I will say what Allah’s righteous servant, Jesus, peace be upon him, will say about his Ummah: As long as I was among them, I was a witness over them, but when I came to You, You were the Witness over them. Then it will be said: After you left them, these people went astray again on their own feet.”
Reference: (Sahih al-Bukhari: 4635, Sahih Muslim: 2807)
Sayyiduna Sahl bin Sa’d, may Allah be pleased with him, narrates that the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said:
ليردن على أقوام أعرفهم ويعرفوني، ثم يحال بيني وبينهم.
“Some groups will come to me at the pond, I will recognize them and they will recognize me, then a barrier will be placed between me and them.”
Reference: (Sahih al-Bukhari: 6583, Sahih Muslim: 2290)
Sayyiduna Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, narrates that the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, once mentioned the Pond of Kawthar. The Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, asked: O beloved of Allah! Will you recognize us? He replied: Yes.
سيما ليست لأحد غيركم تردون على غرا محجلين من آثار الوضوء، وليصدن عني طائفة منكم فلا يصلون، فأقول: يا رب هؤلاء من أصحابي، فيجيبني ملك، فيقول : وهل تدري ما أحدثوا بعدك؟
“There is a specific sign of my Ummah which others do not have. You will come to me shining because of the traces of ablution, then a group will be kept away from me, they will not be able to reach me. I will say: O Allah! These are my followers, then the angel will say: O Prophet! Do you know what innovations these people introduced after you?”
Reference: (Sahih Muslim: 247)
In these ahadith, the word “As-habi” (companions) has appeared, and we have translated it as “my followers” (Ummi), because in the Arabic language, Sahib is also used in the sense of follower or one belonging to a group, as in the companions of Abu Hanifa, companions of Malik, companions of Shafi’i, etc., meaning the sect or group following their school of thought. Secondly, in some ahadith, the word “Ummi” (my follower) is explicitly used.
Sayyida Asma bint Abi Bakr, may Allah be pleased with her, narrates that the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said:
إني على الحوض حتى أنظر من يرد على منكم دوني، فأقول: يا رب مني ومن أمتي، فيقال: هل شعرت ما عملوا بعدك، والله ما برحوا يرجعون على أعقابهم.
“I will be at the pond when some of you will come to me. I will say: O Allah! These are from me and from my Ummah. It will be said: You do not know what deeds they performed after you; these people went astray again on their own feet.”
Reference: (Sahih al-Bukhari: 6593, Sahih Muslim: 27)
From this hadith, two things become clear:
1. The word “Ummi” defines the meaning of “As-habi”; the ahadith explain each other.
2. There is a clear example of different meanings of the same word, as in this hadith the word used is: مني “They are from me.” The same word is also used regarding Ahl al-Bayt (the family of the Prophet) that they are مني “from me.”
This clarifies that the same word can be used in different contexts with different meanings, because when مني was said for Ahl al-Bayt, a special distinction was intended, but in this narration, only the word مني was used for the followers, even though they are innovators. Therefore, merely chasing words is not correct, otherwise, anyone who interprets the word مني as specifically referring to Ahl al-Bayt and applies this hadith to them would be unfortunate; we curse such a person and pity his intellect.
Similarly, anyone who restricts the word “As-habi” only to the noble Companions, may Allah be pleased with them, deserves contempt for his intellect.
Imam Ibn Qutaybah, may Allah have mercy on him (d. 276 AH), says:
How can it be that those people who apostatized from Islam after the death of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, are described by Allah in the Torah and the Gospel, and certificates of approval are issued for them? There are only two possibilities: either you say that Allah knew they would apostatize, yet He still sent certificates of approval for them, or you say that Allah had no knowledge of the good, but we have come to know. Whichever you say, you will be declared disbelievers.
Reference: (Ta’wil Mukhtalif al-Hadith, p. 342)
Remember that after the death of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, none of the Companions apostatized; rather, it was the hard-hearted Bedouin Arabs who apostatized.
Hafiz Khattabi, may Allah have mercy on him (d. 388 AH), writes:
لم يرتد أحد من الصحابة بعده والحمد لله وإنما ارتد قوم من جفاة الأعراب.
“After the death of the Noble Prophet, peace be upon him, none of the Companions apostatized; rather, a group of the hard-hearted nomadic Arabs apostatized.”
Reference: (I’lam al-Hadith: 1843/3)
This clarification also counters the objection of some hadith deniers who say that there are ahadith in Bukhari and Muslim that contradict the Qur’an, which praises the status of the Companions while the hadith calls them apostates. However, the hadith never called the Companions apostates, as we have explained in detail.
