Loving the Companions رضي الله عنهم: What It Entails
Source: Fatāwā Amonpuri by Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Amonpuri
Question:
What does true love for the Companions رضي الله عنهم entail?
Answer:
Loving the Companions رضي الله عنهم is itself part of faith (īmān). Its requirements are:
Source: Fatāwā Amonpuri by Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Amonpuri
Question:
What does true love for the Companions رضي الله عنهم entail?
Answer:
Loving the Companions رضي الله عنهم is itself part of faith (īmān). Its requirements are:
- To speak of their virtues.
- To supplicate Allah’s mercy and forgiveness for them.
- To remain silent regarding their disputes.
- To defend them in every respect.
- Anas ibn Mālik رضي الله عنه narrated:
A man asked the Prophet ﷺ about the Hour. He said, “When is the Hour?” The Prophet ﷺ asked, “What have you prepared for it?” He replied, “Nothing, except that I love Allah and His Messenger ﷺ.” The Prophet ﷺ said, “You will be with those whom you love.”
Anas رضي الله عنه said: We were never as happy with anything as with this statement of the Prophet ﷺ: “You will be with those whom you love.” He continued: I love the Prophet ﷺ, Abū Bakr, and ʿUmar, and I hope that my love for them will allow me to be with them, even if my deeds are not like theirs.
(Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 3688, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 2639) - Ḥāfiẓ al-Bayhaqī رحمه الله (458H) said:
إذا ظهر أن حب الصحابة من الإيمان فحبهم أن يعتقد فضائلهم...
“When it has been established that love for the Companions is part of faith, then its requirement is to affirm their virtues, acknowledge them, recognize the right of each one, appreciate the benefits they brought to Islam, recognize their rank with the Messenger ﷺ, spread their merits, pray for their good, follow their guidance in religious matters, not pursue their slips and mistakes, not disparage any of them by attributing to them what does not befit them, and to remain silent about their disputes which do not concern us.”
(Shuʿab al-Īmān 3/93)
