The shiites believe that those who had the honor of meeting the prophet and the privilege of being his companions,were not  of the same rank and according to Qur`anic verses and prophetic traditions were divided in to several groups.one group included the pure individuals of the highest merit whose valuable services facilitated the growth of the young tree of the islam.The following verses are some examples: سوره التوبه/100

والسابقون الاوّلون من المهاجرین   والانصاروالّذین اتّبعوهم باحسان رضی الله عنهم ورضوا عنه واعدّ لهم جنّات تجری تحتها الانهار خالدین فیها ابدا   ذالک الفوزالعظیم

فتح/18

لقد رضی الله عن المومنین اذ یبایعونک تحت الشجره فعلم ما فی قلوبهم فانزل السکینه علیهم واثابهم فتحا قریبا

حشر/8

للفقراءالمهاجرین الّذین اُخرجوا من دیارهم واموالهم یبتغون فضلاً من الله ورضواناً وینصرون اللّه ورسوله اولئک هم الصّادقون                                                                                   

فتح/29

                                                                                                                                 محمدرسول الله والّذین معه اشدّاء علی الکفّار رحماء بینهم تریهم رکّعاً سجّداً یبتغون فضلاً من الله ورضواناً سیماهم فی وجوههم من اثر السجود ذالک مثلهم فی التورته ومثلهم فی الانجیل

 احزاب/23

من المومنین رجالٌ صدقوا ما عاهدواللّه علیه فمنهم من قضی نحبه ومنهم من ینتظر وما بدّلوا تبدیلا

Second group included people who were rightful from the beginning, hypocrites, double dealers, black hearted or sinful. The following are Qur`anic verses concerning this group:

منافقون/1

اذا جاءک المنافقون قالوا نشهد انّک لرسول الّله والّله یعلم انّک لرسوله والّله یشهد انّ المنافقین لکاذبون

توبه/101

وممّن حولکم من الاعراب منافقون ومن اهل المدینه مردوا علی النّفاق لا تعلمهم نحن نعلمهم....  

This verse says a group of the people of Medina turned to hypocrisy. The holy prophet did not know them  ,and only God knew them.

احزاب/12

واذ یقول المنافقون والّذین فی قلوبهم مرض ما وعدنا الله ورسوله الّا غروراً

جمعه/11

واذا راو تجارهً او لهواًانفضّوا الیها وترکوک قائماً

According to this verse a group of companions were performing Friday prayer behind the holy prophet (a.s), but when a commercial caravan entered the city, they left him while the holy prophet was standing and the prayer had not been finished.

            *How do these companions lead the Muslim society to the straight path when they prefer the material world to obeying the holy prophet?

 

منافقون/4

واذا رایتهم تعجبک اجسامهم وان یقولوا تسمع لقولهم ...

This verse says, oh our prophet when you look at them (hypocrites),you would be pleased with their appearance .They appear in a very religious man and virtuous people and when they speak ,they speak so eagerly about Islam that you are

interested to hear.

*please judge honestly. How can the Muslims rely on these people and follow them?

Another group of verses are about the people who did not participate in war,because they feared of death. They were also hypocrite. The verse says:

یا ایّها الذین امنوا مالکم اذا قیل لکم انفروافی سبیل الله اثّاقلتم الی الارض

You are sticking to the earth, you are not ready to move.

This verse addresses الّذین امنوا  the Muslims ،the companions .It shows some of the companions are ready to go to the war and some of them are not.

some verses threat a group of companions :

وان تتولّوا یستبدل قوماً غیرکم

If they turn back to you, God would replace them with another people (another  generation).

So it indicates that at the time of the prophet there were companions that God threatened them.

Traditions about the justice of the prophet companions          

History has recorded the names of more than 120000 people as the companions of the holy prophet (a.s).There were various personalities among the companions. No doubt ,being the prophet`s companion was a great honor for a group whom the Muslim nation respects ,because they were the pioneers of Islam ,the one who erected the flag of Islamic  glory  for the first time ,but it does not mean that they were pure and just.

The Sunnis narrate a tradition from the holy prophet (a.s):

اصحابی کا لنّجوم با یّهم اقتدیتم اهتدیتم

 

If all of companions are just and can lead us to the straight path, so why do not you consider imam Al (who is also a companion too) just?

Concerning these two traditions from the holy prophet (a.s):

اصحابی کالنّجوم بایّهم اقتدیتم اهتدیتم

 And

علیکم بسنّتی وسنّه الخلفاءالراشدون من بعدی

 

 indicates a problem that if these two traditions are correct, then the holy prophet is inviting the Muslims to contradictory things and it is impossible,because when you say علیکم بسنّتی ,we can find some part of the sunnah of the holy prophet which is different from the sunnah of خلفاء راشدین .We can find some behaviours of خلفاء راشدین which are not only different from the holy prophet ,but also Omar was different from Abubakr,and imam Ali(a.s) was different from Omar and Abubakr. So how is it possible to follow them when they have different ways? When it says بایّهم اقتدیتم اهتدیتم this shows that this tradition is not correct, because the holy prophet (a.s) does not invite the people in contradictory things. For exampleصلوه التراویح was not the sunnah of prophet, but it was the sunnah of Omar. If a Muslim wants to practice to prophet`s sunnah what`s the sunnah of the prophet? perform the صلوه التراویح  individually .And what`s the sunnah ofخلفاءراشدین(especially Omar)?  It is performing  صلوه التراویح congregationally .What  is our duty? performing or not performing it, especially when Omar called this changing of the holy prophet`s sunnah نعم البدعه.

*Bokhari in Sahih ,vol 9 کتاب الفتن narrates  a tradition from the holy prophet that shows the position of the holy prophet on some of the companions:

یردوا علیّ یوم القیامهُ رهطٌ من اصحابی فیحلوء ون  عن الحوض فاقول یا ربّ اصحابی،فیقال:انّه لا علم لک بما احدث بعدک ،انّهم ارتدّوا علی ادبارهم القهقرا

At the day of judgment a group of my companions rush to me, the angle would push them away ,I (the holy prophet)say: they are my companions ,it is said :you don`t know they became unbelievers after you.

Now we should ask the dear Sunni brothers and sisters : Do you believe in Sahih of Bokhari or not? It says that some of the companions were unbelievers. The holy Qur`an says about this group of people:

البقره/ 161

انّ الّذین کفروا وماتوا وهم کفّار اولئک علیهم لعنه الله والملائکه والنّاس اجمعین

So if some of the companions died when they were unbelievers , then is it possible for them to lead us in straight way?

*Another tradition: Muslem in Sahih,vol 7,p 58 narrates a tradition from the holy prophet:

انّی لست اخشی علیکم ان تشرکوابعدی ولکنّی اخشی علیکم الّدنیا ان تنافسوا فیها وتقتلوا فتهلکوا کما هلک من کان قبلکم

I am not afraid of you becoming  mushrik after me, but I am afraid that you may return to this material world and compete with each other in this world about it (for having more)and you will kill each other and then you would be perished(destroyed)l like the generation before(like Nuh people and Lut people).

This tradition shows that you (my companions) are not immune of mistake and may turn to this material world.

*One example at the time of the holy prophet: The holy prophet in the last days of his life ordered everybody to follow Osama as the commander of the army  ,but some of the great man of Quraish refused it. How can you say all of the companions are just when they didn`t obey the holy prophet?

*Another tradition in Sahih of Muslem

Walidebn Oqbah(ولیدبن عقبه)who was one of the holy prophet`s companion, performed the morning prayer 4rak`ah (because he was drunk),when Muslims in the mosque criticized him, he said: I am well today, so  I can even perform more rak`ah. The second caliph gave him lashes.

If all of companions are just, so they shouldn`t be punished by Omar or Imam Ali (a.s).

*A logic reason:

At the time of Osman (the third caliph) some companions surrounded his house .Both sides were the holy prophet`s companions. Which one was right? Can we say both sides were right? Or in Camel and Seffin wars the both sides who were fighting with each other ,were the holy prophet`s companions. Were the both sides right? Is there two straight path? Or one side is right and the other side is wrong?

 

Shiites` view on Aisha

The Sunnis say because the holy prophet`s wives , including Aisha, are his companions, they are just .But we reject it ,as we reject the justice of all companions.

Another argument is that, they are infallible because they are the prophet`s wives.

 But our view is based on Qur`an which says:

ضرب الله مثلاً للّذین کفروا إمرأت نوح وامرأت لوط کانتا تحت عبد ین من عبادنا صالحین فخانتا هما فلم یغنیا عنهما من الله شیئاً وقیل الدّخل الناّر مع الدّاخلین     

الّتحریم/10

As this verse shows we know some wives of the prophets before the prophet Muhammad (a.s) who were not pure, Nuh`s wife and Lut`s wife .They were unbelievers (کافر).So the wives of the prophet may be unbelievers.

*The important point is that God has given wife of Lut and  wife of Nuh as an example of الّذ ین کفروا .So it is possible somebody like Aisha who is grown and is trained in the house of the holy prophet ,to be a bad one. Here the verse:

کانتا تحت عبد ین من عبادنا صالحین فخانتاهما فلم یغنیا عنهما من الله شیئاً....

Lut`wife and NUH`wife were also growned and trained under two prophets who were صالح ,but their virtuous didn`t influence on them.

*Another argument among Sunnis is that the prophet of Islam is different from the previous prophets,so his wives are different from their wives.He has an extra ordinary influence on his wives ,so that they became  virtuous women. This is also rejected by

 التحریم/4 :

ان تتوبا الی الله فقد صغت قلوبکما وان تظاهرا علیه فانّ الله هو مولیه وجبریل وصالح المومنین والملائکه بعد ذلک ظهیر

If you (two women) repent toward Allah  ,means that they had done something wrong and should repent.

وان تظاهرا علیه....

If you two ( Hafsa and Aisha ) supported each other against the prophet , but the prophet has strong supporters among them,الله ,جبریل,صالح المومنین and ملائکه

In SAHIH OF MUSLEM ,VOL 4, P 188 and

IN SAHIH OF BOKHARI ,VOL 1, P 101

There is tradition from IBN ABBAS(ابن عبّاس ) about the plot of Hafsa and Aisha against the prophet

A good point in “Al-Tahrim”chapter is that at the beginning  to the middle of the Surah it talks about two wives of the prophet .At the end of Surah it talks about two wives of two other  prophet :LUT and Nuh .

So if we study this Surah as a package ,we should say there is a relation between the two holy prophet`s wives and those wives of Nuh and Lut.Why they should come in one Surah, two at the beginning ,and two at the end of Surah ? Is it possible that Aisha and Hafsa as the wives of the prophet do something wrong?

The holy Qur`an says it is not only possible ,but also has happened .So it is possible that the fate of Aisha would be the same as the fate of wives of Nuh and Lut.

Second point is that it is possible even for some women who are not the wives of the prophet to be better than the prophet`s wives.سوره التّحریم/11و12 explain it more:

وضرب الله مثلاً للّذین امنوا إمرأت فرعون اذ قالت ربّ بن لی عند ک بیتاً فی الجنّه ونجّنی من القوم الظّالمین.و مریم ابنت عمران الّتی احصنت فرجها فنفخنا فیه من روحنا وصدّقت بکلمات ربّها وکتبه وکانت من القانتین

.
Allah gives two examples here for two women who were not in the house of the prophets, but he says :These are examples for الّذین امنواّ .One of them is  Pharaoh`s wife .Even she was the wife of Pharaoh ,the cruel one ,evil and satanic one ,but she was believer(مومن).Another one isمریم.Then what we can understand here is, that although حفصه and عایشه are the holy prophet`s wives, but respecting Pharaoh`s wife  is recomended by Qur`an more than respecting حفصه and عایشه.

 

 

The relationship of the holy prophet and his companions in the Qur`an and traditions

As I said before, according to the holy Qur`an and prophet `s sunnah the companions were divided in to two groups .Some of them are denounced, and some of them are admired. I mentioned some verses and traditions regarding them, in previous section. Now something more:

Some of the companions were not pleased by the rulings made by prophet Muhammad (a.s):

According to different verses of Quran obeying prophet Mohammad means obeying Allah .This matter can be clearly seen in the following verse:

وما ارسلنا من رسول الّا لیطاع باذن الله ولو انّهم اذ ظلمواانفسهم جاءوک واستغفرواللّه واستغفر لهم الّرسول لوجدواللّه توّاباُ رحیماُ.فلا وربّک لا یومنون حتّی یحکّموک فیما شجر بینهم ثمّ لایجدوا فی انفسهم حرجاُ ممّا قضیت وسلّموا تسلیماُ

There are two narrations about why these verses were revealed: The prophet`s cousin  Zubair b. Avvan had a disagreement with  Hatib b.Abi Beltea about the use of the water rights. They came to the prophet to solve the disagreement. The prophet said :"o Zubair! First you use the water, and then leave it for your neighbo r. Hatib didn`t like this decision and became angry, saying: "oh Allah`s apostle, have you made such a decision, because he is your cousin?

Whatever the reason for the revelation of these verses, it is clear that true faith in the holy prophet was to be achieved through submission to him.

 

When addressing the prophet, the companions speaking in a loud voice: In the Qur`an it is clearly stated that the companions should not raise their voice above that of the prophet when talking to him.

Al-Hujurat     ( حجرات( 2-3

یا ایّها الّذین امنوا لا ترفعوا اصواتکم فوق صوت النّبی ولا تجهروا له بالقول کجهر بعضکم لبعض ان تحبط اعمالکم وانتم لا تسعرون.انّ الّذین یغضّون اصواتهم عند رسول الله اولئک الّذین امتحن الله قلوبهم للتّقوی لهم مغفره واجر عظیم

The reason for the revelation is that a committee from Bani Temim and Abubakr said that Ka`ka b.Ma`bed should be appointed as their chief by the prophet .Omar was not pleased with this offer,and wanted Aka b. Habis to be appointed .As Abubakr and Omar began to debate the matter in raised voices, the above verses were revealed.

Despite stern warnings by the prophet, the arches abandoned their positions in the Battle of Uhud:

At the battle of uhud a regiment of arches, under the command of Abdullah b. Jubair ,were positioned by the slope of a strategic pass and they were sternly warned."Even if you see that we have defeated them, don`t abandon your positions! Even if you see that we are defeated, don`t run to our aid !Despite this ,when they saw that the unbelievers had been defeated, they abandoned their positions in a desire for the spoils of war. In fact, Abdullah b. Jubair reminded them of the prophet`s order ,but in vain. The following verses indicate the serious error of the archers and importance of obeying the prophet.

Al-Imran: 152-153 (آل عمران)

ولقد صدقکم اللّه وعده اذ تحسّونهم باذنه حتّی اذا فشلتم وتنازعتم فی الامر وعصیتم من بعد ما اریکم ما تحبّون منکم من یرید الدّنیا ومنکم من یریدالاخره ثمّ صرفکم عنهم لیبتلیکم ولقد عفا عنکم والله ذو فضل علی المومنین. اذتصعدون ولا تلوون علی احدوالرّسول یدعوکمفی اخریکم فاثابکم غمّاُ لکیلا تحزنوا علی ما فاتکم ولاما اصابکم والله خبیربما تعملون

 

The attempt by a companion to inform the Quraysh of the secret preparations   of the prophet to conquer Mecca

When Quraysh violated The Hudaybiah Treaty , prophet Muhammad (a.s) began to secretly prepare to conquer Mecca, he took precautions that the Quraysh did not hear anything about  his preparations and that no news of it would leak to Mecca.In fact ,other than a few of companions no one was aware of this aim .Despite all the care ,Habib b .Abi Beltea somehow learned of the situation and sent a woman to carry a letter to Mecca.Allah informed the prophet of this via the angel Gabriel.The holy prophet sent Ali,Abdullah b. Zubair and Mikdad b. Aswad to distance of 40 km from Medina and orderd them to take the letter from the woman .They brought the letter to the prophet. Then he asked Hatib :"Why did you do this?" He replied:"I am from Ansar ,not of Quraysh .Here the emigrants who are with you, have relatives in Mecca to protect their families and goods .I wanted to make friends to protect my relatives in Mecca .I didn`t do this, to deny my religion or to approve of disbelief after becoming a Muslim .Then the following verse was revealed.

Al-Mumtahana :1 (الممتحنه /1)

یا ایّها الّذین امنوا لا تتّخذوا عدوّی وعدوّکم اولیاء تلقون الیهم با لمودّه وقد کفروا بما جاءکم من الحقّ یخرجون الرّسول وایّاکم ان تومنوا با لله ر بّکم ان کنتم خرجتم جهاداُ فی سبیلی وابتغاء مرضاتی تسرّون االیهم بال مودّه وانا اعلم بما اخفیتم وما اعلنتم و من یفعله منکم فقد ضلّ سواء السّبیل

 

There are also some companions whom the holy prophet admired:

 

Dorr -Almansour of Soyouti, vol 8, p 589 from Jabir b. Abdullah:

کنّا عند النّبی ،فاقبل علیّ،فقال النّبی :والّذی نفسی بیده انّ هذا وشیعته لهم الفائزون یوم القیامه ونزلت :انّ الّذین امنوا وعملو الصّالحات اولئک خیر البریّه

We were to the prophet, then Ali entered, then the prophet (referred to him)and said :by Allah, this man and his followers will be at paradise and then the above verse was revealed.

When this verse ofسوره البیّنه was revealed, the companions asked the holy prophet :"who are خیرالبریّه?" He answered:"علیّ وشیعته"

The other tradition is in Musnad of Ibn Hanbal,vol 2,p 654 from the holy prophet:

یا علی ،ابشر فانّک واصحابک فی الجنّه

               Verily you and your companions and your followers are in the paradise.

There are many traditions in different books of Shiites and sunnis from the holy prophet about Ali (a.s) .For example Nessaee who is the writer of Sunan (one of the six Sahih of Sunnis` brothers ) has written a book about the of Imam Ali(a.s)

 He has narrated a lot of traditions from the holy prophet about him .For instance   : a tradition narrated by Muslem ,Bokhari,Hakem,Imam Ahmad b. Hanbal ,Ibn Maja and….

انت منّی بمنزله هارون من موسی الّا انّه لا نبیّ بعدی

انا مدینه العلم وعلی بابها

من کنت مولاه فعلی مولاه

Historical argument: In history and also in tradition books we read that Muaviah ordered Sa`d b. Abi Vaghghas what did prevent you from cursing Aba Torab?

(ما منعک ان تسبّ ابا تراب؟)

He answered: whenever I remember three things that the holy prophet said about Ali,I can`t curse him

(فقال امّا ذکرت ثلاثاُ قال هنّ رسول الله فلن اسبّه )

1-When the prophet went for Tabuk war  ,he appointed him  as his successor .

2-At the battle of khaibar, the prophet had said ;”whoever can go and stop Jews, he is my brother and my deputy.

3-At the verse of Mobahelah Ali is the same soul of the prophet (انفسنا)

So Ali is the prophet`s brother.

Therefore by studding the mentioned verses and traditions we can conclude that all of the companions are not just and cannot lead the Muslims.

By : Batoul Sadat Hosseini Saadat