Darul Uloom Trinidad & Tobago

Question:

i have heard from many ulama that sahaba(companions) r.a are jannati i.e(those who will go to paradise).
1-is this statement correct according to ahlus sunah waljamat?

2-if sahaba karam will go to paradise all of them then what about ummahatul momineen and what about sahabyat(women)?

3-from which ayat of quran or from which hadees this belief is taken?if someone do not belief that all the sahaba are jannati instead he says that ALLAH knows that who will go to jannat from sahaba karam then what is the shari ruling about this man?

Answer:

Assalaamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullah

It is the belief of the Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaah (Sunni Muslims) that all believers will go to paradise, even if some has to be punished for their sins in hell, they will one day go to paradise on account of their Imaan. Based on this, knowing very well that all the Sahabahs were true believers, they will all go to paradise. About this, Allah says in the Holy Quran, “Certainly those who believe and do good actions, for them are gardens (paradise) beneath which rivers flow” (Surah Al Buruj).

The verse says that those who believe and do good actions will enter gardens in Paradise, and the Sahabahs were the greatest of all believers after the Prophets. Hence, it is clear that they will all enter Paradise.

The Prophet (S.A.) is also reported to have said, ‘Whoever says La ilaaha illallaah, then he will enter Paradise….’(Bukhari)

Thus, the Aqeeda (belief) of the Ahlus-Sunnah wal Jamaah (unanimously) is that all Muslims who have died upon Imaan, will definitely enter paradise at one time or the other. As mentioned before, the sahabahs were the greatest believers after the Prophet, hence, they will definitely enter paradise.

Those who, together with Imaan did good actions and righteous deeds, and also protected themselves from sins and wrongdoings will gain paradise from the very beginning. From among this category of believers, the sahabahs were the greatest, hence, it is clear that the Sahabahs will go to paradise from the very beginning. In fact, from among them, ten have been promised paradise by the Prophet (S.A.) while they were still alive.

The Sahabahs indeed, were the greatest and most pious of all believers after the prophets. In this regard, Imam Abu Hanifah (A.R.) states in his renowned book on the Creed of the Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaah, Al Fiqh Al Akbar ‘The most noble person after the Prophet (S.A.) is Abu Bakr, the Most Truthful, then Umar ibn Al Khattab, the Differentiator, then Uthman ibn Affaan, Possessor of two lights, and then Ali ibn Abi Talib, the Chosen One. They were devout worshippers and steadfast on the truth and with the Truth.

We love them all and do not mention any companion of the Messenger of Allah (S.A.) except only by way of praise’. (Al Fiqh Al Akbar).

While commenting on the above, Mulla Ali Qari writes, ‘This means that the view of the Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaah is to attest to the honour and integrity of all the companions and to praise them just as Allah Most High and His Messenger have promised them’. (Sharh Fiqh Al Akbar- Mulla Ali Qari).

Mulla Ali Qaari further writes, ‘One should guard one’s tongue from speaking anything but good about the Companions of Allah’s Messenger, and particularly from cursing them. The Messenger of Allah (S.A.) said, ‘Do not curse (abuse/condemn) any one of my companions, for if any of you were to give gold to the amount of Mount Uhud in charity, it would not reach even a Mudd (approx. 792 milligrams) of one of them or even half of it’. (Muslim, Abu Dawud) (Sharh Fiqh Al Akbar)

In the famous book of the Aqeedah of the Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaah, Aqeedah At Tahawi, Imam Tahawi writes, ‘We love all the companions of the Messenger of Allah (S.A.) and we do not ‘fall-short’ in this love. We do not disassociate ourselves from them; we detest and hate those who hate them and mention them with bad words. We do not mention them except with goodness. Loving them is part of our religion, Imaan (faith) and goodness. And hating them is Kufr (disbelief), hypocrisy and transgression’. (Aqeedah At Tahawi).

In the Holy Quran, the Sahabahs are highly praised and commended by Allah, and have been promised paradise by Allah. In this regard Sura At Tauba verse 100 states:-

“As for the first and foremost of the Emigrants (Muhajirin) and the Supporters (Ansar) and those who followed them in goodness, Allah is pleased with them and they are pleased with Allah, and He has prepared for them gardens beneath which rivers flow, where they will live for ever. That is the supreme achievement”.

Also in Sura At Tauba, verse 88 states:

“But the Messenger and the believers in his company (the sahabahs) have carried out Jihad with their wealth and lives, and for them there are the good things, and they are the successful”.

Another Verse speaks of the fact that Allah is well pleased with the Sahabahs. Sura Fath Verse 18 states:

“Allah was pleased with the believers (the sahabahs) when they were pledging allegiance with you (by placing their hands in your hands) under the tree, and He knew what was in their hearts, so He sent down tranquility upon them, and rewarded them with a victory, near at hand”

In Sura Al Hashr, Allah Has described the Sahabahs with the words like, ‘They are indeed truthful’, and ‘They are indeed successful’.

It is also recorded in the traditions that the Prophet (S.A.) said, ‘The best of my Ummah are those who are living at my time, then those after them, then those after them’. (Bukhari, Muslim). Here, the sahabahs are referred to as the best of the Ummah.

In another tradition, the Prophet (S.A.) said, ‘Fear Allah in regards to my Sahabahs! Fear Allah in regards to my Sahabahs! After my demise, do not make them targets for criticisms and abuse. Whoever loves them, then it is on account of their love for me they love them. And whoever hates them, then it is on account of their hate for me, they hate them. Whoever harms them has harmed me, and whoever harms me has indeed harmed Allah. And whoever harms Allah, then very soon Allah will seize him for punishment’. (Tirmizi).

In another tradition, the Prophet (S.A.) said, ‘Do not speak ill of my Sahabahs (companions), for certainly if one of you spends the mountain of Uhud in gold in the path of Allah, he will not be able to reach or equate one Mudd or half of it of a companion’ (Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawood, Tirmizi).

In another tradition, the Prophet (S.A.) said, ‘When you see people abusing and speaking ill of my Sahabahs, then say to them, ‘May the curse of Allah be upon your evil’. (Tirmizi).

These are only a few verses and traditions that speak of the great status of the Sahabahs (companions) of the Prophet (S.A.). As can be seen from many verses of the Holy Quran , they have been promised Paradise by Allah. So, it is the belief of the Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaah that all the Sahabahs will go to paradise. It is in this regard, the great scholar Allama Ibn Hazm stated, ‘All the Sahabahs are from the dwellers of Paradise with certainty’. (Aqeeda Safaareeni).

With this introduction of the status of the Sahabahs, the following are the answers to your questions:-

1. The statement that the Sahabahs are Jannati is true and in accordance to Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaah.

2. The Sahabiyaat (women companions) and the Ummahatul Mu’mineen (wives of the Prophet (S.A.) will also fall within the great status established (before) since they were all from among the companions of the Prophet (S.A.). In fact, the wives of the Prophet (S.A.) occupy such a high status that others cannot achieve. With full certainty, all of them will be in Paradise.

3. Many verses and traditions have been quoted before.

One who does not believe that all the Sahabahs will go to Jannah is in reality lowering the status of the Sahabahs and entertaining bad thought about them. This is in total opposition to the creed of the Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaah (Sunni Muslims). One who holds this belief that (all the Sahabahs will not got to Jannah) is adopting a belief which is contradictory to the teachings of the Holy Quran and that of the Prophet (S.A.) and hence, has deviated from the Creed of Ahlus Sunnah wal Jamaah.

It is in regards to such people who wish to attack the sahabahs (R.A.) by lowering the status and rank that Allah Has given to them, the great teacher of Imaam Muslim, Imam Abu Zur’a Iraqi (A.R.) writes, ‘when you see a man decreasing and lowering the status of any of the Sahabahs of the Prophet (S.A.), then know that he is a heretic (zindiq). This is so because the Quran is the truth, the Prophet (S.A.) is the truth, and the teachings which came with the Prophet (S.A.) is the truth. All these could not have reached us except through the Sahabahs. So, those who wish to speak ill of them (and lower their status), then they wish to make the Quran and Sunnah as false. Hence, those people should be condemned and they should be judged as deviants and heretics’. (Aqeeda Safaareeni).