The history of the companions is the most important history after the history of the Prophets & the Messengers because they are the best of the human beings, and their companions are the best of the human beings. The Nabi salla Allaahu ‘alayhi wa salam is the best Nabi salla Allaahu ‘alayhi wa salam and their companions and ajm’aeen are the best companions out of all the prophets. Allah azzawajal has praised them in the Qu’ran,
1) “Muhammad is the messenger of Allah, and those who are with him and they are merciful towards the believers and tough towards the disbelievers”,
2) “the first vanguard of Al-Islam are from the muhajireen and the ansar”,
3) “Verily Allah is pleased with those who gave you the ba’yah under the tree”.
Also in addition to that, their virtues have been established by the Nabi salla Allaahu ‘alayhi wa salaam, he has also given them a number of tazkiyas, i.e. the Hadith:
Do not abuse my companions, for if any of you were to spend gold equal to Uhud in charity, it would not equal a handful of one of them or even half of that.
Also in addition to that, the virtues of the companions, consensus from all of the ummah is that the companions, they are a group of people who have great virtues. They preceeded everyone else in the deen. The people of Ahlus Sunnah (may Allah make all of us from them) say that loving loving them (companions) is a sign that a persons ‘Aqeedah is correct, hating just ONE from amongst them is that their ‘Aqidah is shaky.
All those companions are not the same in the level, different levels and different degrees, just as is the case with the prophets & the messengers and the same with the Angels and our Nabi sAllaahu ‘alayhi wa salaam is the best prophet and the best messenger. The ten companions who were promised Jannah are the best companions, the four rightly guided khalifas are the best of the 10, from them four, Abu Bakr As-Sideeq radhiAllahanhu is the best companion. The best companion and human being after the Prophets & the messengers.
The Muslim whenever the Quran is mentioned to him, he has to contemplate on what he has heard and read so he can benefit, the same with the Hadith of the Nabi salla Allaahu ‘alayhi wa salam, he has to reflect over it and figure out the benefits, the same with the seerah, the question should be what are the benefits? This incident is the related to death of the Nabi salla Allaahu ‘alayhi wa salam because the story has a lot of benefits. It was one of the or it IS the greatest thing to happen to the companions. The death of the Nabi salla Allaahu ‘alayhi wa salam shows the distinction Abu Bakr had over the rest of the companions, he superseded everyone else from the companions and showed his level of religion and his knowledge.
From amongst the biggest people who opposed the idea that the Prophet salla Allaahu ‘alayhi wa salam died was Umar radhiAllahanhu. He was taken by surprise, he said the Nabi sAllaahu ‘alayhi wa salaam went to meet his lord as Musa alayhis salaam went to meet his Lord and he will be right back. Umar would threaten anyone who would say the Nabi sAllaahu ‘alayhi wa salaam died, the question arises, where was As-sideeq and what was his position regarding the news about it?
He was outside of the city of Madinah, al’awali, when the news came to him and he immediately came to Al-Madinah. Abu Bakr went to Aisha’s radhiAllahanhu house, he went straight to her house because he knew prophet was in her house, he didn’t say a single word to anybody, not even to Umar who was threatening the people in the masjid but straight to her house. There’s a big benefit here, a faidah azeema, whenever a person hears about some news, something that is being heard and spread, a person should do what Abu Bakr As-Sideeq did, meaning a person should not be hasty and helping to spread it.
So Abu Bakr, he went past the masjid, he didn’t speak to anyone, nor did he ask questions, he wanted to find out with assurance and surety, with knowledge what the reality of the situation was. He went to Aisha’s and he saw the Nabi sAllaahu ‘alayhi wa salamthere and saw that his face was covered, he picked up the covering and he kissed the Nabi and he said “you are sweet and pleasing in death just as you were in life”. So this explains to us a big mistake a lot of muslims make, even the students of knowledge, when they hear about an incident or some news, they become engaged in spreading what they hear.
When Abu Bakr left the house of Aisha with the clear knowledge that the prophet had died , he went to the masjid. He first went to Umar, why Umar? Umar had weight with the companions, people respected his position, a great position, he was the second person after Abu Bakr. Abu Bakr went to him to tell him the news, so that Umar would stop what he was doing and come to the truth. So one of the things that we can benefit from this is that it shows the intelligence and the sharp mind that Abu Bakr possessed, by talking to Umar, he knew that if Umar returned his position, he would impact upon other people because of his weight with the companions. If one of us saw that a group of our people were doing the wrong thing and we know they’re doing the wrong thing, we should go see the leaders of those people, and if the leaders of those people change, then the rest of the people would change too bi’idhnillah.
Now the question is, if a person who you are advising, as Abu Bakr was advising Umar, he doesn’t return to the truth, he doesn’t return to the haqq. What is the way? Let’s listen to what happened in the story. Abu Bakr came to the masjid, he came to Umar first, Umar was threatening people and convincing other people that Muhammad sAllaahu ‘alayhi wa salaam didn’t die, when Abu Bakr found him in this condition, he told him sit down, Umar continued to say “he didn’t die”, Abu Bakr told him a second time, sit down, Umar kept talking, Abu Bakr read the ayah of the Quran “Muhammad is but a messenger, there were messengers that went before him, if he was killed or if he was to die, would you turn back (i.e. apostate)” when Umar heard that, his knees began to shake and his legs were not able to keep him up. This shows us the knowledge of Abu Bakr and the virtues of Umar that when he heard the Kalam of Allah, he knew what was being read was the truth.
The first benefit from this is that if a person knows that his brother is on the wrong path, it’s his job to bring him to the right path. The other benefit is, if his brother persists on the wrong path, then it is your responsibility to make the truth known, with wisdom and in a responsible way. This incident shows how quick Umar was to returning to the truth when he heard the evidence, that shows the virtues, shows their level of taqwa, whenever they heard the dhaleel, they would return to the truth. There is a catastrophe that befalls the muslims, muslims take a position, for one reason or another, e.g. take a position due to his anger and his emotions but what happens is a muslim when he hears the truth or the proof, he has to come back to the truth as Umar did, when the proof of the issue reaches you and that proof goes against your emotions, then you have to be quick in returning to the truth and correcting your position and if you were to do this, this would be considered being obedient to Allah and submitting to what Allah has ordered you to do.
After this incident, another incident, a big one, right after the death of the Nabi sAllaahu ‘alayhi wa salaam, this could have turned into a big fitna but Allah azzawajal extinguished the fitnah and he extinguished this fitnah with Abu Bakr and with the way the companions submitted to the truth. After the death of the Nabi sAllaahu ‘alayhi wa salaam, people began to question where do we bury the Rasool sAllaahu ‘alayhi wa salaam? The people from the ansar suggested to bury him in Al-Madinah, where they ansar protected him and assisted him so that was their case. The Makkah Muhajireen said to bury him in Makkah, the land of his fathers and forefathers. This ikhtilaf arose and when Abu Bakr got news of it, he came out and he said to the people “I heard the Prophet sAllaahu ‘alayhi wa salaam say, “we the Prophets should be buried in the place where he actually died”. Thus they moved the mattress where he had died out of the way, they dug his grave right there and they buried him right there, based upon that hadith narrated by Abu Bakr. Allah extinguished this fitnah by and with the knowledge of Abu Bakr as Sideeq, the companions submitted to the truth. Thus when the proof comes to the individual, we have to return to the proof, especially in the issues of ikhtilaf (differences).
The Ulema say that the Prophets have some characteristics that are only peculiar to the Prophets i.e. whenever he dies, wherever he dies, he should be buried in the exact spot, only characteristics for Prophets and Nabis. Before the Prophets soul is taken, he’s given a chance to make a choice, does he want to live forever or does he want to die? Concerning the death of the prophet, two special characteristics, when they do die, when the prophets are buried, they are making salat in their graves. Secondly, when they die, they don’t leave behind any inheritance and from their special characteristics is that they are infallible and revelation comes down upon them.
There was another big difference between the companions, that is the question, who is going to be responsible for the Muslims after the death of the Nabi sAllaahu ‘alayhi wa salaam? The companions came together from the Muhajireen and the Saqifa of Bani Sa’da, there in Al-Madinah, they wanted to figure out who would be responsible. The leader of the Ansar, after he finished, Umar heard what he said and prepared to give his view, Abu Bakr made a motion to Umar as to suggest “don’t say anything”. Umar understood that and Umar respected his opinion. Abu Bakr began to talk about the issue, he had a Hadith which stated that the Muhajireen should be the ones who the leader comes from, the Muhajireen were the Quraish, when he gave them the proof, they all agreed and were convinced that it was correct.
Number of benefits from this, shows the he desire to keep the Muslims united. This also shows how the companions were committed to facilitate the unity based upon the Deen and the Haqq. The benefit from this issue was that when it comes to the opinions, there was no Kalam. It shows the etiquettes of the Sahaba when it comes to talking before those who are more virtuous.
When Abu Bakr As-Sideeq showed his proof as to why Muhajireen should be responsible for the affairs of the Ummah, from what he read to them, they agreed. After Abu Bakr saw that they were in agreement, Abu Bakr said I choose for the community and I suggest two people for you and “you chose between Umar or Abu Ubaidah”. This is a clear indication of the humility of Abu Bakr, his number one goal and objective was that he wanted the unity of the Muslims. He himself wanted one man who would be responsible for the Muslims, so Abu Bakr didn’t nominate himself, he wasn’t interested although he was the best of the people, he was the most knowledgeable of the people and he was the most competent of the people. So he said to them take Umar or Abu Ubaidah. This was a sign of his level of religion, his intention was not to be the one in charge but his ardent desire but to keep the Muslims united.
What happened after that? When Abu Bakr said to the community, Umar and Abu Ubaidah, the companions were ready to listen to the suggestion, even Umar but when they heard this opinion of Abu Bakr and he saw that he didn’t chose himself, it’s an indication that Abu Bakr is a person of virtue, so people of virtue recognise the virtue of others. When Umar heard this “For me to have my neck chopped off, I prefer that before I become a leader of a nation when within them is Abu Bakr”. Umar took the hand of Abu Bakr and gave him Bayah, they, the people, subsequently, they too gave him the Bayah.
Benefits to take from this.
1) From the benefit of this is not being haste in spreading news, information, except if there is some benefit in spreading it. This means not spreading news after you establish when you see it to be true.
2) A person has to return to the truth regardless if they clash with his emotions such as anger, when the truth comes to him, he has to leave that which was wrong and come to the truth.
3) The companions more than anyone else had the desire to keep the unity within the community.
4) The student of knowledge shouldn’t have the desire to lead, to be at the front, to be the one in charge. What he has to do is give good to the people if he has the ability to do that, he puts that towards the people.
5) The most important benefit is that Abu Bakr radhiallah anhu was able to solve these issues with the knowledge of the Deen and proofs from the Sunnah. Anyone that wants to solve problems that are facing the Muslims, no matter how big or small they are, if they try to solve the problems without Dhaleel (evidence of the Quran & Sunnah) then the problem is going to increase and the differences are going to increase.
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