Badmouthing the Companions (May Allah be well pleased with them)

  

Badmouthing the Companions
(May Allah be well pleased with them)

 

 

There is a Tradition narrated on the authority of Hadhrat Abu ‘Abdullah (May Allah be well pleased with him) that the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) said:  Backbiting destroys the religion of a Muslim faster than an ulcer of the stomach.  It is mentioned at the same place that Abu ‘Abdullah (May Allah be well pleased with him) that the person who relates to others whatever he (or she) sees or hears of a Muslim comes under the purview of this verse of the Holy Quran:

 

Indeed, those who like that lewdness should spread amongst the Muslims, for them is an agonizing punishment in this world and in the Hereafter. And Allah knows (the intentions of such people) and you do not know.  Surah Noor (24:19)

 

Consider this.  When a person sees something with his own eyes or personally hears of it that person is doubly sure of it, but badmouthing a person even after this certainty is not permissible and it is declared that those persons will be severely punished.

 

Then how dangerous will it be to badmouth the Companions (May Allah be well pleased with them) of the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam) after 1300 years!  The leaders of the Khawareej ignored the stature and excellence of Hadhrat ‘Ali and other Companions (May Allah be well pleased with them) published their (perceived) faults.  Similarly the other side published the (perceived) faults of the first 3 Caliphs (May Allah be well pleased with them).

 

When there are warnings of divine punishment on describing some fault that one has seen, then only Allah knows what will happen on describing something which one has not even seen.

 

With this, those who are just can understand how complete and consolatory the method of the Ahle Sunnah is!  They have no fear in this regard and even if any slip-up or lapse occurs in this regard, they pray from them with the words “May Allah be well pleased with him” and thus expiate for it.  It is mentioned in Kaleeni Pg. No. 546 that Abu ‘Abdullah (May Allah be well pleased with him) said that somebody asked the Holy Prophet (Sallallahu alaihi wa sallam):  What is the expiation of backbiting (Gheebah)?  The reply was: One should pray for the forgiveness of the backbitten one.

 

These few Traditions that have been related show the lifestyle of the Imams with regard to their deeds and their states.  Those who are saints in the Ahle Sunnah have followed them to the letter and it were the blessings of those elders.

 

[Excerpted from Maqaasid Ul Islam, Vol. 6, Pg. No. 63, 64]