The Turkish history book Mir’ât-i-kâinât, which is a compilation of a number of books and was prepared by Muhammad bin Ahmad Efendi, who is also known with the sobriquet ‘Nişancızâde’, provides a concise and explicit account of the greatness of the Sahâba and the superior merits each of them was gifted with. The following is an English translation of the passages borrowed from that book. Nişancızâde (Muhammad bin Ahmad Efendi) was born in the hijrî year 962, and passed away in 1031 [1622 A.D.]. He completed his book in the time of Sultân Ahmad Khân I, the fourteenth Ottoman Pâdishâh.
Who is called a Sahâbî: According to a great majority of scholars, once a male or female Muslim has seen Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ only for a short time, no matter whether he/she is a child or an adult, he/she is called a Sahâbî with the proviso of dying with îmân (as a Believer); the same rule applies to blind Muslims who have talked with the blessed Prophet at least once. If a disbeliever sees the Prophet and then joins the Believers after the demise of the Messenger of Allah, he is not a Sahâbî; nor is a person called a Sahâbî if he deserted Islam afterwards although he had seen the blessed Prophet as a Muslim. A person who deserts Islam after having attained the honour of being a Sahâbî and then becomes a Believer again after the demise of the Messenger of Allah, is a Sahâbî. Since Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ was a Prophet for genies as well, a jinnî also can be a Sahâbî. Sahâbîs in the mass are called Ashâb-i-kirâm or Sahâba.
Superiorities of the Ashâb-i-kirâm: According to information given in the book Mawâhib-i-ladunniyya, the Ashâb-i-kirâm ‘alaihim-ur-ridwân’, after prophets, and after the angels occupying special higher positions, are the highest community of the entire creation. Each and every Sahâbî is higher than all the rest of this Ummat (Muslims). All the people who believe in the prophethood of Muhammad ‘alaihis-salâm’, i.e. all Muslims, regardless of their races and nationalities and the countries they live in, are the Ummat of Muhammad ‘alaihis-salâm’. We, Muslims, are the Ummat of Muhammad ‘alaihis-salâm’. Despite the hadîth-i-sherîf which states, “My Ummat are auspicious like rain. It cannot be known which Muslims are more auspicious, the earlier ones, or the later ones,” advantageous positions attained on account of the amount of thawâb earned are not indications of superiority. Indeed, no other superiority can equal a superiority gained by having seen Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’. When the Ashâb-i-kirâm ‘radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’anhum ajma’în’ conquered Damascus, the Damascene Christians observed their graceful manners and attitudes with profound admiration and swore that the new comers were superior to the Hawârîs, i.e. the Apostles of Îsâ (Jesus) ‘alaihis-salâm’. It is stated as follows in a hadîth-i-sherîf: “Do not vituperate against my Sahâba! If a Muslim belonging to the generations that will come after my Sahâba dispenses a mountain of gold in the name of alms, he will not attain thawâb half as much as the thawâb which one of my Sahâba would attain by giving a handful of barley.”
A hadîth-i-sherîf quoted by Munâwî and Bayhakî reads as follows: “My Sahâba are like the stars in the sky. If you follow any one of them you will attain hidâyat.”
It is stated in another hadîth-i-sherîf: “Avoid being hostile towards my Sahâba! Fear Allah. He who loves them does so because he loves me. He who is hostile to them is so because he is my enemy. He who hurts them will have hurt me. And to hurt me certainly means to hurt Allâhu ta’âlâ.”
It is stated in another hadîth-i-sherîf, which is quoted by Munâwî and Tirmuzî: “The fire of Hell will not burn a Muslim who has seen me or one who has seen a Muslim who has seen me.” These âyat-i-kerîmas and hadîth-i-sherîfs clearly state the superiority of the Ashâb-i-kirâm ‘radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’anhum ajma’în’.
We must hold all the Ashâb-i-kirâm ‘radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’anhum ajma’în’ in high esteem and love them all. As is unanimously stated in books of aqâid (credal matters), “It is necessary to know all the Ashâb-i-kirâm as great and superior people, to have a good opinion of them, and to believe that they were true and pious Muslims. We should not criticize or curse any one of them; we should never feel inimical towards any one of them; and we should avoid the ambivalence of loving some of them while feeling animosity against other Sahâbîs. We should avoid the absurd expectation that we will have loved some of them by being inimical towards others or by maligning or cursing them. The facts we have stated have been corroborated by definitely authentic documents and substantiated proofs.
Ref: This paragraphes are quoted from the book “Sahaba The Blessed” page 343, which is written by Ahmad Fârûkî ‘rahimahullâhu ta’âlâ,’ and published by Hakikat Kitabevi, Istanbul, Turkey. You can find the whole book and the other valuable books in the web site www.hakikatkitabevi.com.tr and download in PDF format for Adobe Acrobat Reader, EPUB format for iPhone-iPad-Mac devices and MOBI format for Amazon Kindle device.
