Sahaba - The Blessed

ijtihâd caused mujtahids to be promoted to higher grades. Not so
is the case with the ijtihâds done after Rasûlullah’s ‘sall-Allâhu
’alaihi wa sallam’ passing away; religious teachings found by way
of those ijtihâds are not guaranteed. They cannot be said to be
definitely correct teachings. Therefore, it is not compulsory to
believe that they are correct, although it is permissible to act in
accordance with them. It is not kufr (disbelief) to deny their
correctness. However, if the ijtihâds reached by all mujtahids
indicate identical results, which is called ijmâ’ (consensus,
unanimity), it is compulsory to believe in the correctness of the
teachings found by such unanimous ijtihâds.
We will beautify the conclusive part of our letter by writing the
superiorities of the Ahl-i-Bayt ‘radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ ’anhum
ajma’în’ of Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’:
It is stated in a hadîth-i-sherîf quoted on the authority of Yûsuf
bin Abdulberr: “He who loves Alî will have loved me (by doing
so). He who is inimical towards Alî will have been inimical towards
me (by being so). He who hurts Alî will have hurt me. And he who
hurts me will have hurt Allâhu ta’âlâ.”
[Some people exploit this hadîth-i-sherîf as an attestation to
stigmatize those who fought Hadrat Alî as disbelievers. The fact,
however, was that the parties who fought each other were not
inimical towards each other. Their hearts were not angry with each
other although they hurt each other physically. Amidst the fights
Hadrat Alî ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’ called the other party “Our
brothers”. And Hadrat Mu’âwiya ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’ wrote, “My
master,” about Hadrat Alî. It is written as follows in the hundred
and forty-ninth (149) page of the seventh chapter of the 1331-
Istanbul edition of the book Qisâs-i-Anbiyâ: When Hadrat Hasan
ceded the caliphate (to Hadrat Mu’âwiya), which the greater ones
of the Sahâba such as Sa’d bin Abî Waqqâs accepted, the
government of Hadrat Mu’âwiya was canonically lawful. Hadrat
Mu’âwiya seized the power by the use of force although he was
one of the Sahâba. Yet the time and the circumstances had made
it inevitable. People were acting in defiance of the Khalîfa’s
authority. Force and power were necessary, which meant the
commencement of the era of sovereignty. Mu’âwiya ‘radiy-Allâhu
’anh’ was rightful and eligible for the position. As is seen, even the
book Qisâs-i-Anbiyâ, which these exploiters rely on as a basis for
their argument, writes that Hadrat Mu’âwiya was one of the
Sahâba and attaches the phrase of blessing ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anh’ to
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