Sahaba - The Blessed

our religion said, “Any behaviour disrespectful towards or critical
of our Prophet’s ‘alaihis-salâtu wassalâm’ Ashâb means denial of
the Messenger of Allah ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’.”
The events (wars) of Jamal and Siffîn cannot be grounds for
blaming them. Neither party (in either of those two wars) became
sinful; perhaps both parties earned blessings. Indeed, as is stated in
a hadîth-i-sherîf, a mujtahid who reaches a wrong conclusion in his
ijtihâd deserves one blessing, whereas he would be given two to
ten blessings if he found the truth by way of ijtihâd. There is no
doubt about the fact that the disagreements among them had
nothing to do with hidden motives or worldly ambitions; they were
the results of disagreeing ijtihâds. Imâm Abdulwahhâb Sha’rânî
states as follows in his (abridged version which he entitled)
Muhtasar of the book Tazkira by Imâm (Abû Abdullah)
Muhammad (bin Ahmad) Qurtubî: “The wars and disagreements
between Mu’âwiya and Alî ‘radiy-Allâhu ’anhumâ’ were a
religious matter arising from disagreements of ijtihâd. They were
not intended for worldly gains. In other words, they were not after
sultanate or sovereignty; why should they be criticized, then?
Indeed, they must be commended for their disagreements, since
they were done for religious purposes.” Imâm Qurtubî and
Abdulwahhâb Sha’rânî are among the great notables of Islam. As
is revealed in the same book, Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu ’alaihi wa
sallam’ stated, “Later, [i.e. after me,] fitna will arise among my
Ashâb and they will fight one another. Jenâb-i-Haqq will forgive
them, on account of the sohbat they have had with me. No one will
be forgiven for the fitna that will arise among the Muslims (of the
generations) that will come after them.” For, they are not Sahâbîs;
they have not been blessed with (Rasûlullah’s) sohbat. Everyone
will be resurrected and taken to the place of judgement (in the
Hereafter) in the company of the people they have loved in the
world. All the Sahâba-i-kirâm loved the Sarwar-i-’âlam ‘sall-
Allâhu ’alaihi wa sallam’ very much.
It is understood from a hadîth-i-sherîf quoted in the same page
that people killed from both parties as well as their killers are
people of Paradise. All of them were great mujtahids. If a
mujtahid’s ijtihâd indicates a conclusion different from that of
another mujtahid with a higher grade in the science of ijtihâd, he
has to follow his own ijtihâd. It is not correct for him to follow the
other’s ijtihâd. Imâm-i-Abû Yûsuf and Imâm-i-Muhammad were
Imâm a’zam Abû Hanîfa’s disciples; and Abû Sawr and Muzanî
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