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THE COMPANIONS IN THE QUR’AN
Ibn Hazm voices the opinion of many
leading scholars: ‘All of the Companions will enter
Paradise’.1 It is possible to find proofs in
the Qur’an testifying to the truth of this opinion.
The Qur’an describes the
Companions in the last verse of the sura al-Fath,
as follows:
Muhammad is the Messenger of God.
Those who are with him are hard against the
unbelievers [they are implacable before them],
merciful one to another. [They kept so long vigils
that] you see them bowing, prostrating, seeking
blessing, bounty (of forgiveness and Paradise) and
good pleasure (of God). Their mark is on their faces,
the trace of prostration. That is their likeness in
the Torah, and their likeness in the Gospel: as a seed
that puts forth its shoot, and strengthens it, and it
grows strong and rises straight upon its stalk,
pleasing the sowers, that through them it may enrage
the unbelievers. God has promised those of them who
believe and do deeds of righteousness forgiveness and
a mighty wage [He will reward them in Paradise with
the things that neither eyes will ever have seen nor
ears heard]. (48:29)
The Qur’an again, describes them:
The Outstrippers, the first of
the Emigrants and the Helpers, and those who
followed them in good-doing - God is well- pleased
with them and they are well-pleased with Him; and
He has prepared for them gardens underneath which
rivers flow, therein to dwell forever; that is the
mighty triumph. (al-Tawba, 9.100)
Abu Hurayra never missed the
discourse of God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and
blessings. He was always with him and stayed in the
antechamber of the Prophet’s Mosque. He suffered
hunger almost all the time. Once he went to God’s
Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, and told
him that he had eaten nothing for days. Abu Talha took
him as a guest but unfortunately there was little in
his house to eat. However, he said to his wife, Umm
Sulaym, ‘Get the children to sleep early at night,
and put on the table whatever is in the house to eat.
When we sit at the table, put out the candle
pretending to make its light brighter. No one sees in
the dark whether one is really eating or not. I will
act as if I am eating, and thus our guest can satisfy
his hunger.’
After the dawn prayer, God’s
Messenger turned to them and smiled, saying: What
did you do at that night? This verse was revealed
concerning you:
Those who made their dwelling
in the abode [Madina], and in belief, before them
[the Emigrants] love whoever has emigrated to
them, not finding in their breasts any need for
what they have been given, and preferring others
above themselves, even though poverty be their
portion. Whoever is guarded against the avarice of
his own soul, those - they are the prosperous. (Al-Hashr,
59.9)2
Again, we read in the Qur’an
concerning the Companions:
God was well-pleased with the
believers when they were swearing fealty to you
under the tree, and He knew what was in their
hearts, so He sent down peace, calm and tranquility
upon them, and rewarded them with a nigh victory. (al-Fath,
48.18)
The Companions swore many oaths of
allegiance to God’s Messenger that they would do
their utmost to protect him and carry, by God’s
Will, Islam to ultimate victory. They kept their
promise at the cost of all their belongings and lives.
Most of them were martyred in the battles either
during the life of the Prophet himself or in conveying
Islam as far as possible during the reigns of
succeeding Caliphs. It is still possible to find in
almost every part of Muslim lands tombs where several
Companions are buried. Also, they brought up numerous
scholars in the fields of religious knowledge -
jurisprudence, Tradition, Qur’-anic interpretation,
and also in social sciences like history and the
biography of the Prophet, upon him be peace and
blessings. In the words of the Qur’an,
Among the believers are men who
were true to their covenant with God; some of them
have fulfilled their vow by death, and some are
still awaiting, and they have not changed in the
least. (al-Ahzab, 33.23)
1. I.
Hajar, 1.10.
2. Bukhari, “Tafsir,” 59/6.
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