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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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