Sacrifices made by the Sahabas-Mufti Minhajuddin Ahmed

The Nature of the Heart and Love

My dear respected brothers and sisters. Allah, the Exalted, سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَىٰ has given us this heart that naturally it is inclined to love. And no matter what, this heart will be attached to someone.

Allah, the Exalted, has identified for us who we should be loving and what we should be loving. What is worthy of our love. Instead of loving this fleeting world, this material world that we have to leave behind.

We should love that which is eternal, which will stay with us, which will benefit us perpetually. Allah, the Exalted, has said:

Why is it that you are loving this material world and preferring it over the hereafter when it is better in the eyes of your Lord, and it is everlasting. So just like we have love of worldly people and people we idolize and look up to who have worldly accomplishments.

In reality, our heart should love those who are close to Allah, the Exalted. Our heart should be attached to those who are beloved of Allah, the Exalted. Number one, of course, after loving Allah, the Exalted, which is the most supreme love in the heart of a believer:

Those who are the believers, their strongest love is for Allah, the Exalted.

The Du'a for Love of Allah

This is the du'a of Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam:

O Allah, make your love the most strong love in my heart. Which is the first, not the topic of today.

Love of the Prophet Muhammad

The second is, of course, love of Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, which we have spoken about, and we need to continue to remind ourselves as well about the love of our beloved Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam being a part of Iman:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 15; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 44)

None of you can be a true believer until I'm more beloved to him than his parents, his children, than of all mankind.

Loving Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam is an integral element of our Iman. We have spoken about love of Allah and love of Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam on numerous occasions. But I wanted to highlight something beyond that.

Love of the Companions of the Prophet

Is that after love of Allah and love of Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, what should be the position in our hearts for those noble companions of Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, the Sahaba and Sahabiyat, رَضِيَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَىٰ عَنْهُمْ أَجْمَعِينَ. As you could have perhaps noted from the ayah I selected, what the topic of the talk will be. Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam has taught us a dua that:

That O Allah, grant us your love and grant us the love of those who love you and grant us the love of those people. By loving them, we will learn how to love you. سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ O Allah, grant us your love and the love of those who love you. And the love of those people, by loving them, we will eventually learn how to love you.

So this is not limited to Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, this includes all of the beloved ones of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. By virtue of loving them, you will learn how to love Allah. So this includes the Sahaba رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمْ as the first line of this ummah.

The Best of Generations

The one upon whom who were the first initial recipients of the divine revelation. They, of course, directly was revealed upon Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, but they were the first مُخَاطَبِينَ الْأَوَّلِينَ, those who the Quran addresses directly. They are the noble companions of Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam.

After them, the second generation is the تَابِعِينَ. تَابِعِينَ means those who are the followers. They are those who came after the Sahaba.

And then after them, we have the third generation, the تَبَعُ التَّابِعِينَ. Those who followed, those who followed. Meaning the third generation.

These are the three generations concerning which Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 2509; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2533)

The best of all the times is my time. The time of the Sahaba رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمْ أَجْمَعِينَ Then the era of those who come after, meaning the تَابِعِينَ. Then the era of those who come after them, the تَبَعُ التَّابِعِينَ.

These three eras have been specifically highlighted by Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. And he used the word خَيْر that these are the best of the eras. Superlative degree.

خَيْرُ الْقُرُونِ, the best of the eras. Guaranteed by Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. So the first of these are the Sahaba.

Definition of a Sahabi

What does it mean to be Sahabi? What is the definition of a Sahabi? A Sahabi is the one who came in contact with Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. He met Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. And he accepted Islam on the hands of Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam.

He believed in Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَىٰ. He spent some time in the company. And this is a wake up call.

That is not the end of the definition. Can we say anyone who met Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam is a Sahabi? We cannot say that. Abu Jahl, Abu Lahab met Rasulullah.

They met Rasulullah so many times. Very much in communication with Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. Yet absolutely not Sahabi.

They are among the leaders of the Mushrikeen. So you have to believe in Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. But after believing in Rasulullah and meeting Rasulullah, can you become a Sahabi for sure? The definition is still not complete.

And this is a lesson on its own. We need to make dua to Allah Ta'ala:

O Allah, do not allow our hearts to become accursed. After you give us guidance. After you have given us guidance, do not allow our hearts to be accursed. Grant us mercy from your side, O Allah.

Because if a person accepted Islam on the hands of Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam and prayed Salah behind Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam and even struggled in Jihad of Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, they are still not a Sahabi. Until they die on Iman.

Until they leave this world with Iman. If they leave this world without Iman, then they are not included among the Sahaba. And there are few examples of that.

The Story of the Scribe of Revelation

Imagine one Sahabi who was so beloved to Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, so honored, so honored, that he was selected to be amongst the كَاتِبِي الْوَحْيِ. The scribes that write down the revelation. Meaning, when the Ayah of the Quran would be revealed, when certain Ayats of the Quran would be revealed, Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam would call one of the selected, honored scribes, كَاتِبِي الْوَحْيِ.

Total number has been listed as around 40 Sahaba. Some were the major ones, some were minor ones, including every major and minor one, maximum number, total number is 40 Sahaba, were the scribes of revelation, writing down the Wahi. So one of them was writing down the revelation, Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam was dictating the Wahi.

And they came to Surah Al-Mu'minun, this was the Ayah that had been revealed. What an honor, fresh, fresh Wahi, right off the Lohul Mahfuz, like they say, right off the press, just came down from the Lohul Mahfuz, on Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam. So Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam was dictating and he was writing.

Rasulullah Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam said:

And he wrote it down. This is Ayah number 12 of Surah Al-Mu'minun, that we have created a human being from the clinging dirt.

Then he wrote it down. Then we made it into a clot in the beginning of, this is the embrodical stages of the development of the fetus, of the human, in the womb of the mother. In a safe place.

Now, he was going slow so he could write it. So he kept on saying one one portion, and he was writing it down. Then we made this clot into a lump of flesh. مُضْغَة Then we made the مُضْغَة into عِظَام Then we created bones. Then we clothed the bones with more flesh.

Then we created it and made it into a beautiful creation. Nabi Salaam said this, he wrote it down.

When he came to this point, Then we have made it into a beautiful creation. He wrote it down. The writer of the revelation, he was so overcome.

Like, wow, this is amazing miracle of life. He just explained. فَتَبَارَكَ اللَّهُ أَحْسَنُ الْخَالِقِينَ How blessed is the best creator.

Nabi Salaam said, write that down. That's actually the conclusion of the ayah. If you look it up, it's فَتَبَارَكَ اللَّهُ أَحْسَنُ الْخَالِقِينَ He said, I just said that.

He said, exactly, that's what the revelation is. Uh oh, this became a big test for him. He said, hmm, I just said that.

And then you said, That sounds nice. That has a nice ring to it. Was that the reason? It was coincidence that he said the same thing which was being revealed by Allah SWT.

The Test of Faith and Apostasy

This happened 14 times to Umar r.a. 14 times. He never shook his faith. One of his titles is مَنْ كَانَ رَأْيُهُ مُوَافِقًا بِالْوَحْيِ وَالْكِتَابِ On 14 occasions, the opinion of Umar r.a. was given.

According to that, the ayah of the Quran was revealed. So he didn't say, hey, you're getting ideas from me. But this particular Sahabi, he just stopped for a moment and he paused.

And he said, oh, what is going on here? I just said this and you're saying, oh, write that, go ahead, write that. Imagine, being so close to Rasulullah s.a.w., being a كَاتِب وَحْي, Iman left his heart. He became مُرْتَدّ.

He ran away from there. He said, I give up believing in the truth of revelation. That's why we have to continuously make du'a:

Oh Allah, grant us death on Iman. If you, the fact that you have Iman today, you might become a كَاتِب وَحْي, doesn't mean you will die with Iman. So that is why part of the definition of a Sahabi is the one who meets Rasulullah s.a.w., stays in the company of Rasulullah s.a.w., accepts Islam in the hand of Rasulullah s.a.w. and dies with Iman.

Allah's Selection of the Companions

What did Rasulullah s.a.w. say about such Sahaba? Rasulullah s.a.w. said:

(Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith 149)

Verily, Allah s.w.t. has chosen me. Now, the first part of the hadith is that he was chosen, he was selected. It was not coincidental, by chance he became Prophet of Allah. Right, one amongst his titles is مُصْطَفَىٰ and مُجْتَبَىٰ and both mean the same thing.

مُصْطَفَىٰ is the chosen one and مُجْتَبَىٰ is the selected one. Both practically mean the same thing. He was chosen and selected by Allah.

And Allah s.w.t. has selected for me, chose for me, my companions, my helpers, and my in-laws, my relatives. Allah s.w.t. has selected them for me.

فَسَيَأْتِي قَوْمٌ يَسُبُّونَهُمْ وَيَسْتَنْقِصُونَهُمْ Time will come when people will come and they will start cursing my companions.

They will start cursing my companions and they will start finding faults in them. This was a prophecy of Rasulullah s.a.w. He said:

فَلَا تُجَالِسُوهُمْ Do not sit with such people. وَلَا تُؤَاكِلُوهُمْ Do not eat with such people.

وَلَا تُشَارِبُوهُمْ Do not drink with such people. وَلَا تُنَاكِحُوهُمْ Do not marry such people. Such people who attack the status and the maqam, and the integrity of my Sahaba.

Because these are those who have been selected by me. Selected by Allah s.w.t. for me, to be my companions. They didn't become my companions by choice, they were divinely selected.

The Excellence of the Companions

Abdullah ibn Suud r.a said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 3674)

He said, do not say anything bad about the Sahaba of Rasulullah s.a.w. For if anyone of them stands for a few moments in the Ibadah of Allah, it is better than your entire life of Ibadah. Your whole Umar, your whole life worth of Ibadah is better than that. Because on the Day of Judgment, if you notice Allah s.w.t. doesn't speak about عَدُّ الْأَعْمَال Counting the deeds.

He speaks about وَزْنُ الْأَعْمَال Weighing the deeds.

We will have the scales of deeds that will weigh the deeds. So, the more sincerity and Iman and Ikhlas that is in the deed, the heavier will be on the scale of judgment.

The Example of Abu Bakr as-Siddiq

Abu Bakr r.a, he only lived 2.5 years after Rasulullah s.a.w. He was born 2.5 years after him, he passed away 2.5 years after him. 63 years. Same life like Rasulullah s.a.w. Same age.

How many Hajj could he do? He didn't have the opportunity to do so many Hajj. He only did 2 Hajj. When he was the Khalifa, he went for Hajj of course.

He did the Hajj before Rasulullah s.a.w. 8th year of Hijrah was Fatimah. Until then it was Mushrikeen dominated. 9th year Nabi S.a.w. sent him for Hajj.

10th year he did Hajj with Rasulullah s.a.w. 11th year as Khalifa, 12th year as Khalifa. So, he did 4 Hajj. Somebody may do 40 Hajj.

Can he surpass Siddique Akbar r.a? Absolutely not. Because the level of Iman that he had. In fact, his Iman is so great, the Iman of the entire Sahaba, A'mal of the entire Sahaba, of the entire Ummah, one side cannot equal him.

r.a. And he describes the Sahaba, he says, They had the deepest knowledge of Deen. They had the purest and sincerest hearts. They had the least formalities.

They were the lanterns of guidance. So, these are those that Allah s.w.t has promised for them Jannah in the Quran. In the Quranic ayah that I recited in the beginning, Allah s.w.t says, Those who are the early predecessors, The two groups, those who migrated for the sake of Allah, left their homelands, and their wealth, and their possessions, and their life savings, migrated from Makkah to Madinah, and those who are the Ansar, the helpers of Madinah.

Both of them. And then, Those who come after as well, and followed in righteousness, What is their maqam? Allah is pleased with them, and they are pleased with Allah. This comes multiple places in the Quran.

To such an extent that whenever we take any one of their noble names, then we add this title, Allah is pleased with him. And what has he done? He says, He has prepared for them gardens, underneath which rivers flow. They will remain therein forever.

This is the greatest success. So, this is a promise from Allah s.w.t. Another ayah in Surah Al-Hadeed, Allah used the word, Allah s.w.t says:

They can never be equal, those who spend in the path of Allah, those who strove in the path of Allah, before the conquest of Makkah, when it was difficult times, and those who came afterwards, when it was very easy to become a believer. When everyone is entering the fold of Islam, after the conquest of Makkah.

Those who are in the difficult times, and the الْحُسْنَةُ by the consensus of the interpreters here is Jannah. Allah says in both categories, before the conquest of Makkah, after the conquest of Makkah, Allah SWT has guaranteed for them Jannah. And these are the ayahs, these are the hadith of Rasulullah SAW pertaining to the honor of all the Sahaba, all those who are in this noble group. But then within the Sahaba, there are separate categories.

Categories and Rankings Among the Companions

And the categories is not based on language, not based on culture, not based on social status, or worldly education, or how much money they have, or how much influence and power they have. Rather, the status among the Sahaba is based on how much sacrifice they gave, who gave the more sacrifice for the sake of Allah SWT, and who was earlier in accepting Islam, as the ayah quoted above mentions. So you have the groups, they have those tribes who accepted Islam and became Sahaba, they live far away.

They only met Rasulullah SAW for a few moments. Yes, we are going to give them the honor of being a Sahabi, because they met Rasulullah SAW for a few days, then they went back to their tribe. They didn't have much longer association, but they become Sahaba.

They are at the bottom of the Sahaba. Then you have those who spend more time with Rasulullah SAW. They are the Muhajireen and Ansar.

They spend maximum time with Rasulullah SAW. Then amongst the Muhajireen and Ansar, there is a particular categorization of ranks. And this was in fact codified into law during the Khilafat of Umar RA.

Umar's Distribution of Stipends

When the treasury of the Baytul Mal of the Muslims was overflowing with so much money, they didn't know what to do with it. So then he said, okay, we have to start circulating this money back to the people. So every Muslim child was born, then the gold would start coming from the Khilafat, from the Baytul Mal to the home, every month for the new baby.

This welfare state was not something that was developed now, it was developed by Umar RA. So he made a ranking of what should be the stipends from the Baytul Mal to different sections of the society. So he gave a huge monthly stipend to Azwajul Mutaharat, the wives of Rasulullah SAW.

And if me and you are thinking, you would be imagining, wow, they would be getting thousands of gold coins every month just for being the wife of Rasulullah SAW. Fine, maybe they deserve it. What would they do? They must have made nice palaces, changed their furniture, got nice curtains, artwork.

Right? They would be giving it all out. They would be giving it Sadaqah. These Azwajul Mutaharat, wives of Rasulullah SAW.

Allah had addressed them in the Quran, Oh, wives of the Prophet SAW, you are not like the normal women. If you want dunya and material wealth, come, and I will give you so much. This is after Fateh Khaibar, when a lot of material wealth came into hand of Rasulullah SAW.

You can get all the dunya you want, and I will let you go, and I will free you from my Nikah. And if you want Allah and Rasul in the Akhirah, then be patient. You are at a higher standard.

So they would give it out. But they were given a nice pension. Then there was Hasan and Hussain.

They were given pension. Daughters of Rasulullah SAW, not really existed. Fatima, Zainab, Ruqiya, they passed away.

In the life of Rasulullah SAW, three, the only one remaining was Fatima, she passed away. She passed away six months after him, during Khilafat of Abu Bakr. So she was not even in the equation.

But Hasan and Hussain were there, they got pension from Umar. And then you had, the Asharah Mubasharah, ten Sahaba are guaranteed Jannah. Then you had Ashabul Badr, whoever was alive from the Badriyeen, 313.

Special rank, 313. After the battle of Badr, Rasulullah SAW looked at them. He said, Perhaps Allah has looked upon you.

And he said, You are free. You are guaranteed Jannah. You may do whatever you want.

You may do whatever you want. You're Jannah. It's guaranteed Jannah.

Confirmed Jannah. The way we feel we have Jannah confirmed, He actually confirmed it for those Badriyeen. Then you have Ashabul Uhud.

Those 700 of Uhud. Then you have those who participated, 3,000 in Khandaq. You see the numbers get bigger as the time goes later.

Then you have Ashabul Hudaybiyah. Special status for them. 1,400.

1,400 who took the Bay'ah on the hand of Rasulullah SAW under the tree of Hudaybiyah. And they put their hand on the hand of Rasulullah SAW and they said, We are ready to give our life to defend Islam and to avenge the death of Uthman ibn Affan, the ambassador of Rasulullah SAW, who went for negotiation. And the rumor has spread that he had been killed.

Allah says in Surah Al-Fatih, Indeed Allah is pleased with the believers. When they are taking the oath of allegiance on your hand underneath the tree of Hudaybiyah. Jabir ibn Abdullah Al-Ansari r.a says, On the day of Hudaybiyah, we were 1,400 gathered under the tree.

فَقَالَ لَنَا النَّبِيُّ صَلَّىٰ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ And I recall, Nabi Muhammad SAW looked at us and said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 2731)

You today gathered here are the best of the creation on the entire surface of the earth. Then after that, we have those who participated in the Hajj with Rasulullah SAW. And then at the end, you have those who accepted Islam.

So these are the ranks. The more sacrifice a person did, the earlier he accepted Islam, the more he put forward, the higher the rank of that person would be. And the time is concluded, Alhamdulillah, we do not have opportunity to go into specific virtues.

The Virtues of the Companions

But at every single rank, there are virtues. If you look in the books of Hadith, then there is a chapter called Kitab al-Manaqib, the books of virtues. When Nabi SAW gave specific virtues and praises.

So there is a chapter on Manaqib of Sahaba, the virtues of all of the Sahaba, in general. Then there is a chapter where Nabi SAW praised the Muhajireen only. There is a chapter where he praised the Ansar only.

Like he said:

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 3799; Sahih Muslim, Hadith 2047)

That when they were afraid, after the conquest of Makkah, they got afraid. They said, Nabi Muhammad SAW came to us because he was kicked out of the city. Now he has regained the city of his birth.

He is going to abandon us, go back to Makkah. We are going to lose our beloved Muhammad SAW. So he gathered them and he gave them a very beautiful speech.

He said, I love you Ansar. If the people are traveling and they go one side and the Ansar take another valley, I will go with the Ansar. الْمَحْيَا مَحْيَاكُمْ وَالْمَمَاتُ مَمَاتُكُمْ I will live with you, I will die with you Ansar.

People are like the outer garment, you are like my inner garment, you are close to my heart. People are like the outer garment, you are like the inner one, the one close to my heart. I love you Ansar.

(Sahih al-Bukhari, Hadith 3800)

May Allah forgive Ansar, their children, their grandchildren. So these are virtues of Ansar, virtues of Muhajireen. Then there are specific virtues, like I mentioned of Hudaybiyyah and Badr.

Nabi SAW honored them. Then there is Ashra Mubashara. Sa'id Ibn Zaid RA was on his deathbed and he said that there is one hadith that I heard this from Rasulullah SAW, I did not convey it.

And now I'm dying and I remember the words that you must convey. Anything you hear from me, you must convey it. One hadith, I did not convey this hadith.

Because as you will see, he was seldom embarrassed to convey this hadith. But now I'm dying, I need to convey this hadith I heard from Rasulullah SAW. So he said, Rasulullah SAW said, Abu Bakr is in Jannah, Umar is in Jannah, Uthman is in Jannah, Ali is in Jannah, Talha Ibn Ubaidullah is in Jannah, Zubair Ibn Al-Awwam is in Jannah, Abdur-Rahman Ibn Aww is in Jannah, Sa'id Ibn Abi Al-Waqas is in Jannah, Abu Ubaidah Ibn Al-Jarrah is in Jannah.

So he was noting it down. And then he came and he said, Wal'ashri is in Jannah, and the 10th one will also be in Jannah. So the narrator got perturbed.

He said, what do you mean? Wal'ashri is in Jannah. What does that mean? He said, okay, let me try one more time. So then he went back.

He said, Abu Bakr is in Jannah, Umar is in Jannah, Uthman is in Jannah, Ali is in Jannah, Talha, Zubair, Abdur-Rahman Ibn Aww, Sa'id Ibn Abi Al-Waqas, Abu Ubaidah Ibn Al-Jarrah. And then he has did it. He said, Wal'ashri is in Jannah, and the 10th one as well.

It doesn't make sense. What did Nabi SAW mean by the 10th one? Then he puckered up his courage and finally he said, Wa Sa'id Ibn Uz-Zaid is in Jannah. It was so difficult for him to say his own name.

But he had to make sure that he is honest in reading the Hadith of Rasulullah SAW. These are the 10th Sahaba. On multiple occasions, Nabi SAW gave them virtues.

So the 10th Sahaba together. Now each one of them has their own virtues. Li kulli nabiyyin hawari in fil Jannah wa hawari fiyah Zubair.

Every Nabi will have a friend in Jannah. My friend is Zubair. You have Abu Ubaidah Ibn Al-Jarrah, Rasulullah SAW said, Li kulli ummatin ameenun wa ameenu hathil umma Abu Ubaidah Ibn Al-Jarrah.

Every Ummah has the most trustworthy person. The most trustworthy Ameen of this Ummah is Abu Ubaidah Ibn Al-Jarrah. For Sa'd Ibn Abi Waqas RA.

For this Sahabi and that Sahabi, when the helmet of Nabi SAW crushed into his skull and went into his teeth and into his jaws, and his teeth came out and the iron chains had entered into his cheek in the Battle of Uhud. And they were trying to take it out. They had no surgical instruments in the heat of the battle.

And Abu Ubaidah RA was taking out, he was trying to take out those chains of iron from the cheek of Nabi SAW, from his gums. He didn't have any instruments so he used his own teeth. He put his own teeth and pulled out his front teeth came out and the chain came out.

Then he pulled his other teeth and his teeth came out. His teeth, he lost his teeth to take out from the gum of Rasulullah SAW the chains of iron from the helmet that had penetrated. And Nabi SAW made dua for him.

So these are the different Sahaba. And then you have from these ten, you have the four Khulafa Rashideen. And from these four, then you have Abu Bakr RA, the Siddiq of the Ummah.

Each one has their own virtues. So there is a whole galaxy for us as Sahaba to fall in love with, to learn about. The list can go on.

Conclusion: Learning from the Companions

So we have to be inspired by their stories, learn about them, teach our children, speak about them at home so that our hearts can be filled with the love of these glorious companions of Rasulullah SAW. May Allah give us the ability to learn more and more and to follow in their footsteps and to be granted independence into Jannah in their company. I seek refuge with Allah from the accursed Satan.