The 14 Righteous Companions Of The Prophet Õáì Çááå Úáíå æÂáå

[Ebn Tie me yeah 194]

Assalamualaikum,

 

I found this article by an honest Sunni, May Allah reward him. Please see below the article and the particular emphasis of the 14 Righteous Companions.

 

This article is on Ibn Saba (la) but i find it relevant to point out the 14 Companions.

 

Attacking Two of Most Beloved Companions of the Prophet (PBUH&HF) and Their Disciples  

Sayf alleged that Ibn Saba is the one who instigated the two prominent companions of the Prophet Muhammad, namely Abu Dhar (RA) and Ammar Ibn Yasir (RA), against Uthman. He said this Jew met Abu Dhar in Damascus, and that he introduced to him the idea of prohibiting treasuring gold and silver. Sayf included the following great companions of prophet and their disciples, among the list of the followers of Ibn Saba:

(1) Abu Dhar (RA),
(2) Ammar Ibn Yasir (RA),
(3) Muhammad Ibn Abi Bakr (RA), son of the first Caliph,
(4) Malik Ashtar (RA).

... and more

To better understand the heresy of Sayf and his allegation, let us quickly review the biography of the above great Muslim pioneers:

(1) Abu Dhar al-Ghafari (Jundub Ibn Jonadah): He is the THIRD person in the list of the four pioneers who first embraced Islam. He was a monotheist even before his conversion. He frankly declared his faith in Islam at Mecca beside the Holy House of God. The infidels of Mecca beat him almost to death but he survived, and on the instruction of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH&HF) he returned to his tribe.

After the Battles of Badr and Uhud he came to Medina and stayed with Prophet until the demise of the Prophet (PBUH&HF). During the reign of the early Caliphs, Abu Dhar was sent to Damascus where he could not agree with Muawiyah. Later Muawiyah complained about Abu Dhar to Uthman, the third Caliph, and thus Uthman sent Abu Dhar into exile at Rabadha where he later died. Rabadha was known for having the worst climate.

(2) Ammar Ibn Yasir: He was also known as Abuyaqzan. His mother's name was Somayyah. He and his parents were pioneers in embracing Islam, and he was the SEVENTH person to declare his faith. His parents were executed after the torture by the infidels of Mecca, because of their conversion to Islam, but Ammar managed to escape to Medina.

Ammar fought on Imam Ali's side in the battle of Jamal (Camel) and later in the war of Siffin where he was killed in the battle field by Muawiyah soldiers, at the age of ninety-three.

(3) Muhammad Ibn Abi Bakr: He was adopted by Imam Ali after his father, Abu Bakr, died. Muhammad was one of the commanders of the army of Imam Ali (AS) in the battle of Camel. He was also in the battle of Siffin. Imam Ali appointed him as the governor of Egypt, and he took his office 15/9/37 AH. 

Later, Muawiyah sent an army under the leadership of Amr Ibn al-Aas to Egypt in the year 38 AH, who fought and captured Muhammad, and then killed him. His body was placed in a belly of a dead donkey and then was brutally burnt. (See al-Istiab, v1, p235; History of al-Tabari, v4, p79; Ibn Kathir, v3, p180; Ibn Khaldoon, v2, p182)

(4) Malik Ashtar al-Nakha'i: He met the Prophet and was one of the trustworthy disciple of companions (Tabe'in). He was chief of his tribe, and after receiving an injury to one of his eyes in the battle of Yarmuk, he became known as Ashtar.

He was the general of the army of Imam Ali in the battle of Siffin and known for his bravery and combating the enemies of Islam. At the age of 38, he was appointed by Imam Ali as the governor of Egypt. But on his way to Egypt, near the Red Sea, he died after eating poisonous honey which had been planned by Muawiyah.

The above were the short bibliographies of some eminent Muslim pioneers. It is regrettable that some historians who reported from Sayf's heresy, allege that they followed a mysterious Jew. The mercenary workers did not even hesitate to attack such outstanding companions. 

They said that Abu Dhar and Ammar Ibn Yasir met Ibn Saba, were affected by his propaganda, and thus turned against Uthman. However, we should not forget that by their attacking those two prominent companions, they are actually attacking the Messenger of God who attested to their purity and righteousness frequently:

The Messenger of God said: "Certainly Allah commanded me to love four persons and informed me that He loves them." The companions asked: "O' Messenger of God, who are those four persons?" The Prophet (PBUH&HF) said: "Ali is from them (repeating that three times), Abu Dhar, Salman al-Farsi, and Miqdad."

Sunni references:

- Sunan Ibn Majah, v1, pp 52-53, Tradition #149
- al-Mustadrak, by al-Hakim, v3, p130
- Musnad Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, v5, p356
- Fada'il al-Sahaba, by Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, v2, p648, Tradition #1103
- Hilyatul Awliya', by Abu Nu'aym, v1, p172

The Messenger of Allah also said:

"Every prophet was given by God seven righteous companions. I was given fourteen righteous companions". He included in them Ali, al- Hasan, al-Husain, Hamza, Ja'far, Ammar Ibn Yasir, Abu Dhar, Miqdad, and Salman. 

Sunni references:

- Fada'il al-Sahaba, by Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, v2, Traditions #109, #277
- Sahih al-Tirmidhi, v5, p329, p662
- Musnad Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, v1, pp88,148,149 from several chain of narrators
- al-Kabir, by al-Tabarani, v6, p264, p265
- Hilyatul Awliya', by Abu Nu'aym, v1, p128 

Also al-Tirmidhi, Ahmad, al-Hakim and many others narrated that the Messenger of Allah said:

"Heaven has not shaded, nor has the earth carried a person more straight forward than Abu Dhar. He walks on earth with the immaterialistic attitude of Jesus, the son of Mary."

Sunni reference:

- Sahih al-Tirmidhi, v5, p334, Tradition #3889
- Tahdhib al-Athar, v4, pp 158-161
- Musnad Ahmad Hanbal, #6519, #6630, #7078
- al-Mustadrak, by al-Hakim, v3, p342
- al-Tabaqat, by Ibn Sa'd, v4, part 1, pp 167-168
- Majma' al-Zawa'id, by al-Haythami, v9, pp 329-330

Ibn Majah, in his authentic Sunan, narrated that Imam Ali said:

I was sitting in the house of the Prophet and Ammar asked to see him. Then Prophet said: "Welcome the good and the purified." Ibn Majah also narrated that Aisha narrated that the Messenger of God said "Whenever Ammar is given two alternatives, he always chooses the most righteous of the two."

There are much more authentic narrations told by the Prophet (PBUH&HF) about Ammar, such as "Ammar is full of faith." Also Prophet said:

"A band of rebels will kill Ammar."

Sunni references:

- Sahih Muslim, English version, Chapter # MCCV, pp 1508-1509, Trditions #6966-6970 (five traditions).

- al-Mustadrak, by al-Hakim, v3, p383

Now to see who those rebels were, look at Musnad Ahmad and Tabaqat Ibn Sa'd who narrated:

"In the Battle of Siffin, when the head of Ammar Yasir (RA) was cut off and taken to Muawiyah, two people were arguing over it, each one claimed that he had killed Ammar."

Sunni references:

- Musnad Ahmad (Pub. in Dar al-Maarif, Egypt 1952), Tradition #6538, #6929 - Tabaqat, by Ibn Sa'd, v3, p253

Also it is narrated that the Messenger of Allah (PBUH&HF) said:

"Paradise longs for three men, Ali, Ammar and Salman."

Sunni reference: Sahih al-Tirmidhi, v5, p332, Tradition #3884

Moreover al-Tirmidhi narrated:

When the Messenger of God heard that Ammar and his parents were tortured in Mecca, he (PBUH&HF) said: "Members of Yasir's family, be patient. Your destination is paradise."

Sunni Reference: Sahih al-Tirmidhi, v5, p233, Thus, Ammar and his parents were the first people declared by the Prophet to be dwellers of paradise.

Here we should say: When a Muslim knows that the Prophet has commended these two important companions (Abu Dhar & Ammar Ibn Yasir) so highly, and if he is a believer in the truthfulness of Muhammad, he does not allow himself to insult these two companions.

Such an insult discredits the Prophet. As we just saw, the above authentic traditions in the six Sunni collections claim that Prophet said he has only four or fourteen righteous companions, out of his 1400 companions. Interestingly enough that Abu Dhar and Ammar Ibn Yasir were mentioned among those very few individuals.

We find that the hostility of Sayf Ibn Umar al-Tamimi, who lived during the second century after the Prophet, and the hostility of his students towards the Shi'ites, motivated them to spread such cheap propaganda. Sayf knew that attributing the revolt against Uthman to the work of Ibn Saba contradicts known historical facts which show that the two companions, Abu Dhar and Ammar, were opposed to Uthman's ever coming to power. 

Because Sayf knew of their opposition to Uthman, he tried to smear their reputations by adding the names of the two prominent companions to the list of students of that fictitious Jew.

If Ibn Saba ever existed, he had declared his Islam after Uthman was killed. Now let us suppose we accept what Sayf alleged concerning that Abdullah Ibn Saba declared his faith after Uthman came to power. Abu Dhar and Ammar Ibn Yasir, on the other hand, had been opposed to Uthman's caliphate before he came to power.

The two companions were followers of the Imam Ali (AS), and they firmly believed that Ali was appointed by the Prophet to be his successor. Since this was their belief before the appearance of Ibn Saba, the story of Sayf about their being influenced by Ibn Saba, is unfounded and untrue.

Thus, in order to clear the third caliph from all accusations pertaining to his ill-management of the Islamic treasury, Sayf accused the revolters being the students of Ibn Saba. He then completed his story by adding the two companions to the class of Ibn Saba's students, intentionally overlooking the fact that the two companions belong to the first successful class of the school of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH&HF).

They were among the important companions who were honored by the Prophet. In fact, Sayf was led by his untrue story to reject the testimony of the Prophet. By this, Sayf had disproved his whole tale.
 

 

[_twelver 67]

Salaam alaykuum brother, great post! I just wanted to add Allama Murtaza Al-Askari has written a great book regarding Saif ibn Umar at-tamimi and his lies against the Shia where he provides an indepth analysis of the events surrounding the myth of Abdallah ibn Saba and Abdallah ibn Saba himself. To anyone interested, it can be found at shialibrary.org