Alhassanain(p) Network for Heritage and Islamic Thought

Preface

I praise Thee, O Allah!, as much as the scope of Thy knowledge and dilatation of Thy mercy. Praise I introduce to Thee precious, becoming Thy godhead to me and my bondage to Thee. In the same amount I do seek Thy forgiving all my guilts and sins, as Thou ordered. I do implore Thee being gracious to me by forgiving me, as Thou promised. Thou art my Master Who does never break His promise.

I do ask Thee by Thy greatest most excellent Name, and Thy perfect Words to send Thy mercy and blessings to Thy messenger, Mohammed, whom Thou conveyed with Islam, and he did discern and explicate and take the followers to the straight path he had paved.

O Allah! Send Thy mercy and blessings to him and his immaculate infallible family; people of weight and god­fearing, stars of security and guidance and ships of safety. It is they whom are exclusively given honor by God, and preferred to the entire nation, and it is they seeking God's blessings to whom is judged as a pillar part of the ritual prayer obligatorily imposed upon God's slaves, so that this should be a continuous remembrance of their standing, if only remembrance were useful. Remembrance serves only the believers.

The divine jurisprudential formulation conveyed by Islam is, from all its sides, details and gists, truly a perfect heavenly plan, scrupulously prepared for leading mankind, particularly, to the best course and to the beatitude in this and the other world. On the contrary of the positive systems and formulations that are founded on grounds of conjecture and surmise, the divine jurisprudential formulation is naturally and composedly based upon conviction and certitude.

This divine formulation was not kept in the form of mere hypothetical rules. Through a solicitation chiefly led by the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family), it was thrusted into the world of application and transferred into actual deeds and eventfulness. This was activated in slow artistic portrayal. Hence, the solicitation of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) resulted in a government directly led by him. This matter is satisfactorily asserting the utmost confidence of the efficacy of this formulation. As a result of this application, the ever best nation was emanated, and the ever greatest state was established. It is the state of the Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him and his family).

Nevertheless, while the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) was bed­ridden in his final disease, and just after his eternal journey to the Elevated Associate, a series of political downfall and collapse did actually begin to emerge. Along with such a collapse, processes of darkening, ostentatious false safety and covering up of the real collapse were arisen. The originators of such process expected from their deeds that they would grant an opportunity to cease the collapse and that none would realize or have a chance to rejoice in the misfortune of this religion and its embracers. In contrast, The collapses were ceaseless; they outlived through the history. Each paved the way to another. Consequently, the Islamic political formulation turned into a skeleton keeping the name only. With the abatement of the last Ottoman sultan, the Islamic political system witnessed his final collapse and forever disappearance!

As they woke up from their inobservance, the Muslims found their previously united nation a many ruptured nations subsisting perplexity and loss. (They were so rent asunder to the degree that any form of reunification was unavailing.), Al­Aqqad describes in his Muawiya­bn­Abi­Sufian Fil­Mizan. The united Islamic state became numerous states. The fever of Islam was changed into a table on which nations were ruined. This was in the time when the surrounding world is subject to the jungle law after the materiality has bled its being with its claws. The world is running after a mirage, misthinking of it as the curable remedy of its bleeding. It is sparing no efforts is pulling the mankind, as a whole, to that mirage raising the slogan of mercy and coercing the patient on having his remedy. While drums are beaten for arousing tunes of happiness and merriment, the whole world perceives that the remedy has not been but an illusion.. The collapse of the communist ideology is not that far away.

What were the reasons beyond the successive collapses that, as a commencing step, modified the political system of Islam into a meaningless skeleton lacking its actual dimensions and, then, removed it totally from the factuality after they had eradicated the validity of the divine jurisprudential formulation and, hence, banned mankind from taking Islam as the remedy and benefiting its formulation?

Cerebrally, it is impossible to regard the matter that the jurisprudential formulation itself is the main reason beyond such catastrophes and collapses. This formulation is God's made. It is He Who created every thing adeptly.

We can positively conclude, hereby, that the reason beyond all these misfortunes were either those who led and directed the political history of Islam, or people who partook in the process of directing the history or the both.

The Arabic religious parties, who took the charge of leading the ceremony of the blind imitation, trafficked in pains of society and mixed the entire records for achieving definite purposes, have exerted all their efforts in the course of making people understand that these political parties' view towards Islam had been the Islam itself. They misled people to the misrepresentation that Islam and the parties' views about it are two faces of the same coin. As a matter of fact, Islam is God's made, while the parties' views towards it are contrived from their own conceptions. In due course, they endeavored to delude people that the political history of Islam beginning with the Prophet's decease and ending at the comedown of the last Ottoman sultan, which is man's made, had been identically the political system of Islam which is God's made for directing the political motions of societies. Despite the fact that by adopting such a concept, the Arabic religious parties had confused the abstract ideology with their admission of that ideology, preferred the follower and the branch to the leader and the origin and substituted the divine jurisprudential formulation for their own conclusions, they were expressing their exact viewpoints. In addition to their neglect of any attempt to conceive the divine formulation, they were too short to receive the theses of Islam that confronted theirs, and capitalized on all means for the sake of suffocating such theses. They, still, claimed of their extroversion on the international ideologies and promised of granting such ideologists the freedom of exhibiting their thoughts. Meanwhile, they blocked the way in the face of the opposite Islamic ideologies, preventing their bearers from proceeding any proclamation of their thoughts. How should the world believe the claims of extroversion alleged by such political parties?

In this very vision, the Arabic religious parties introduced Islam to the modern world. The same Islam that had been come forth for the purpose of releasing, comprising and achieving the mankind's needs and expectations, became too short to incorporate its embracers. Moreover, it could not even admit them! This is the attainment of their shortage of sufficient knowledgeability. They think they are doing well!

By this humble study, I spared no efforts in the field of proving the fact that God's revealed representation is different from our conceiving that representation. I also aimed at proving that the successive collapses which started just after the Prophet's decease and uprooted the political system of Islam peremptorily, were not the result of an error or a shortage in Islam or its eternal jurisprudential formulation. The real reason was the Muslims - the embracers of Islam - who substituted God's grace and judgments for their own fancies and caprices. This is the actual root of misfortunes and, in the same time, it is the setting point towards Allah.

In favor of providing facilities for comprehension, this study is divided into four main titles. The first is involved in the meaning and the cognition of companionship. In the second, I aimed for divulging the historical roots of this cognition. The third is engaged in expounding upon the authority in Islam. Because of the considerable relation between the authority and the political leadership, I debated, in the fourth title, the political leadership in Islam. By little deliberation, the reader shall discover that these four topics are correlated to each other inseparably. Considering it as an Islamic thesis took the charge of leadership all over the Islamic history, the opinion of the Sunni sect, quoted from the most remarkable references, is exhibited in almostly every subject. Following this is the thesis of the Shias, inferred from their most remarkable references, considering it as the Islamic opinion that took the role of the opposition all over the Islamic history. Finally, the judgment of the Islamic doctrine in every subject is put in the hands of the adorers of the neat doctrinal truths.

Thus, this study took a unique form, argument and course. As much as I could conceive, for the first time in the modern history, this topic is debated so comprehensively, perfectly, subjectively and thoroughly, in information and references, by an Arab individual belonging to the Sunni sect.

I am not to conceal my loyalty to Mohammed's progeny and the Hashemites in general. They are the minor weighty thing after the Quran, the major. Guidance to the right path, however, cannot be attained unless both are ensued. Deviation cannot be evaded unless both are pursued. This fact is evidenced by decisive doctrinal texts. Likewise, they are the ships of saving and the stars of safety and guidance in every darkness. They are the solution of every problem. The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) is the common denominator of the Muslims. Dedicating the leadership and the allegiance to his progeny is a matter of attaining everyone's satisfaction, and extricating the roots of avarice for the power from everyone's interior. Deprecation of the process of competition on the power results in settlement. In this means, it is unavoidable to mention the merits of the Prophet's kinsmen. It is they who guarded and protected the Prophet to the degree that they had suffered a three year blockade unanimously decided and practiced by the entire Arab tribes whose only demand had been either the Hashemites' surrender or giving Mohammed up so that the Arabs should be killing him. Like many other prophets, Mohammed (peace be upon him and his family) would have been killed if the Hashemites had responded to one of the previous demands. The struggle of the Hashemites for the sake of God is undeniable. Their sacrifices are as bright as sun.. These are only a sparse part of Mohammed's kinsmen's merits and glories which I regard as adequate excuses for my loyalty and fondness of them. Who may blame me, then?

O my Lord, O my Master! Thou know my private and public. Thou do know that my intention has been but seeking Thy contentment. It is Thy grace if I am right. Thou are the best master and the best Supporter. It is my blemish if I am wrong. I repeat:

O Allah! Admit this work exclusively for Thy sake and a present I provide to Mohammed, Mohammed's family and every single past, present or coming Hashemite and Muttelibite on this globe to the Day of Judgment. Regard it as an alms extinguishing my faults and taking me closer to Thy. The end of their praying is: Praised be Allah, the Lord of the worlds.

The Author

Part 1 - Chapter 1

1. the Lexical Meaning of Sahaba

A. in Lexicons

(As'hab, Sahaba, Sahibi, Yas'habu, Suhbeh, Sahabe.) According to the Arabic­Arabic dictionaries, these idioms mean to associate, to accompany, to sit with, to submit to, to accede to. (Sahib) means the associate, the submissive, the sitter with, the companion, the custodian or the keeper of a matter. This word (Sahib) is called on those who refer to a definite sect. It is said: The As'hab (followers) of Imam Ja'far, the As'hab of Abu­Haneefeh,.. etc.

B. in the Holy Quran

Allah, the Elevated, revealed the Quran in Arabic. One of the characteristics of Quran is being the only convictional reference of Arabic. It is the words of Allah, the knowing, dogmatically, of the most accurate hiddens and the deepest secrets of this language. By reading the Holy Quran, we discover that the words derived from the idiom involved are included in the following forms: (Tussahibeni, Sahibhuma, Sahibuhu, Sahibetihi, As'hab and As'habehum.) These forms were repeated ninety seven times in the Holy Quran.

C. Induce the Quranic Verses for Providing for the Lexical Meaning

The raised point is that there in no existence for the forms (Sahaba and Suhbe) in the Holy Quran.

By conjuring these words up, we find out that they are forming a perfect coverage of the entire lexical meaning previously referred to. This idiom may take a single face or aspect, or various faces and aspects. It may bear an ideal face representing the total rims of good and, in the same time, it may bear a face so ugly that it represents the gross rims of evil.

D. Lexical Aspects of the Idiom

Suhbe may hint at relationship between two believers.[1] It may hint at relationship between a man and his parents who are opposing his belief.[2] It may hint at relationship between two companions in a journey.[3] It may hint at relationship between a master and his slave.[4] It may hint at relationship between a believer and a disbeliever.[5] It may hint at comprehensive relationship between an individual disbeliever and a group of disbelievers.[6] It may hint at relationship between a prophet and his disbelieving people who are aiming for pulling their prophet to the shed of evil.[7] It may be compulsory.[8] It may be a pursuing companionship that leads to an ill deed on which a general conduct is based.[9] It may be a matter of submitting to a divine doctrine and an absolute loyalty to the political leadership of that doctrine. An example on this sort of companionship is the Prophet's family's submission and loyalty to the divine doctrine and the Prophet's political leadership, along with their notable sacrifices. Another example is the Prophet's virtuous choicest companions' submission and loyalty to the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family).

Pivot of companionship is comprehensive, based upon a doctrine, a leadership, goals and supreme idealities to the achievement of which the leader and his companions are working for submitting the whole society to the domination of that doctrine.[10]

2. Terminological Meaning of Sahaba

The following are the words of bn­Hajar Al­Asqalani, the Shafi'ite:

“A Sahabi includes all those who met the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) and believed in him till death.[11]

A. An Explanation of bn­Hajar's Definition

The following categories are registered under the title of Sahaba:

1. Those who met the Prophet for a considerable or a brief period.

2. Those who reported the Prophet's traditions and those who did not.

3. Those who participated in battles led by the Prophet and those who did not.

4. Those who saw the Prophet, even without a meeting.

5. Those who could not see the Prophet for an accidental obstacle; such as blindness.

The following are excluded from the list of Sahaba, for the bound of believing:

1. Those who met the Prophet while they were believing in other prophets; such as the faithful Scriptuaries before Mohammed's divine envoy.

2. Scriptuaries who met the Prophet and believed that that would be the anticipated prophet are probably included with the Sahaba. An example is Bahira, the priest and his likes.

3. Every mandate human being and jinn are included in bound of believing in the Prophet.

4. Ibnul­Atheer's objection on Abu­Musa's excluding some of the jinn mentioned in the list of the Sahaba is not unacceptable.

5. bn­Hazm says: “They lied to the Islamic nations those who claim of unanimity. God, the Elevated, informed us that a group of jinn had believed and listened to the Quran recited by the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family). Hence, they are Sahaba.”

6. Reckoning the angels with the Prophet's companions is a subject of discrepancy. As Fakhruddin Ar­Razi, in his Asrarur­Tenzil, reported the unanimous claim that the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) had not been sent to the angels, a many scholars disagreed to him. Providing a number of arguments, Sheik Teqiyyuddin As­Sebki alleged that the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) had been sent to the angels, too.

7. By bound of (believing till death), the apostates who denounced their disbelieving in the Prophet's divine message after they had met him, are excluded from the list of Sahaba. An example is Ubeidullah­bn­Jahsh. With his wife, Ummu­Habiba, he declared his being Muslim and immigrated to Abyssinia. Unfortunately, he embraced Christianity there till his death. Abdullah­bn­Khatl who was killed while he was hanging to curtains of Ka'ba is another example.

8. Muslims who defected their apostasy are reckoned with the Sahaba according to bound of (believing till death), even if they had never seen or met the Prophet. Regarding the earlier part of this category, there is unanimity on the ruling that apostates who return to Islam before their death are Sahaba, while some scholars had preservations against this class. Relying upon the hadithists' agreement on reckoning bn­Qeis, who returned to Islam in Abu­Bakr's reign after he had apostatized, with the Sahaba and recording his reports in the most remarkable books of hadith, the earlier preservations are not satisfactory.

B. bn­Hajar's Estimation of this Definition

bn­Hajar's definition is extracted from the most authentic opinions adopted by supreme scholars, such as Al­Bukhari and his tutor, Ahmed­bn­Hanbal and their followers. There are, however, many disorderly opinions appertained to identifying the Prophet's companions. Among these is the opinion that institutes four conditional qualifications of Sahaba. A Sahabi is only that who enjoyed a considerable period of companionship with the Prophet, and his reports, regarding the Prophet's traditions, were taken into account, and participated in the Prophet's battles or was martyred with him (peace be upon him and his family.) Others instituted maturity and sitting with the Prophet as provisories of regarding companionship. A group named every single individual who had seen the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) as a Sahabi. Pursuant to the rule that capability of seeing cannot be imputed to the undiscerning, the previous opinion includes discerning individuals only. At any rate, those undiscerning individuals are Sahaba since they were seen by the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family.) Regarding those whose dead bodies had been seen by the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family), like Abu­Thuweib Al­Hutheli, the poet, there is a discrepancy about reckoning them with the Sahaba. It is more acceptable to exclude them.

C. Means of Recognizing the Sahaba

Means of proving a Sahabi is a successive narration that is well publicized and well­known. In addition, there must be a report of a Sahabi respecting reckoning that individual with the Sahaba. A single Sahaba's follower's report depending upon a Sahabi's nomination is acceptably taken into consideration of being a Sahabi. Lastly, a decent man's declaration of being a Sahabi is considered.

Al­Amudi and others put decency as a provisory condition of admitting a Sahabi. Since the entire Sahaba are decent it is imperative to admit an individual's claim of being a Sahabi. Thus, a claim of being a Sahabi is measured in the very balance of claiming of decency. This is, however, unacceptable.

Coinciding in time of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) is an essential base of deciding a Sahabi. That time is limited by one hundred and ten years after the Prophet's immigration to Yathrib. On that account, the Imams disavowed claims after that period. A group of people were discredited in their claims of being Sahaba since their appearances proved forgery of their claims. Al­Amudi, however, decided inadmissibility of regarding such individuals as Sahaba.

D. The Entire People are Sahaba

Unanimously, Mohammed's advocacy resulted in establishing the state led by him for about a decade. During this period, he (peace be upon him and his family) planted regulations of the Islamic political system and clarified thoroughly the belief of Islam by applying the total hypotheses that led to propounding the general spirit of Islam.

Constitutionally, any government consists of people, a province on which those people settle and a power policing those people. Pursuant to bn­Hajar Al­Asqalani's definition of the Sahaba, the following two points are bases on which a Sahabi is considered:

1. Meeting the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) by associating, talking or viewing him. He whomever saw or was seen by the Prophet, including unweaned babies, is regarded as a Sahabi.

2. Believing in prophesy of Mohammed (peace be upon him and his family.)

Considering bn­Hajar's opinion, it is obligatory to scrutinize everyone's creed. This matter, still, is out of humans' capacity. Al­Asqalani should have discriminated between real and ostensive believing. Abdullah­bn­Ubey, for instance, is one of the Sahaba agreeingly. Yet, he is chief of the hypocrites. The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) addressed at those who suggested that Abdullah would be crucially killed: “I swear we are to respect his accompanying us as long as he is among us.”[12] Abdullah­bn­Abi­Sarh, as another example, was the Prophet's registrar, but he forged lies against the Prophet who, as a penalization, legalized killing him whenever found even hanging to curtains of Ka'ba. At conquest of Mecca, Othman interceded to gain cancellation of that decision. Hence, that man embraced Islam for saving his soul. Such an individual is undiscussibly a Sahabi.[13] The same is said about Al­Hakam­bn­Al­Aas who had been banished by the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family.) After the Prophet's decease, the man asked Abu­Bakr and Omar respectively to annul the Prophet's decision. They rejected his demand. Othman, when became the caliph, allowed him to be in Al­Madina with full honor and dignity. As a compensation, he gifted him one hundred thousand dirham, as he was a Sahabi.[14]

Briefly, it is not a condition to regard the real believing in the Prophet's mission in consideration of the Prophet's companionship. It is acceptably sufficient to dissemble to be believing in him or keep such a pretense all the lifetime since the Prophet does not care for the hidden on any. Hiddens, however, is God's concern!

Totally, everybody had the opportunity to meet the Prophet through the solicitation, government, battles, declaration of fealty, ritual pilgrimage and Visitations, especially the Welfare Pilgrimage, and the complete domination of the Arab Peninsula. All of citizens of Mecca and At­Ta'if declared their being Muslims and witnessed the Farewell Pilgrimage with the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family). that was in 10A.H. The same could be said about tribes of Aws and Khazraj. Hence, when the Prophet was dead, no single individual was showing disbelieving in his mission.[15] Babies, as their fathers used to take them to the Prophet for seeking blessing, became Sahaba according to the fact that the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) had seen them. Reports appertained to this matter are many. (Babies were taken to the Prophet for seeking blessings.) (Whenever a baby was born, it would be taken to the Prophet.)[16]

The authentic reports regarding the Prophet’s being wont to walk in streets, during his leading the government he had established, without being accompanied by any guardian or the like, and wont to practice his activities himself, lead to the inevitable fact that every citizen in his state had full option to see, communicate and attend at any meeting he held. This means that the entire citizens could meet, see, hear and sit with their president.

The other Islamic sects agree with Sunnis on the lexical and terminological meanings of Sahaba. They differ with them on significance of qualifications of decency. While Sunnis generalize and unexceptionally decide the entire Sahaba as decent, the other sects figure certain justifiable prerequisites and topical qualifications for decency. Decency is imputed to those individuals who enjoy such prerequisites and qualifications only. Depending on evidences elicited from Book of God and the Prophet's traditions, they rule of those who do not enjoy such prerequisites and qualifications as indecent.