THE COMPANIONS OF OUR BELOVED PROPHET MUHAMMAD (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam)


By Hamid Syed


The Companions of Prophet Muhammad (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) are known as sahabas. Prophet Muhammad (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) said the sahabas are like stars. Anybody who follows them will get guidance. The main companions of our beloved Prophet Muhammad (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) were Sayyidina Abu Bakr Siddiq (Rady Allahu Anhu.), Sayyidina Umar (Rady Allahu Anhu), Sayyidina Uthman (Rady Allahu Anhu) and Sayyidina Ali (Rady Allahu Anhu). They became his Khalifas.

Sayyidina Abu Bakr Siddiq (Rady Allahu Anhu) was the Prophet’s favourite companion.. He was the closest companion of Prophet Muhammad (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam). He was the very first Khalifa. He received the title “Siddiq” meaning truthful. He was the first person to accept Islam. He had a daughter called Aisha (Rady Allahu Anha), who married the Prophet. Hadrat Abu Bakr Siddiq (Rady Allahu Anhu) is laid to rest beside Prophet Muhammad (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) in Madina. He fought in many battles with Prophet Muhammad (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) against those who persecuted them.

Sayyidina Abu Bakr Siddiq (Rady Allahu Anhu.) did many good deeds. One night when the stars were up in the sky. Bibi Aisha asked Prophet Muhammad (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) who has done more good deeds than all the stars above? Then Prophet Muhammad (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) said that Hadrat Abu Bakr Siddiq (Rady Allahu Anhu) has done more good deeds than all those stars above.

Sayyidina Umar (Rady Allahu Anhu) was the second Khalifa after Hadrat Abu Bakr Siddiq (Rady Allahu Anhu) passed away. He was Khalifa for 10 years. During his time as a Khalifa, Islam spread far and wide. Some people say that if he were Khalifa for another 10 years Islam would have spread all around the world. Hadrat Umar’s daughter Hafsa (Rady Allahu Anha) was Prophet Muhammad’s wife. Shaitaan was so scared of Hadrat Umar (Rady Allahu Anhu) that there is a Hadith where the Prophet said, “If Hadrat Umar (Rady Allahu Anhu) is walking on a street and Shaitaan approaches him, Shaitaan will run away and take another street”. He was very brave. Sayyidina Umar (Rady Allahu Anhu) received the title “Farooq” which means the one who distinguishes truth from falsehood. He took part in all the battles with the Prophet including the battle of Badr.

At first, he was not a Muslim. When the Prophet was spreading Islam to the people he was not happy and decided to kill the Prophet. One day Hadrat Umar (Rady Allahu Anhu) took his sword and went to kill the Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam). On his way a man told him that his sister and her husband had become Muslims. When Hadrat Umar (Rady Allahu Anhu) heard this, he got really angry and started going to his sister’s house. Then when he went to his sister’s house he heard the surah Taha being recited. So he hit his sister who started bleeding and he felt sorry for her and told her to continue reading. When he heard the recitation of the Qur’an he was convinced it was a revelation from Allah. Then he went to Prophet Muhammad (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) and became a Muslim .He was the fortieth person to become a Muslim. Hadrat Umar (Rady Allahu Anhu) is buried besides the Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) in Madina.

Sayyidina Uthman (Rady Allahu Anhu) was the third Khalifa after Hadrat Umar (Rady Allahu Anhu). He was Khalifa for 12 years. He was the ambassador of Prophet Muhammad (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam). He received the title “Ghani” meaning rich. He was given that title because he gave a lot of his wealth for Islam. He brought camels loaded with goods for the war effort. He took part in many battles with the Prophet. He was also given the title Dhun Nurain meaning possessor of two lights because he married two daughters of the beloved Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam), one after another, that is, Bibi Ruqayyah (Rady Allahu Anha) and after she passed away ,Umm Kulthum (Rady Allahu Anha). He is one of the Asharatul Mubashara meaning one of the ten who were promised Paradise by the Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam). He belonged to the tribe of Quraish. He did hijrah two times, first to Abyssinia, then to Madina.

The Qur’an was compiled on the instructions of Hadrat Uthman (Rady Allahu Anhu) by the companions of Prophet Muhammad (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam.), just as it was recited in the time of the Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam). After the Qur’an was compiled together Hadrat Uthman (Rady Allahu Anhu) made many copies of the Qur’an and distributed it to major cities. Therefore he is known as ” Jami ul Qur’an”.

One day when Hadrat Uthman (Rady Allahu Anhu) was reciting the Qur’an in his house, traitors came from behind and killed him. His blood is on the page of the Qur’an he was reciting. He was a shaheed. He died at the age of 81. He is buried in Jannat ul Baqi.

Sayyidina Ali received the title Asadullah meaning Lion of Allah. Hadrat Ali was the cousin of Prophet Muhammad (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam). Hadrat Ali was born in the Ka’ba. His father was Abu Talib. He is one of the Asharatul Mubashara. When he first opened his eyes he saw Prophet Muhammad. He was raised up by Prophet Muhammad (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam). He slept in the bed of Prophet Muhammad (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) when the Prophet went on hijra. He is called the gate of knowledge. He was a Hafiz ul Qur’an. He is one of the first people to accept Islam. He was also the first youth to accept Islam. Hadrat Ali married Bibi Fatima. He had two children, Sayyidina Imam Hasan and Sayyidina Imam Husain. He fought in many battles with Prophet Muhammad (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) including the battle of Badr. He killed the best warrior of the enemies in a man to man combat. He took part in man to man battles.

Prophet Muhammad (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) loved Hadrat Ali because he was a very charitable person. Once when Imam Hasan (Rady Allahu Anhu) and Imam Husain (Rady Allahu Anhu) were ill, Hadrat Ali and Bibi Fatima made a vow that, after their two sons recover, they will fast for three days. Allah Ta’ala then blessed their children with good health. So now Hadrat Ali and Bibi Fatima had to fast. When their fast was completed and Hadrat Ali (Rady Allahu Anhu) came back from the Masjid after performing Magrib Salat, the family sat down for dinner. As soon as Hadrat Ali Rady Allahu Anhu picked up the bread in his hand he heard a voice of a beggar saying “Give me some thing to eat and may Allah Ta’laa feed you with delicious food of Jannah!” When they heard the beggar they decided that they should give him the bread.

On the second fast, when Hadrat Ali (Rady Allahu Anhu) came back from the Masjid after praying the Magrib salah, the family sat down for dinner, when they heard a voice of an orphan from outside who asked for food and said that he was very poor and alone in the world. So again they gave him the bread and broke their fast with water.

On their last fast, when Hadrat Ali came back from the Masjid after performing Magrib Salah the family sat down for dinner, they heard a voice of a prisoner, who asked for help and said that he was in great distress. So they gave him the bread and again they went to bed without any food.

On the fourth day no one was fasting, but they had nothing to eat. So Hadrat Ali (Rady Allahu Anhu) then took Imam Hasan (Rady Allahu Anhu) and Imam Husain (Rady Allahu Anhu) to Rasulullah (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam). Rasulullah (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) said, “It pains me to see you suffering from want and misery. Let us go to Fatima (Rady Allahu Anha)”. When Rasulullah (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) went to Bibi Fatima (Rady Allahu Anha) and saw that she was observing Nafl salaat. Her eyes had sunk in, and her stomach had drawn close to her back, from excessive starvation. Rasulullah (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) took her to his bosom and invoked Allah’s mercy for her and her family.

At this, Jibreel (Alayhissalam) came with revelation of the verses of the Qur’an. The meaning of the verse of the Qur’an is
“And they give food out of love for Him to the poor and the orphan and the captive.” (76:8)

Jibreel (Alayhissalam) then congratulated them saying Allah Ta`ala was very pleased with them. And that’s how much charitable Sayyidina Ali (Rady Allahu Anhu) and Bibi Fatima (Rady Allahu Anha) were.

Hadrat Bilal (Rady Allahu Anhu) was a Sahabi who loved Prophet Muhammad (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam). He was the first muezzin in Islam. He had the most beautiful voice. He always read two rakah after he made wudu. This is called “Sunnah tul Wudu” When he was a slave, he was beaten up, dragged in the burning sand and had heavy stones put on his chest to force him to say that he is not a Muslim but he always said,”Ahad, Ahad,” meaning, ‘one, one’ (Allah is one). He loved Prophet Muhammad (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) so much that after the Prophet passed away, he was so sad that he didn’t feel like giving the Adhan in Madina. Then after a long time he agreed to give the Adhan. But when he got to “Ash’hadu-anna Muhammadar-Rasullullah”, he started to mourn. Hadrat Bilal (Rady Allahu Anhu) set an example for all Muslims to never give up Islam. He is buried is Damascus, Syria.

Another famous companion of the Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) was Hadrat Abu Hurairah who narrated the most ahadith from all the companions.

Our beloved Prophet Muhammad (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) had thousands of companions.

When he performed his farewell pilgrimage, he had 124, 000 of his companions with him. May Allah Ta`ala make us follow in the footsteps of our beloved Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam) and of his blessed companions, Rady Allahu Anhum.