Furthermore, the objectionable amount of their deeds is
negligible in comparison to their virtues, their merit is in belief in Allah and
His Messenger, the jihad in His Path, the Hijrah (emigration) from Makkah to
al-Madinah, the support for the Prophet and the faith, the valuable knowledge
and the good deeds. Whoever studies the life of the Sahabah objectively, with
insight and with what Allah bestowed upon them of virtues, will no doubt
discover that they are the best of all people after the Prophet (peace be upon
him), that there never was and never will be their like and that indeed they are
the choicest of the generations of the 'Ummah which is in itself the best of all
nations and the most honorable in the eyes of Allah ,The Exalted.
Ahl Al-Bait (The Prophets
Family)
Ahl as-Sunnah should love the Prophet's
family, give them support, and honor the Prophet's will in regard to them, as he
said at Ghadir al-Khum: "I ask you by Allah to take care of my family I ask
you by Allah to take care of my family." (Muslim)
[The Prophet] (peace be upon him) said to his uncle
al-Abbas when he complained to him that some men of Quraysh resent Banu Hashim
(the Prophet's clan):
"By (Allah) in Whose Hands my soul is! They will
never be believers until they love you for the sake of my relationship to
you." (Reported by Ahmad Ibn Hanbal and others)
The Prophet (peace be upon him) said:
"Indeed, Allah chose the sons of isma'il, and from
them He chose Kinanah, and from Kinanah He chose Quraish, and from Quraish he
chose Banu Hashim, and from Banu Hashim He chose me." (Reported by Muslim
and Ibn Hanbal)
'Ummahat Al-Mu'minin (The
Prophets Wives)
[Ahl as-Sunnah] should give
support to the wives of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), the Mothers
of the Believers, and they should believe that they will be his wives in the
Hereafter, especially Khadijah (may Allah be pleased with her) the mother of
most of his children, and the first person to believe in him and give him
support, and he respected her very highly.
And [A'ishah], as-Siddiqah, the daughter of [Abu Bakr]
as-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with her and her father), of whom the Prophet
(peace be upon him) said:
"A'ishah's superiority over women is like the
superiority of ath-Tharid (a dish of sopped bread, meat and broth) over the rest
of the food." (Reported by al-Bukhari and Muslim)
[Ahl as-Sunnah] should forsake the Rawafid doctrine,
those who hate the Prophet's Companions and revile them.
They should forsake the Nawasib37 doctrine (those who
harm the Prophet's Family verbally or actually).
Karamat Al-Awliya' (The
Miracles of the Saints)
Among the fundamentals
of the people of the Sunnah and the Community is the belief in the miracles of
the saints (Karamat al- Awliya): Allah created supernatural acts through them in
all aspects of life, revelations (Mukashafat), power, and impressions. This is
known of ancient nations in Surat al-Kahf (chapter 18) and in other Qur'anic
chapters and is known of the early men of this 'Ummah amongst the Sahabah and
the Tabi'un and amongst the rest of the generations of this 'Ummah. It will be
with them to the Day of Resurrection.
* Some
traditionalists believe the victory (al-Fat-h) is the liberation of Makkah. (See
Tafsir Ibn Kathir, VIII, pp.37-39 in his commentary on verse 10 of Suratal-Hadid
57.)
**They are: Abu
Bakr, 'Umar, 'Uthman, 'Ali, Talhah, Az-Zubair, Sa'd Ibn Abi Waqqas, Sa'idibn
Zayd, 'Abd ar-Rahman Ibn 'Awf and Abu 'Ubaidah Ibn al-Jarrah.
The Path of Ahl As-Sunnah Wal-Jama'ah
The path of the people of the Sunnah and the Jama'ah is
following the Prophet's Tradition both inwardly and outwardly, and following the
foot- steps of the early Muslims, both the Muhajirun (Emigrants) and the Ansar
(Helpers), and following the Prophet's recommendation:
"Hold on to my Sunnah and the Sunnah of the Rightly
Guided Caliphs after me. Hold on to it firmly. And beware of heretical
innovations (bida') because each heretical innovation (bid'ah) is a falsehood
and each false- hood is a deviation from the right path." (Reported by
Ahmad Ibn Hanbal Abu Dawud, at-Tirmidhi who said it is a good and sound hadith,
and Ibn Majah)
The people of the Sunnah know that the most truthful
words are Allah's Words over the words of all people, and they put the guidance
of Muhammad (peace be upon him) ahead of the guidance of all people. Because of
all this they are called the People of the Book and the Sunnah. They are called
the People of the Community because community means unity and its opposite is
disunity. The term Jama'ah became a name for the unified people themselves and
al-Ijma' (consensus) is the third pillar on which people depend for 'ilm
(knowledge) and din (faith).