Shia view of the Sahaba: Encyclopedia II - Shia view of the Sahaba - Introduction

Shia view of the Sahaba - Introduction

Shia view of the Sahaba - Ahl al-Bayt

While Sunni accept the testimony of all Sahaba as a authenticated part of the chain of narrators in a hadith, without scrutinizing them, Shia do that only for the Ahl al-Bayt. This is due to that Shia believes them to be thoroughly cleansed from all sin, as described in hadith of the Cloak. Others are scrutinizied for reliability.

Shia view of the Sahaba - Sahaba

Regarding the other parts of chain of narration, all people are up for scrutinize. There is no distinction made between a Sahaba and a taba'een or anyone else regarding trustworthiness, everyone have the same demand to prove or disprove their trustworthiness. Therefor, Shia look at each Sahaba as an individual, preferring some above others.

While Sunni rank the Sahaba according to when they embraced Islam, Shia do not have a ranking system.

Rather, they have a individual view of each one, according to what they did during their life. In fact, a Sahaba who engaged in open warfare against the Ahl al-Bayt have their trustworthiness reduced to near nothing in the Shia view. Furthermore, Shia assume as self-evident that a sahabi that is fasiq is going to hell. In fact, under the doctrine of Tabarra, it is obligatory for a Shi'a to disassociate from such a person.

Shias consider that any hadith where Muhammad is claimed to have, in one way or another, absolved all Sahaba from sin or elevated their trustworthiness is false. Shias claim that, in most cases, such hadiths have been reported by those who opposed the Ahl al-Bayt.

On the other hand, the Sahaba that are agreed to have sacrificed life and property for the sake of Muhammad are held in a very positive view, and under the doctrine of Tawalla, it is obligatory for a Shi'a to love such a person.

Shia view of the Sahaba - Merit for seeing Muhammad

Shias acknowledge no merit per se for having either seen Muhammad or having been related to him in any way. In other words, it is up to the individual to decide how much he or she is prepared to benefit from Muhammad's companionship. Therefore, Shias have different views on each Sahabi, depending on what he or she accomplished. In the Shia view, some Sahaba lived lives contrary to Islamic teaching. Shias support their arguments using verses from the Qur'an, in particular, in relation to Muhammad's wives:

[66.10] Gsets forth an example to those who disbelieve: the wife of Nuh and the wife of Lut: they were both under two of Our righteous servants, but they acted treacherously towards them so they availed them naught against Allah, and it was said: Enter both the fire with those who enter.

Shias also support their view by citing the following verses addressing Muhammad's wives:

[33.30] O wives of the prophet! whoever of you commits an open indecency, the punishment shall be increased to her doubly; and this IS easy to Allah.

[33.31] And whoever of you is obedient to Allah and His Apostle and does good, We will give to her her reward doubly, and We have prepared for her an honorable sustenance.

In other words, Shias view a sahabi who "commits an open indecency" as being twice as blameworthy, because he or she was in the presence of God's best creation, Muhammad, and thus should have been inspired to act justly. Also, a sahabi who "is obedient to God and His Messenger and does good" is considered twice as admirable, because he or she received Muhammad's direct guidance and aided him and his Ahl al-Bayt.

A further verse that is used is:

Shia view of the Sahaba - Detailed list

There is no standardized guideline of status according to the Shia school of thought, a Shia consensus can not established regarding a detailed list based on rank.

However there is a general consensus on a approximate view of each Sahaba, in the same way that most people would think very badly of Adolf Hitler and Ted Bundy and very well of Mahatma Ghandi and Jesus.

It would be impossible to establish a list showing the approximate view of each Sahaba for all the people in the world, since most people have very different frames of preference. However, it is much easier to do so if the targeted group have a similar frame of preference.

Most Shias have the same frame of preference regarding the relevant issues, since most disagreements between the Shi'as sects start after Husayn ibn Ali's era. This, and all sects being minority to the twelvers, explains why almost all Shi'a have a very similar frame of preference regarding the Sahaba, making this list relevant and accurate in the field of Social sciences rather then Hard science.

Shi'as can in general be expected to have a certain view on each Sahaba after having understood what relevant actions (in the Shia point of view) the specific Sahaba have accomplished during his or her life.

This is in contrast to Sunnis. Egyptian and Saudi Arabian have in general different views on, for example, Muawiya ibn Abu Sufyan, one more favorable and the other more dim, however, both are within the Sunni doctrines that claim the uprightness of all Sahaba and go to heaven.

Shia view of the Sahaba - This list

The list of Sahaba includes events that are relevant (in the Shia point of view) for establishing a view, ranked accordingly to their general perceived status.

The Ahl ul-Bayt are not included in this list, since the list revolves around them.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Introduction", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki