Who is Sahabi??

Who is Sahabi??
Nowadays  people whenever discuss any historical facts and point out atrocities done by Muawiya and his regime  The Banu Ummaya Lovers state do not say anything about him as he is sahabi .In this way they Bugz e Ahele Bait ko chupane ke liye Hubb e Sahaba ka slogan use karte hain.

First of all in Hadith there is no proper definition of sahabi but ulema has state on it.There is Fazail of sahabi in hadith we r discussing who is sahabi.There is no ijema on sahabi definition. Hanfi  principles for Hadith collection and testing are different from muhadiseen.Ahele sunnah mein koi aggrement  nahi hai sahabi kaun hoote hain .

Let us first analyze the meaning of the word “Sahaba” by a sahabi himself;

Anas ibn Malik رضي الله عنه , the famous Companion who died between 90-3/708-11, provides perhaps the earliest account of who the first generation of Muslims considered to be Companions.

Once Musa al-Sayblani asked Anas ibn Malik رضي الله عنه whether there were Companions other than himself who were still alive. To this question Anas answered that some Arabs who had seen the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم were still alive, but they had not accompanied him (baqiya nas min al-a ‘rab qad ra ‘awhu  fa-amma man sahibahu fa-la)[  Ibn Al- Salah, Ulum Al Hadith, ed Nur Al Din Itr (Beirut: Dar Al Fikr Al Muasir; Damascus: Dar Al Fikr, 1986), Pg 294; Al Iraqi, Al Taqyid wa al Idah Sharh Muqqadimah Ibn Al Salah ed. Abd Al Rahman Muhammad Uthman (Beirut: Dar Al Fikr, 1981), Pg 299; Al Suyuti, Tadrib Al Rawi Fi Sharh Taqrib Al Nawawi, ed. Abdal Wahhab Abd Al Latif (Madina: Al Matba’ah Al Islamiyah, 1959), Pg 398; Ibn Kathir, Al Ba’ith al Hathith fi Ikkhtisar ulum Al Hadith (Damascu: Dar Al Fikr,n.d), Pg 97-98. Another report gives a slightly different wording, “Qad Baqiya Qawm min Al Arab, Fa amma min Ashabihi fa ana Akhir man baqiya,” Al Iraqi, Fath Al Mughith Sharh Fath Alfiyat Al Hadith, ed. Salah Muhammad Uwaydah (Beirut: Dar Al Kutub Al Ilmiyah,n.d), Vol 4, Pg 336.]


Here Anas makes a distinct ion between “to see (ra’a and “to accompany(sahiba).” He clearly considered the name Companion to apply only to those who had been with the Prophet for quite a long time.

The implication of Anas’s رضي الله عنه  statement is that he did not consider those who only saw the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم to be Companions. Although he knew that there were many who had seen the Prophet, he still referred to himself when he was asked who the last Companion still alive was. Anas was among the six Companions to receive the most Traditions from the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم (aktharu’um hadith or al-mukaththirun. min al-Sahabah ‘an al- Nabi)”[Al Suyuti, Tadrib Al Rawi,Pg 41-43; Al Iraqi, Fath Al Mughith, Vol 4, Pg 342-343.] . He was the Prophet’s servant for the last eight or ten years of the latter’s Life[Ibn Al Athir, Usd Al Ghabah, Vol 1, Pg 151.]. He would surely have known those who had accompanied the Prophet during his lifetime, and as a result he ought to have been aware that he was indeed the last Companion still alive. So there can be no serious objection to his statement.

The Traditionists, however, did not regard Anas as the last Companion. For them this honor was held by Abu al Tufayl (‘Amir ibn Wâthilah) رضي الله عنه , who died around the year 100/718[Ibn Al Salah, Ulum Al Hadith, Pg 300; Al Iraqi, Fath Al Mughith, Vol 4, Pg 353; Al Sakhawi, Fath Al Mughith Sharh Alfiyat li Al Iraqi, ed. Abd Al Rahman Muhammad Uthman (Madina: Al Maktabah Al Salafiyah,n.d), Vol 3, Pg 127; Al Iraqi, Al Taqyid, Pg 313]. Abu Al Tufayl himself made a statement to this effect, saying.

I saw the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم. There is nobody [who is still alive] on the earth who saw the Prophet except me (ra’aytu Rasul Allah wa-ma ala wajh al-ard rajul ra’ahu ghayri [Al Suyuti, Tadrib Al Rawi, Pg 412, Also Ibn Athir, Usd Al Ghabah, Vol 6, Pg 177])

“The last Companions to die were Anas ibn Malik and then Abu al- Tufayl ‘Amir ibn wathilah  (,”[ Ibn kathir, Al Ba’ith, Pg 102.] or “The last Companion to die was Abu  al-Tufayl, who died in the year 100, whereas the last Companion to die before him was Anas ibn Malik.” [Al Nawawi, Al Taqrib wa Al Taysir li Ta’rifat Sunan Al Bashir Al Nadhir fi Usul Al Hadith, ed. AbdAllah Umar Al Bawardi (Beirut: Dar Al Jinan, 1986), Pg 83.]

Sa’id ibn al-Musayyab رضي الله عنه (d.94/713)[ He was the most respected scholar at his time in Madina. See Ibn Sa’ad, Al Tabaqat, Vol 3, Pg 381] is reported to have said that he would not regard anyone as a Companion unless he had stayed with the Prophet one or two years and participated in the Prophet’s battles once or twice
Asim al-Ahwal (d. 142/759),[ Ibn Hajr Al Asqalani, Tadhib Al Tadhib (Hyderabad: Majlis Da’irat Al Ma’arif al Nizamiyah, 1325-7H), Vol 5, Pg 42-43.] who was responsible for hisbah in Kufa and was a qadi in al-Mada’in for Abu Ja’far, also reserved the name Companion for those who had accompanied the Prophet. Thus he refused to call ‘Abd Allahibn Sarjis a Companion because he had only seen the Prophet and nothing more [Khatib Al Baghdadi, Al Kifayah, Pg 68; Ibn Hajr, Fath Al Bari, Vol 7, Pg 4; Idem, Al Isabah, Vol 2, Pg 308; Al Sakhawi, Fath Al Mughith, Vol 3, Pg 93.].
Anas ibn Malik, Abu al-TufayI, Sa’id ibn al-Musayyab and ‘Asim ibn Ahwal represent the early Muslim scholars who defined Companions in a very limited way. Since the intensity of association (the length of the Companionship) counted for so much, the number of the people who deserved the title of Companion was also limited.
Abu al-Husayn apparently said more or less the same thing:
To be a Companion, a person must have two qualifications: one is to have had long sessions (majalis) with the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم, because a person who only saw him, like those who came to him (al-wafidin) and others, and did not stay long, are not to be named Companions; the other is to have prolonged his stay with him, to have followed him (al- tab’lahu), to have taken (Traditions) from him (Al- Akhdh’anhu), and to have placed himself under his authority (al-itba’ anh).[ Abu Al Husayn Al Basri, Al Mu’tamad Fi Usul Al Fiqh (Damascus: Al Ma’had Al Ilmi Al Firansi lil Dirasat Al Arabiyah, 1965), Vol 2, Pg 666.]

Kitab jarful amane-by Imam Abdul Hai Lucknavi. There are mini 6 opinion on who is sahabi-defination?

who had spent max time with Prophet-sohbatyafta logon hain
who spent min 6mth or 1yr with Prophet and fought in one ghazwa along Prophet(By Tabie hzrt Saeed bin Musayab r.a)
Iman ki halat mein Prophet ka didaar kiya aur then kafir gaya then after zaman of Rasool on earth then again accept islam and iman ki halat mein hi uski maut ho.(opinion of imam Ahmed ,Ali bin madni,Imam Bukhari later on muhadiseen use it) disagreement on this definition among scholars.in hanfi fiqh it id not sahabi.
Riwayat of one hadith from him.
One time Saw prophet in halat of baligh aqal, and iman:there r disagreement in this point among s cholar’s who accept this definition .case1-That person accept islam before elan e naboowat and died before elan e nabowat  he was on deen e hanif then whether he is sahabi(eg zaid bin amr bin nufail      case 2- many scholar says dekhna shart nahi hai but mulaqaat hona kyunki kuch sahaba nabeena bhi the eg hzt umme makhtum. Case3-Phir kya jinnat sahib mein shamil hai ya nahi well many scholar agree on point that jinnat were sahaba. Case4-kya angel sahabi hai aur imam razi  and other scholar has agreed on that angel not sahabi.but imam sughti aur imam suyuti r.a agree that angel who saw Prophet r sahabi.case 5 kya sahib who hai jisne zahari hayat mein duniya hee mein deedar kiya kyunki ambiya a.s eg Hazrat Issa a.s,Hazrat Idrees a.s,Hazrat Ilyas a.s,Hazrat Khizr a.s ki mulaqat sabit hain then they r sahabi  Zahabi has include them. Case 6 – At wisal of Prophet who has seen prophet r they sahabi now Imam bulkeni and Zahabi include them who after wisal and before tadfeen seen Prophet  while Ibn e Hajar askalani and  zarkashi not include them in sahabi.
If people accept islam in hyaat e Bashri of Rasool whether he/she has or not the deedar of our Prophet.(ibne abdul barr ne kitabul istiyab aur ibne manda ne marfat e sahaba )

So discussing on this point it to clarify that there is no definition of sahabi .It is also proof that due to so many opinion on this there is no Hadith and Ayat in Quran pak (jo wazw kare)that define who r sahaba and then we can apply Hadith and Ayat on them.

1- IbneHumam usoolfiqh mein kitab hai a tahrek fil usool e fiqh
>>sahabi unko khete hain jo mulaqat ki iman ki halat mein aur wisal huwe usme .>>lekin jamoor usooli hai jinki hum fiqh padhte hai who farmate hai sahaba ki def hai jisne taweel company prophet ke sath guzaari.baaz log 6mth/1yr ka criteria is not sensible.

2-tasheel lulilah ul masool by almuhalawi hanfi book
>>sahaba def taweel arsa bitya and follow rightly.

3-Buznul nazaar fiusoolul fiqh allama asmandi samrkandi kitab
>>Sahabi def is 1) spent long time in company of prophet .2) he is die hard follower.From Prophet taken almost complete ilm.

4-jawahar el madeha fiakbarul hanfia ibne abulwafa kitab
>>MOST usoolih scholar  same def as above

5-fawateherahmooth sharamusalehut sabot kitab usool e fiqh hanafia
spent long time in company of prophet

Shia ki definition is also not clear.Hence scholars  Majority has no clear definition on sahaba. Imam Ghazali also stated Sahab r one who spent long time in company of prophet.

Imam barHaq if done rebel then should do taubaa and wisal on taubaa. Ibn salah naqal muqadama that Anas bin Malik  mention Once Musa al-Sayblani asked Anas ibn Malik رضي الله عنه whether there were Companions other than himself who were still alive. To this question Anas answered that some Arabs who had seen the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم were still alive, but they had not accompanied him (baqiya nas min al-a ‘rab qad ra ‘awhu  fa-amma man sahibahu fa-la)[4]

Conclusion: As a student of Islamic studies my opinion on who a Sahabi is as follows:
A Muslim, who meets the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم, attend His (at least) few majalis, accompany Him and remain faithful to Him and His Family and passes away in that condition and should not rebel against Khulafa e Rashideen (5 Khalifa )on Haq”