yet they detest the Companions, hurl curses at them, declare them unbelievers, and malign them.

The Companions themselves are of varying ranks. The foremost are the four Rightly Guided Caliphs—Abu Bakr, ʿUmar, ʿUthmān, and ʿAlī, may Allah be pleased with them all—about whom the Prophet ﷺ said: “Hold fast to my Sunnah and the Sunnah of the Rightly Guided Caliphs after me; cling to it with your molars.” (1)

After them come the rest of the ten who were given the glad tidings of Paradise: Abu ʿUbaydah ʿĀmir ibn al-Jarrah, Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqās, Saʿīd ibn Zayd, al-Zubayr ibn al-ʿAwwām, Ṭalḥah ibn ʿUbayd Allah, and ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf—may Allah be pleased with them.

Next in merit are the warriors of Badr, followed by those who pledged allegiance under the tree at al-Ridwān. Concerning them, Allah the Exalted says: “Allah was pleased with the believers when they pledged allegiance to you under the tree; He knew what was in their hearts, so He sent down tranquility upon them and rewarded them with a near victory.” (48:18)

Then come those who believed and strove in Allah’s cause before the Conquest; they are superior to the Companions who spent and fought afterward, for Allah, exalted is He, says: “Those of you who spent and fought before the Conquest are not equal; they have a higher rank than those who spent afterwards and fought…”