Section Two:
A Concise Outline of the Sunni Position on the Companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ
Among the fundamentals upheld by Ahl al-Sunnah wa-l-Jamaʿah are:
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that their hearts and tongues remain sound toward the Companions of Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ;
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in accordance with Allah’s description of them: “And those who came after them pray: ‘Our Lord, forgive us and our brothers who preceded us in faith, and do not place in our hearts any rancor toward those who believe. Our Lord, You are indeed Most Kind, Most Merciful’” (al-Hashr 59:10);
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and in obedience to the Prophet ﷺ who said: “Do not revile my Companions; for, by the One in Whose hand is my soul, were one of you to spend the like of Mount Uhud in gold, it would not equal a mudd that one of them spent, nor even half of it.”
The virtues, ranks, and relative excellence of the Companions, and the stance of Ahl al-Sunnah wa-l-Jamaʿah regarding them:
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They accept, without reservation, whatever the Quran, the Sunnah, or the scholarly consensus establishes concerning the Companions’ virtues and degrees;
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thus they give precedence to those who spent and fought in Allah’s cause before the Conquest—namely, the Treaty of al-Hudaybiyyah—over those who spent and fought after it.