[The Sunni stance on the disputes among the Companions]:
274. They keep silent regarding the disagreements that arose among the Companions.

275. They maintain that the reports transmitted about the Companions’ shortcomings fall into three categories:
     – some are sheer fabrications;
     – some have been expanded, abridged, or otherwise distorted from their original form; and
     – whatever is genuinely sound, the Companions are excused for it: either they exercised independent judgment and were correct, or they exercised independent judgment and erred.

276. At the same time, they do not believe that every individual Companion was immune from major or minor sin; rather, sin is in principle possible for them.

[Select virtues of the Companions of Allah’s Messenger ﷺ]:
277. Nevertheless, their early achievements and distinguished virtues guarantee the forgiveness of any lapse that might have occurred from them.

278. Indeed, they are pardoned for misdeeds in a way that those who came after them are not, because they possess good deeds that erase sins to a degree unmatched by later generations.