Chapter Six: The Prohibition of Reviling the Companions and the Imams of Guidance

On the prohibition of reviling the Companions and the Imams of Guidance

1. The prohibition of reviling the Companions: Among the core principles of Ahl al-Sunnah waʾl-Jamaʿah is that their hearts and tongues remain pure toward the Companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ—just as Allah described them when He said: “And those who come after them say, ‘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 truly Compassionate, Merciful.’ ” (al-Hashr 10). They likewise obey the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, who said, “Do not revile my Companions. By the One in whose hand is my soul, were any of you to spend gold equal to Mount Uhud, it would not reach a single mudd of what any one of them gave, nor even half of it.” (1)

They repudiate the path of the Rāfiḍah and the Khārijites, who curse the Companions, harbor hatred toward them, deny their virtues, and declare most of them unbelievers. Ahl al-Sunnah, on the other hand, accept whatever the Quran and the authentic sunnah relate about their merits and believe that they are the best generation, as the Prophet ﷺ said: “The best of you is my generation …” (2) And when the Prophet ﷺ mentioned