Mujāhid said, “The scholars are the Companions of Muhammad—may God bless him and grant him peace.”

Qatādah, commenting on the Almighty’s words, “Those who have been given knowledge see that what has been sent down to you from your Lord is the truth” (Sabaʾ 34:6), said, “They are the Companions of Muhammad—may God bless him and grant him peace.” (1)

When death approached Muʿādh, people said to him, “Give us your parting advice.” He replied, “Seat me upright. Knowledge and faith are still in their proper place—whoever pursues them will find them—(2) with four men: ʿUwaymir Abū al-Dardāʾ, Salmān al-Fārisī, ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd, and ʿAbd Allāh ibn Salām. I heard the Messenger of Allah—may God bless him and grant him peace—say, ‘He is the tenth of ten in Paradise.’” (3)

Abū Isḥāq al-Sabiʿī reported that ʿAbd Allāh said, “The scholars of the earth are three: one in al-Shām, another in Kūfah, and another in Madīnah. The first two ask the one in Madīnah, while the one in Madīnah never asks them about anything.” (4)

It was said to ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, “Tell us about the Companions of the Messenger of Allah—may God bless him and grant him peace.” He asked, “Which of them?” They replied, “ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd.” He said, “He recited the Quran and mastered the Sunnah; that was the end of it, and that suffices.”