this be cursed by Allah, the angels, and all mankind. Indeed, there is no disagreement among Muslims that they had been ignorant. Rather, there is no disagreement among Muslims that they had been disbelievers, ignorant of Allah and His religion. Allah guided them only through His Book and His Messenger Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. There was no difference between the people of the Suffa and the other Companions in unbelief and misguidance before they believed in the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.

After embracing Islam, many who were not among the “people of the Suffa”—such as Abū Bakr, ʿUmar, ʿUthmān, and ʿAlī, may Allah be pleased with them—had greater knowledge of Allah and firmer certainty than most of the people of the Suffa.

As for the claim that they stayed behind rather than accompany him in jihad, this is the claim of an ignorant, misguided person. On the contrary, they were among the foremost in fighting and jihad, as Allah describes them in the Quran:

“For the poor emigrants who were driven from their homes and possessions, seeking Allah’s bounty and pleasure and supporting Allah and His Messenger. Those are the truthful.”

He also describes them as follows:

“For the poor who are confined in Allah’s cause and unable to travel through the land. Those who do not know their circumstances think them wealthy because they refrain from begging. You recognize them by their appearance; they do not beg people persistently.”

Seventy of them were killed in a single day, at Biʾr Maʿūna. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was deeply distressed over them and supplicated in prayer for a month against those who had killed them. He also said of them:

“Through them calamities are warded off and the frontiers are defended. They will be the first people to arrive at the Cistern. Their hair is dishevelled and their clothes soiled; they do not marry women accustomed to luxury, nor are the doors of kings opened to them.”