, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, says to Khālid and others like him:

“Do not insult my Companions.”

He means ʿAbd al-Rahmān ibn ʿAwf and others like him, for they were the earliest forerunners: those who embraced Islam before the victory and fought, and who took part in the Pledge of Ridwān (Divine Pleasure). They are superior to, and have a more privileged share in his companionship than, those who embraced Islam after the Pledge of Ridwān—that is, after al-Hudaybiyyah and the Prophet’s peace agreement with the people of Mecca. The latter include Khālid, ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀs, ʿUthmān ibn Abī Talhah, and others like them.

These, in turn, preceded those whose acceptance of Islam was delayed until Mecca was conquered, and who were called “those set free,” such as Suhayl ibn ʿAmr (1), al-Hārith ibn Hishām, Abū Sufyān ibn Harb and his two sons Yazīd and Muʿāwiyah, Abū Sufyān ibn al-Hārith, ʿIkrimah ibn Abī Jahl, Safwān ibn Umayyah, and others. Nevertheless, among these there may be some whose knowledge far surpassed that of certain people who preceded them (2), such as al-Hārith ibn Hishām (3), Abū Sufyān ibn al-Hārith, and Suhayl ibn ʿAmr. They may also have surpassed some who embraced Islam before them, among those who embraced Islam before the victory and fought—just as ʿUmar ibn al-Khattāb surpassed most of those who embraced Islam before him.

The point here is that this prohibits those who became his companions later from insulting those who became his companions earlier, because the earlier companions were distinguished from the later ones (4) by aspects of his companionship in which it was impossible (5) for the later ones to share. Indeed, he went so far as to say: