mohamad sedghi
Abstract
The fairness of all the Companions of the God's Apostle (PBUH) is a theory put forth and advocated strongly by Sunni scholars; according to this theory, all the Companions are just and are committed to the requirements of justice. Since this theory has serious consequences for Islamic sciences, particularly ...
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The fairness of all the Companions of the God's Apostle (PBUH) is a theory put forth and advocated strongly by Sunni scholars; according to this theory, all the Companions are just and are committed to the requirements of justice. Since this theory has serious consequences for Islamic sciences, particularly for the validity of the words of the Companions, the present paper examines this theory based on the performance of the Companions themselves. In brief, the belief of the Sunni scholars that all the Companions are just (especially 'Companion' in the sense that all traditionists agree upon) is not correct. Because, beside other reasons provided in their own place, the performance of a substantial number of the Companions and many of their deeds which are against justice, do not confirm this theory in general; that is, they do not confirm the justice of all the Companions. Moreover, traditionists' definition of a 'Companion' as a Muslim who had had association with the Holy Messenger (PBUH) or had seen the Prophet, even for a moment, and had died while believing in Islam, is not linguistically acceptable and has no legitimate proof either; rather, 'Companion' is a term introduced in periods after Islam. Therefore, we cannot pass a judicial decree on the basis of this term. The result of the discussion is that the Companions of the Prophet, just like other people, can be either just or unjust. Hence, regarding the acceptance or rejection of narrators of Hadīth, they are no different from other people.
mohamad sedghi
Abstract
One of the issues of importance in Islam is the investigation of the history of traditions in order to find out why writing down the traditions was discouraged. Had the holy Prophet (PBUH) forbidden writing of traditions? If so, why would a large number of his companions write the Prophetic traditions? ...
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One of the issues of importance in Islam is the investigation of the history of traditions in order to find out why writing down the traditions was discouraged. Had the holy Prophet (PBUH) forbidden writing of traditions? If so, why would a large number of his companions write the Prophetic traditions? On the other hand, if writing the traditions down was not forbidden by Mohammad (PBUH), what prevented this activity and what purpose it had? The author of the present paper has reached the conclusion that the claim that the Prophet has prohibited people from writing the traditions down is unfounded and cannot be true. Rather, it seems that after the decease of the holy Prophet (PBUH), it was the then government, particularly the second Caliph, which prevented the prophetic traditions from being written down and it had been for the purpose of laying a solid foundation for their newly established government. Therefore, although the companions of the Prophet were asked to write the traditions down, they were not allowed to do so, except for those traditions approved by the then government; consequently, many prophetic traditions were isolated or ignored and people were kept unaware of the practice of the Prophet, especially the traditions regarding caliphate and this ensured that the new government was backed up ideologically.
