Hadith Al-Thaqalayn, the Deposed Will of the Last Prophet to Humanity

17. The Sahabah And The Ahl Al-Bayt: Hadith Al-Hawdh (Part 1) =============================================================

The Qur’an informs us that we will be in three different categories on the Day of al-Qiyamah:

And you will be three kinds. So, Companions of the Right Hand, who will be Companions of the Right Hand? And Companions of the Left Hand, who will be Companions of the Left Hand? And those foremost will be foremost.[^1]

Those who will be in the “foremost” group will be the nearest people to Allah in al-Jannah[^2]. All the other members of Paradise will be from the Right Hand group[^3]. Our concern in this research are those who will be on the Left Hand. Everyone who will enter Hellfire will be from the Companions of the Left Hand:

And Companions of the Left Hand, who will be Companions of the Left Hand? In fierce hot wind and boiling water, and shadow of black smoke, neither cool, nor good.[^4]

And:

And those who disbelieved in Our Verses, they will be Companions of the Left Hand. The Fire will be shut over them.[^5]

May Allah protect us from ever being among the Companions of the Left Hand.

The question here is about the Sahabah: will any of them be from the Companions of the Left Hand? We ask this because they generally failed to accept the offspring of the Messenger, sallallahu ‘alaihi wa alihi, as khalifahs and supreme guides after him.

So, what exactly will the consequence of their flouting of Hadith al-Thaqalayn and Hadith al-Khalifatayn be? Are they really going to suffer any punishment from Allah for their disobedience?

Furthermore, the Prophet had warned that his Ummah must follow his offspring after him in order to remain upon the true guidance. Well, the Sahabah did not heed his warning. So, did they derail from the Right Path?

Imam al-Bukhari (d. 256 H) records the answer:

Ahmad b. Salih – Ibn Wahb – Yunus – Ibn Shihab – Ibn al-Musayyab, who used to narrate from the Sahabah of the Prophet, peace be upon him, that the Prophet, peace be upon him, said:

Some men from my Sahabah will come to my Lake-Fount and they will be driven away from it. So, I will say, “O my Lord, my Sahabah!” It will be said, “You have no knowledge of what they INNOVATED after you: they turned APOSTATES.”[^6]

This hadith was transmitted by the Sahabah themselves, and it reflects the true Islamic position on the matter. Many of the Sahabah became “innovators” and “apostates” after the death of the Messenger of Allah. As a result, they will be Companions of the Left Hand on the Day of al-Qiyamah, and will thereby be thrown into Hellfire.

One of the Sahabah who spread this bad news about his kind was Anas. Imam Muslim (d. 261 H) has his report:

Muhammad b. Hatim – ‘Affan b. Muslim al-Saffar – Wuhayb – ‘Abd al-‘Aziz b. Suhayb – Anas b. Malik:

The Prophet, peace be upon him, said, “Some persons from amongst those who kept me company will meet me at the Lake-Fount. I will see them, and they will be presented to me. Then, they will be forced away from me. I will say: ‘O my Lord, my Sahabah! My Sahabah’. It will be said to me: ‘You do not know what they INNOVATED after you.’”[^7]

We will, in the last chapter of this book, identify some of these innovators among the Sahabah, through sahih Sunni riwayat. Some of these names may severely bother some of our brothers from the Ahl al-Sunnah.

Imam al-Bukhari has documented the hadith of Ibn ‘Abbas too, on this matter:

Muhammad b. Yusuf – Sufyan – al-Mughirah b. al-Nu’man – Sa’id b. Jubayr – Ibn ‘Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them both:

The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said: “You will be resurrected bare-footed, naked and uncircumcised.” Then he recited: {As We began the first creation, We shall repeat it: a promise We have undertaken. Truly, We shall do it} [21:104]. He continued: “The first to be dressed will be Ibrahim. Then, some of my Sahabah will be taken towards the right side AND TOWARDS THE LEFT SIDE. So, I will say: ‘My Sahabah!’ It will be said, ‘THEY HAD BEEN APOSTATES SINCE YOU LEFT THEM.’ I will then say as the Righetous Servant, ‘Isa b. Maryam, said: {And I was a witness over them whilst I lived amongst them. But, when You caused me to die, You were the Watcher over them, and You are a Witness to all things. If You punish them, they are Your slaves, and if You forgive them, You, only You, are the All-Mighty, the All-Wise} [5:117-118].”

Muhammad b. Yusuf narrated from Abu ‘Abd Allah that Qubaysah said: “They were those who apostatized during the time of Abu Bakr. So, Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, fought them.”[^8]

Qubaysah, one of the Sunni Imams, identified the apostates among the Sahabah as only those of them who renounced Islam during the rule of Abu Bakr. Our contention is that the apostates truly included, but were far more than just the Ahl al-Riddah. More details will be provided.

Imam Ahmad (d. 241 H) records the testimony of yet another Sahabi:

‘Abd Allah (b. Ahmad) – my father (Ahmad b. Hanbal) – ‘Affan – Hammad b. Salamah – ‘Ali b. Zayd – al-Hasan – Abu Bakrah:

The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said:

Some persons from amongst those who kept me company AND SAW ME will meet me at the Lake-Fount. They will be presented to me and I will see them. But then, they will be forced away from me. So, I will say, “O my Lord! My Sahabah! My Sahabah!” It will be said, “You do not know what they INNOVATED after you.”[^9]

Shaykh al-Arnaut comments:

Sahih li ghayrihi^10

Al-Bukhari returns again with the riwayah of Abu Hurayrah:

Ahmad b. Shabib b. Sa’id al-Hinti – my father – Yunus – Ibn Shihab – Sa’id b. al-Musayyab – Abu Hurayrah, that he used to say:

The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said: On the Day of al-Qiyamah, a group from my Sahabah will meet me. But, they will be driven away from the Lake-Fount. So, I will say, “O my Lord! My Sahabah!” Then, He will say, “You have no knowledge of what they INNOVATED after you: they turned APOSTATES.”[^11]

Ahmad b. Hanbal has the testimony of yet another Sahabi:

‘Abd Allah (b. Ahmad) – my father (Ahmad b. Hanbal) – Sulayman b. Dawud – ‘Abd al-Rahman b. ‘Abd Allah b. Dinar – Abu Hazim – al-Nu’man b. Abi ‘Ayyash al-Zarqi – Abu Sa’id al-Khudri:

The Prophet, peace be upon him, said: “So, I will say, ‘My Sahabah! My Sahabah!’ It will be said, ‘You do not know what they INNOVATED after you.’ Then I will say, ‘Woe, woe to whoever changed after me.’”[^12]

Al-Arnaut says:

Sahih^13

Imam al-Bukhari also documents that of Ibn Mas’ud:

‘Amr b. ‘Ali – Muhammad b. Ja’far – Shu’bah – al-Mughirah – Abu Wail – ‘Abd Allah, may Allah be pleased with him:

The Prophet, peace be upon him, said: I will be your predecessor at the Lake-Fount. Some persons from amongst you will be presented to me. Then they will be forced away from me. Therefore, I will say, “O my Lord! My Sahabah!” It will be said, “You do not know what they INNOVATED after you.”[^14]

He was addressing his Sahabah, and clearly stated that the innovators would be “from amongst” them.

Imam Ahmad documents the report of Hudhayfah as well:

‘Abd Allah (b. Ahmad) – my father (Ahmad b. Hanbal) – Shurayh b. al-Nu’man – Hushaym – al-Mughirah – Abu Wail – Ibn Mas’ud AND Husayn – Abu Wail – Hudhayfah, both of them (Ibn Mas’ud and Hudhayfah) said:

The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said: “I will be your predecessor at the Lake-Fount, expecting you. Some persons from amongst you will be presented to me, and I will recognize them. Then, they will be forced away from me. So, I will say, ‘O my Lord! My Sahabah! My Sahabah!’ It will be said, ‘You do not know what they INNOVATED after you.’”[^15]

Al-Arnaut comments:

This hadith has two chains. The first chain is sahih, and the narrators of the second chain are thiqah (trustworthy) narrators of the Sahih.^16

Ahmad also records:

‘Abd Allah (b. Ahmad) – my father (Ahmad b. Hanbal) – ‘Abd al-Samad – ‘Abd al-‘Aziz b. Muslim – Husayn – Abu Wail – Hudhayfah:

The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said, “Groups of people will meet me at the Lake-Fount. But, they will be forced away from me. So, I will say, ‘O my Lord, my Sahabah! O my Lord, my Sahabah!’ It will be said to me, ‘You do not know what they INNOVATED after you.’”[^17]

Al-Arnaut comments:

A sahih hadith^18

Imam al-Haythami (d. 807 H) copies the hadith of another prominent Sahabi:

Narrated Abu Mas’ud, from the Prophet, peace be upon him:

Some persons from my Sahabah will be presented to me. When I see them, they will be forced away from me. So, I will say, “My Sahabah!” Then it will be said, “You do not know what they INNOVATED after you.”[^19]

Al-Haythami says:

Al-Tabarani recorded it and its narrators are narrators of the Sahih.^20

Imam Ahmad has not relented yet:

‘Abd Allah (b. Ahmad) – my father (Ahmad b. Hanbal) – Qutaybah b. Sa’id – Ya’qub b. ‘Abd al-Rahman – Abu Hazim – Sahl:

I heard the Prophet, peace be upon him, saying: “I will be your predecessor at the Lake-Fount, and whoever will pass by there, he will drink from it and whoever will drink from it, he will never again be thirsty. Groups of people will meet me. I will recognize them and they will recognize me.Then, a barrier will be placed between me and them.”

Abu Hazim said: al-Nu’man b. Abi ‘Ayyash heard me while I was narrating this hadith to them and said. “Did you hear this from Sahl?” I said, “Yes.” He said, “I bear witness that I heard Abu Sa’id al-Khudri adding (as part of the hadith): “I will say: ‘They are from me’. It will be said, ‘You do not know what they did after you.’ I will say, ‘Woe to those who changed after me.’”[^21]

Al-Arnaut declares:

Its chain is sahih upon the standard of the two Shaykhs.^22

Imam Muslim returns again:

Ibn Abi ‘Umar – Yahya b. Salim – Ibn Khaytham – ‘Abd Allah b. ‘Ubayd Allah b. Abi Mulaykah – ‘Aishah:

I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, saying while he was in front of his Sahabah: “I will be at the Lake-Fount, expecting whosoever from amongst you will meet me. By Allah, some persons will be cut away from me, and I will, as a result say ‘O my Lord! From me, and from my Ummah.’ He will say, ‘You do not know what they did after you. They did not cease to turn back upon their heels.’”[^23]

And al-Bukhari caps it with the report of her sister:

Sa’id b. Abi Maryam – Nafi’ b. ‘Umar – Ibn Abi Mulaykah - Asma b. Abi Bakr, may Allah be pleased with them both:

The Prophet, peace be upon him, said: “I will be at the Lake-Fount expecting whoever will meet me from amongst you. Some people will be taken away from me. So, I will say, “They are from me, and from my Ummah.” It will be said, “Do you know what they did after you? By Allah! They did not cease to turn back upon their heels.”

As a result (of this hadith) Ibn Abi Mulaykah used to say: “O Allah, we seeks refuge with You from turning back on our heels or facing trials in our religion”.[^24]

With this, the ahadith have been narrated by, at least, the following Sahabah:

1. Anas b. Malik

2. Ibn ‘Abbas

3. Abu Bakrah

4. Abu Hurayrah

5. Abu Sa’id al-Khudri

6. ‘Abd Allah b. Mas’ud

7. Hudhayfah

8. Abu Mas’ud

9. Sahl

10. Umm al-Muminin ‘Aishah

11. Asma b. Abi Bakr

So, the tawattur of this matter is beyond question.

[^1]: Qur’an 56:7-10

[^2]: Qur’an 56:10-12

[^3]: Qur’an 56:27-40

[^4]: Qur’an 56:41-44

[^5]: Qur’an 90:19-20

[^6]: Abu ‘Abd Allah Muhammad b. Isma’il b. Ibrahim b. Mughirah al-Bukhari al-Ju’fi, al-Jami’ al-Sahih al-Mukhtasar (Beirut: Dar Ibn Kathir; 3rd edition, 1407 H) [annotator: Dr. Mustafa Dib al-Bagha], vol. 5, p. 2407, # 6214

[^7]: Abu al-Husayn Muslim b. al-Hajjaj al-Qushayri al-Naysaburi, Sahih Muslim (Beirut: Dar Ihya al-Turath al-‘Arabi) [annotator: Muhammad Fuad ‘Abd al-Baqi], vol. 4, p. 1800, # 2304 (40)

[^8]: Abu ‘Abd Allah Muhammad b. Isma’il b. Ibrahim b. Mughirah al-Bukhari al-Ju’fi, al-Jami’ al-Sahih al-Mukhtasar (Beirut: Dar Ibn Kathir; 3rd edition, 1407 H) [annotator: Dr. Mustafa Dib al-Bagha], vol. 3, p. 1271, # 3263

[^9]: Abu ‘Abd Allah Ahmad b. Hanbal al-Shaybani, Musnad (Cairo: Muasassat Qurtubah) [annotator: Shu’ayb al-Arnaut], vol. 5, p. 48, # 20512

[^11]: Abu ‘Abd Allah Muhammad b. Isma’il b. Ibrahim b. Mughirah al-Bukhari al-Ju’fi, al-Jami’ al-Sahih al-Mukhtasar (Beirut: Dar Ibn Kathir; 3rd edition, 1407 H) [annotator: Dr. Mustafa Dib al-Bagha], vol. 5, p. 2407, # 6213

[^12]: Abu ‘Abd Allah Ahmad b. Hanbal al-Shaybani, Musnad (Cairo: Muasassat Qurtubah) [annotator: Shu’ayb al-Arnaut], vol. 3, p. 28, # 11236

[^14]: Abu ‘Abd Allah Muhammad b. Isma’il b. Ibrahim b. Mughirah al-Bukhari al-Ju’fi, al-Jami’ al-Sahih al-Mukhtasar (Beirut: Dar Ibn Kathir; 3rd edition, 1407 H) [annotator: Dr. Mustafa Dib al-Bagha], vol. 5, p. 2404, # 6205

[^15]: Abu ‘Abd Allah Ahmad b. Hanbal al-Shaybani, Musnad (Cairo: Muasassat Qurtubah) [annotator: Shu’ayb al-Arnaut], vol. 5, p. 393, # 23385

[^17]: Ibid, vol. 5, p. 388, # 23338

[^19]: Nur al-Din ‘Ali b. Abi Bakr al-Haythami, Majma’ al-Zawaid (Beirut: Dar al-Fikr; 1412 H), vol. 10, pp. 662-663, # 18471

[^21]: Abu ‘Abd Allah Ahmad b. Hanbal al-Shaybani, Musnad (Cairo: Muasassat Qurtubah) [annotator: Shu’ayb al-Arnaut], vol. 5, p. 333, # 22873

[^23]: Abu al-Husayn Muslim b. al-Hajjaj al-Qushayri al-Naysaburi, Sahih Muslim (Beirut: Dar Ihya al-Turath al-‘Arabi) [annotator: Muhammad Fuad ‘Abd al-Baqi], vol. 4, p. 1794, # 2294 (28)

[^24]: Abu ‘Abd Allah Muhammad b. Isma’il b. Ibrahim b. Mughirah al-Bukhari al-Ju’fi, al-Jami’ al-Sahih al-Mukhtasar (Beirut: Dar Ibn Kathir; 3rd edition, 1407 H) [annotator: Dr. Mustafa Dib al-Bagha], vol. 5, p. 2409, # 6220