Definition
Anyone who met the Prophet ﷺ in life, believed in him, and died as a Muslim. The Companions are all upright (‘udūl) by consensus of Ahl us-Sunnah — Allah praised them in many verses and the Prophet ﷺ forbade reviling them.
Pronunciation: ṣa-ḤĀ-bī
Etymology & Root
From ص-ح-ب (ṣ-ḥ-b), meaning 'to accompany, to keep company with.'
Usage in the Sunnah
'Do not revile my Companions — for if any of you were to spend the like of Uḥud in gold, it would not equal a mudd of one of them, nor even half of it.' (Bukhārī 3673, Muslim 2540)
Scholarly Notes
Refusing to declare any Companion a disbeliever or fāsiq is from the foundations of Ahl us-Sunnah's creed. Their disagreements are interpreted in the best light — they were mujtahidīn, rewarded for ijtihād whether right or wrong.
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Related Terms
More from Hadith Terminology
The science of criticising and validating narrators.
The Six Books — the major hadith collections.
Disconnected — a narrator missing in the chain.
The text/wording of the hadith.
Attributed to a Companion only.
Weak — does not meet the conditions of authenticity.