The Princeton Encyclopedia of Islamic Political Thought

Companions of the Prophet

The Companions of the Prophet Muhammad have been a source of religious inspiration and divisive controversy in the Islamic community since its origins. The Arabic terms aṣḥāb rasūl Allāh and ṣaḥāba, meaning “companions,” signify the collectivity of men and women who met the Prophet Muhammad during his mission (ca. 610–32), embraced Islam, and remained Muslim until they died. While there is widespread agreement among nearly all Muslims over the political activities of the Companions, Sunnis and Shi‘is remain deeply split over the religious authority of these individuals.

The political activities of the Companions can be classified into four historical phases. The first phase lasted for the time of Muhammad’s mission, when the Companions served as the Prophet’s supporters, soldiers, and commanders of raids in which he was not present. The two great categories of Companions are the emigrants (muhājirūn), who converted to Islam in Mecca prior to the hijra (emigration) of 622, and the helpers (anṣār) of Yathrib (Medina), whose invitation to Muhammad and conversion to Islam led to the foundation of the Muslim political community (umma). Muslim historians have preserved the names and tribal affiliations of most of the emigrants and helpers, whereas information about the thousands of Companions who joined Islam in the later years of Muhammad’s mission is far more circumscribed.

The second phase of the Companions’ political activities dates from the death of Muhammad until the assassination of the third caliph, ‘Uthman b. ‘Affan (d. 656). This age witnessed the Muslim conquests of Syria, Palestine, Egypt, Iraq, and Persia. The caliphs Abu Bakr (r. 632–34), ‘Umar b. al-Khattab (r. 634–44), and ‘Uthman b. ‘Affan (r. 644–56) all hailed from the prestigious class of emigrant Companions, as did some of their military commanders, such as Abu ‘Ubayda b. al-Jarrah (d. 639) in Syria, Sa‘d b. Abi Waqqas (d. 675) in central Iraq, and Abu Musa al-Ash‘ari (d. 672) in southern Iraq. ‘Umar and Abu ‘Ubayda played a crucial role in securing Abu Bakr’s political dominance over the helpers, a contingent of whom initially sought to elect a leader from among themselves to govern their affairs. Abu Bakr’s firm insistence on there being only one supreme leader of the Muslim community from the tribe of Quraysh long remained a central principle of Sunni political theory. ‘Umar’s deathbed appointment of six emigrants to a consultative council (shūrā) to elect his successor has been seen by many Muslim reformers in the modern period as an early example of “democracy.”

The third phase of the Companions’ political activities dates from the assassination of ‘Uthman in 656 until the assassination of ‘Ali b. Abi Talib in 661. The first Muslim civil war (fitna) erupted in the wake of ‘Uthman’s death. Some Companions, such as Sa‘d b. Abi Waqqas and ‘Umar’s son ‘Abdallah (d. 693), remained neutral during this conflict, but most of the Companions who were living at this time supported either the caliph ‘Ali (who was also an emigrant) or his adversaries. These adversaries included one of the Prophet’s wives, ‘A’isha (d. 678), who, along with the emigrants Talha b. ‘Ubaydallah (d. 656) and Zubayr b. ‘Awwam (d. 656), set out for Basra with an army and were vanquished by ‘Ali and his allies at the Battle of the Camel. ‘Ali’s camp included his sons Hasan (d. 669) and Husayn (d. 680), his cousin ‘Abdallah b. ‘Abbas (d. ca. 686), and the venerable emigrant ‘Ammar b. Yasir (d. 657). His primary rivals after the Battle of the Camel were Mu‘awiya b. Abi Sufyan (d. 680), governor of Syria, and the latter’s advisor, ‘Amr b. al-‘As (d. 671). Both men were Companions who had converted to Islam late in the Prophet’s career, and Mu‘awiya’s father, Abu Sufyan (d. ca. 653), had actually led the Meccan opposition to Muhammad until he surrendered his city to the Muslim army in 630. According to the contemporary scholar Fu’ad Jabali, ‘Ali had the allegiance of at least 120 Companions, Mu‘awiya was supported by at least 31 Companions, and 7 Companions remained neutral during the conflict that lasted from the battle of Siffin (657) until ‘Ali was killed by a Muslim rebel (661).

The final phase of the Companions’ political activity lasted from the triumph of Mu‘awiya until the end of the Second Civil War. Mu‘awiya made peace with ‘Ali’s son (and the Prophet’s grandson) Hasan shortly after ‘Ali’s assassination, and most Companions appear to have devoted their twilight years to teaching Islamic practices during Mu‘awiya’s largely peaceful reign (661–80). However, two Companions who were children during Muhammad’s mission, Muhammad’s grandson Husayn b. ‘Ali and Zubayr’s son, ‘Abdallah, raised revolts as soon as Mu‘awiya died and his son Yazid (r. 680–84) became caliph. Husayn’s revolt was crushed in Karbala, Iraq, in 680, but ‘Abdallah b. al-Zubayr managed, with the help of his brother Mus‘ab in Iraq, to establish a caliphate from his base in Mecca that administered a significant portion of the Islamic empire. Ibn al-Zubayr’s caliphate was terminated by the Umayyad caliph ‘Abd al-Malik b. Marwan (r. 685–705) in 692. With the death of Abu al-Tufayl ‘Amir b. Wathila, a strong supporter of the political claims of ‘Ali and his descendants, around 718 in Mecca, the Companions as a class of Muslims ceased to exist.

From their inceptions, the two largest sects of Islam, Sunnis and Imami (or Twelver) Shi‘is, have differed sharply over the religious authority of the Companions. Since the ninth century, Sunnis have insisted that all the Companions were authoritative and that none of the individuals involved in the civil wars was guilty of sin. They also professed that the historical order of the first four caliphs, to whom they affixed the honorific “Rightly Guided,” reflects their respective merits. Thus Abu Bakr was the greatest Companion, followed by ‘Umar, then ‘Uthman, and in fourth place, ‘Ali. According to one popular report attributed to the Prophet, ten Companions were promised paradise: the first four caliphs, Talha, Zubayr, Sa‘d b. Abi Waqqas, Abu ‘Ubayda, ‘Abd al-Rahman b. ‘Awf (d. 652), and Sa‘id b. Zayd (d. ca. 670).

The Imami Shi‘is believe that the Prophet Muhammad clearly designated ‘Ali as his political successor after the “Farewell Pilgrimage” in the final year of his life at a location called Ghadir Khumm, a pool or marsh located midway between Mecca and Medina. Since the overwhelming majority of the Companions immediately gave their oath of allegiance (bay‘a) to Abu Bakr, the Imami Shi‘is consider them to have disobeyed the messenger of God and, according to some books, to have become non-Muslims. Thus a tiny number of Companions—Salman al-Farisi (d. ca. 656), Abu Dharr al-Ghifari (d. ca. 652), al-Miqdad b. al-Aswad (d. 654), and ‘Ali’s sons Hasan and Husayn—were recognized by Imami Shi‘is as pious Muslims, while all the remaining Companions, especially Abu Bakr, ‘Umar, ‘Uthman, Mu‘awiya, and ‘Amr b. al-‘As, were subjected to derision and, occasionally, cursing. These contrasting views of the Companions’ religious authority were the primary religious sources of friction between Sunnis and Shi‘is in Pakistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia.