The Concept of Sahabah and Adalah: A Sunni-Shia Discussion (Part 3 of 4)

Of the questions raised in the discussion was the narration found in  Shia hadith works “all the companions committed apostasy (irtadū) except three” to which Sayed Qazwini responded by rejecting this narration based on the lack of chain, in addition to it being logically impossible that only four companions out of the thousands remained on the faith.  It was also evident from the discussions that the Shia narrative is one that is over-critical to the Sahaba perhaps due to a reactionary outlook to the Sunni narrative. Some Shia scholars did however raise that,  although the ṣahāba need to be seen in terms of their human capacity,  there is a general lack of knowledge amongst the lay Shia about the various companions of the Prophet and their services to Islam. The notion of ʿadūl (trustworthiness) of the companions was also further discussed where it became evident that the term used in the presentation was in reference to the moral integrity of the companions whilst the technical term in this discussion is about the trustworthiness of the companions in narrating hadith. This led naturally to the topic of cursing the companions – to which the Shia and Sunni scholars present agreed that cursing and abusing of the companions is categorically wrong, and whilst critiquing the companions’ actions does not amount to cursing, it should only ever be done in a respectful manner.