The Sayings of the Imams al-Ṭaḥāwī (d. 321 AH), Abū Zurʿa al-Rāzī (d. 264 AH) and ʿAbdullāh ibn Muṣʿab (d. 184 AH) on Disparaging the Companions [al-Ṣaḥāba]
The integrity [ʿadāla] of the Companions [al-Ṣaḥāba] occupies a central place in the methodology and creed [ʿaqīda] of the People of the Sunna and the Community [Ahl al-Sunna wa l-Jamāʿa], since it is through them that the Qur’ān and the Sunna were transmitted to later generations. Building on this principle, the early Imams did not merely affirm the Companions’ integrity, but went further, warning in the starkest terms against those who disparaged them. Below are such statements, identifying disparagement of the Companions not as a minor lapse but as a sign of heresy [zandaqa], aimed ultimately at undermining the Qur’ān and the Sunna themselves.
وقال الإمام الحافظ أبى زُرْعة الرازى (١) رحمه الله تعالى: «إذا رأيت الرجل ينتقص أحدًا من أصحاب رسول الله ﷺ، فاعلم أنه زنديق، وذلك أن الرسول ﷺ عندنا حق، والقرآن حق، وما جاء به حق، وإنما أدى إلينا هذا القرآن، والسنن، أصحاب رسول الله ﷺ، وإنما يريدون أن يجرحوا شهودنا ليبطلوا الكتاب والسنة، والجرح بهم أولى، وهم زنادقة» (٢) .
Imam al-Ḥāfiẕ Abū Zurʿa al-Rāzī (1), may Allah Most High have mercy upon him, said: “If you see a man disparaging any one of the Companions [Ṣaḥāba] of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, know that he is a heretic [zindīq]. This is because the Messenger ﷺ is, in our view, true, the Qur’ān is true, and what he brought is true; and it is only the Companions [Ṣaḥāba] of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ who conveyed to us this Qur’ān and the Sunan. They only wish to impugn our witnesses in order to invalidate the Qur’ān and the Sunna, so it is they who are more deserving of being impugned, and they are heretics [zanādiqa].” (2)
فإن من عقيدة أهل السنة والجماعة: حب أصحاب رسول اللَّه ﷺ، قال الطحاوي ﵀: «ونحبُّ أصحاب رسول اللَّه ﷺ، ولا نفرط في حب واحد منهم، ولا نتبرأ من أحد منهم، ونبغض من يبغضهم، وبغير الخير يذكرهم، ولا نذكرهم إلا بخير، وحبهم دين وإيمان وإحسان، وبغضهم كفر ونفاق وطغيان»
For it is part of the creed [ʿaqīda] of the People of the Sunna and the Community [Ahl al-Sunna wa l-Jamāʿa] to love the Companions [Ṣaḥāba] of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. Al-Ṭaḥāwī, may Allah have mercy upon him, said: “And we love the Companions [Ṣaḥāba] of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and we do not exceed due bounds in the love of any one of them, nor do we disown any one of them. We hate whoever hates them, and whoever speaks of them other than with good, and we do not mention them except with good. Loving them is religion [dīn], faith [īmān], and excellence [iḥsān], while hating them is disbelief [kufr], hypocrisy [nifāq], and transgression [ṭughyān].”
وعن عبد الله بن مصعب (٣) قال: قال المهدى: ما تقول فيمن ينتقص الصحابة؟ فقلت زنادقة، لأنهم ما استطاعوا أن يصرحوا بنقص رسول الله ﷺ فتنقصوا أصحابه، فكأنهم قالوا: كان يصحب صحابة السوء) (٤) .
And from ʿAbdullāh ibn Muṣʿab (3), who said: al-Mahdī said: “What do you say concerning those who disparage the Companions [Ṣaḥāba]?” So I said: “[They are] heretics [zanādiqa], because they were unable to openly disparage the Messenger of Allah ﷺ [himself], so they disparaged his Companions instead, as though they were saying: he kept the company of evil companions.” (4)
End notes:
(١) أبو زُرْعة الرازى هو: عُبَيدُ الله بِنُ عبد الكريم بن يزيد القرشى المخزومى، أحد الأئمة الأعلام، وحفاظ الإسلام، وفضائله أكثر من أن تعد، مات سنة ٢٦٤هـ. له ترجمة فى تذكرة الحفاظ ٢/٥٥٧ رقم ٥٧٩، وطبقات الحفاظ للسيوطى ٢٥٣ رقم ٥٦١، والعبر ١/٣٧٩ رقم ٢٦٤، ٢١٣، والإرشاد للخليلى ص ٢٢٦، وطبقات المفسرين للداودى ١/٣٧٥ رقم ٣٢١.
(1) Abū Zurʿa al-Rāzī is: ʿUbaydullāh ibn ʿAbd al-Karīm ibn Yazīd al-Qurashī al-Makhzūmī, one of the renowned Imams and the memorisers [ḥuffāẕ] of Islam, whose merits are too numerous to count. He died in the year 264 AH. He has a biography in Tadhkirat al-Ḥuffāẕ, 2/557, no. 579; Ṭabaqāt al-Ḥuffāẕ by al-Suyūṭī, p. 253, no. 561; al-ʿIbar, 1/379, no. 264, 213; al-Irshād by al-Khalīlī, p. 226; and Ṭabaqāt al-Mufassirīn by al-Dāwūdī, 1/375, no. 321.
(٢) رواه الخطيب فى الكفاية ص ٩٧، والحافظ ابن حجر فى الإصابة ١/١٠.
(2) Narrated by al-Khaṭīb in al-Kifāya, p. 97, and by al-Ḥāfiẕ Ibn Ḥajar in al-Iṣāba, 1/10.
(٣) هو عبد الله بن مصعب بن ثابت بن عبد الله بن الزبير، ولى للرشيد إمرة المدينة، وقال فيه الخطيب: كان محمودًا فى ولايته، جميل السيرة مع جلالة قدرة، ووثقة ابن حبان. مات سنة ١٨٤هـ. له ترجمة فى: تعجيل المنفعة ص٢٧١ رقم٥٨٣، وتاريخ بغداد ١٠/١٧٣ رقم٥٣١٣، والثقات لابن حبان ٧/٥٦، وميزان الاعتدال ٢/٥٠٥ رقم ٤٦٠٩، والتاريخ الكبير للبخارى ٥/٢١١ رقم ٦٧٨.
(3) He is ʿAbdullāh ibn Muṣʿab ibn Thābit ibn ʿAbdullāh ibn al-Zubayr, who governed Madina on behalf of al-Rashīd. Al-Khaṭīb said of him: “He was commended in his governorship, of fine conduct, despite the greatness of his standing,” and Ibn Ḥibbān deemed him reliable [thiqa]. He died in the year 184 AH. He has a biography in: Taʿjīl al-Manfaʿa, p. 271, no. 583; Tārīkh Baghdād, 10/173, no. 5313; al-Thiqāt by Ibn Ḥibbān, 7/56; Mīzān al-Iʿtidāl, 2/505, no. 4609; and al-Tārīkh al-Kabīr by al-Bukhārī, 5/211, no. 678.
(٤) أخرجه الخطيب البغدادى فى تاريخه ١٠/١٧٥، ونقله الحافظ ابن حجر فى تعجيل المنفعة، ترجمة عبد الله بن مصعب ص ٢٧١ رقم ٥٨٣.
(4) Reported by al-Khaṭīb al-Baghdādī in his Tārīkh, 10/175, and quoted by al-Ḥāfiẕ Ibn Ḥajar in Taʿjīl al-Manfaʿa, [in the] biography of ʿAbdullāh ibn Muṣʿab, p. 271, no. 583.
Compiled by:
Abul Hasan Hussain Ahmed
June 29th 2026/14th of Muharram 1448 AH
