Had they done so...

Had they done so, the truth about them would have been revealed to the Muslims, and they would have been known as they are, and people would have dissociated themselves from them. So they abandoned the custom of cursing and abusing , keeping to themselves the animosity and hatred towards . They tried their best to put their light out by raising the status of their enemies from the sahaba. For the latter they invented imaginary feats which have no relevance at all to the truth.

What proves this fact is that you can find "Ahl al-Sunnah wal Jama`a," even in our time, refraining from saying anything against Mu`awiyah and the sahaba who cursed for eighty years. Rather, they invoke Allah to be pleased with all of them. At the same time, they label as kafir any Muslim who discredits any of the sahaba, issuing fatawa permitting his murder...

Some fabricators tried to add something else to the complete invocation, the one which the Messenger of Allah taught to his companions, another part, thinking that it would further undermine the status of . One narrator quoted the Prophet saying, "Say: O Allah! Bless Muhammad, the Progeny of Muhammad, his wives and offspring." The researcher is of the view that this part was added in order to include Ayesha among .

We say to them: If we, for the sake of argument, suppose that this "tradition" is authentic and that it implies the inclusion of the mothers of the faithful, the sahaba still have nothing to do with ! I personally challenge any Muslim to produce one proof from the Qur'an or from the Sunnah backing his view, for surely the heaven are more within his reach than that.

Both the Qur'an and the Sunnah have mandated all the companions as well as all other Muslims who follow those sahaba till the Day of Judgment to send blessings unto Muhammad and the Progeny of Muhammad. This by itself is a great status compared to which any other status falls short, and compared to which nothing else comes close.

Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and all the companions of the Prophet, as well as all the Muslims of the world who are counted by the billions, do, indeed, invoke Allah to bless Muhammad and his Progeny whenever they make their tashahhud; otherwise, their prayers will be rejected by Allah, Glory to Him.

This is exactly the meaning of a verse of poetry Imam al-Shafi`i composed and the rough translation of which is as follows: Suffices you (O !) of a great import,Whoever does not bless you, his prayer is void.