However...

However, Islamic jurists ( usuliyun ) unanimously agree that for someone to bear the title of “companion,” he or she must have been Muslim and must have accompanied the Prophet for a long period ( tallat mujalasatuhu ), while listening attentively to him and learning from him, not just merely visiting him or learning from or about his knowledge.[^3] The Muhaddithun (school of Narrators) defines “companion” as being “every Muslim who saw the Prophet.”[^4] Some scholars define it as, “any Muslim who lived during the time of the Prophet even if he did not see the Prophet.”[^5] Still other narrators further expanded the definition of “companion” to encompass every Muslim who met the Prophet and believed in him, and then apostatized and then reverted to Islam.[^6] How the Sahabahs Define “hip” In the earlier years of Islam, the Muslim ummah itself divided themselves into three categories in regards to how they viewed the sahabah : (1) Al-Firqa al-Kamiliyah and the Ghulat Al-Firqa al-Kamiliyah[^7] and the Ghulat[^8] were a minority sect of Muslims that attributed kufr (apostasy) to all of the companions.

This view is of course, completely rejected by all modern scholars of Islam, in both the Sunni and Shi’a traditions. (2) Adalat al-Sahabah, Integrity of the This group attributed absolute adalah (integrity) to all of the companions; this is the commonly held view within the Sunni tradition.

For example, Al-Khatib al-Baghdadi says, “The justness of the sahabah is proven and firmly established ( thabitatun malumah ).”[^9] Ibn Hazm says, “Undoubtedly, all of the companions are among the people of Paradise.”[^10] Nevertheless, many prominent jurists and scholars in the Sunni tradition reject this idea of the absolute righteousness of all of the companions, and they include: al-Sa’d al-Tafatahzani, al-Marizi, and al-Shawqani,[^11] as well as scholars from a later generation, such as Sheikh Muhammad Abduh, Sheikh Mahmud Abu Riyah, and others.[^12] They argued that the companions were not infallible, and thus there were the righteous and the unrighteous individuals amongst their ranks.

(3) The Qur’an, the Prophet, and the Ahlul Bayt The Qur’an does not guarantee automatic righteousness to all of the Prophet’s companions, nor does it grant all of them entrance into Paradise. Many of the righteous companions are praised and honored in the Qur’an, while others have been criticized - even cursed.