Part of what supports our position are these words of Umm al-Muminin ‘Aishah...

Part of what supports our position are these words of Umm al-Muminin ‘Aishah: سمعت رسول الله صلى الله عليه و سلم يقول وهو بين ظهراني أصحابه إني على الحوض أنتظر من يرد علي منكم I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, saying while he was in front of his Sahabah: “I will be at the Lake-Fount, expecting whosoever from amongst you will meet me.” He was addressing his Sahabah. By default, this took place in al-Madinah, as there is nothing to suggest otherwise.

Then, he declared that those who will be driven away from the Lake-Fount were from amongst those same Sahabah “in front of” him. Moreover, al-Bukhari (d. 256 H) documents for us the unmistakable interpretation of a senior Sahabi: حدثني أحمد بن إشكاب حدثنا محمد بن فضيل عن العلاء بن المسيب عن أبيه قال: لقيت البراء بن عازب رضي الله عنهما فقلت طوبى لك صحبت النبي صلى الله عليه و سلم وبايعته تحت الشجرة فقال يا ابن أخي إنك لا تدري ما أحدثنا بعده Ahmad b. Ishkab – Muhammad b. Fudhayl – al-‘Ala b.

al-Musayyab – his father (al-Musayyab): I met al-Bara b. ‘Azib, may Allah be pleased with them both, and I said, “Congratulations to you! You kept company of the Prophet, peace be upon him, and gave him ba’yah under the Tree”. As a result of this, he replied, “O son of my brother, you do not know what WE HAVE INNOVATED after him.”[^6] This is important. It confirms that those Sahabah who kept company of the Messenger of Allah and gave him ba’yah under the Tree became innovators after him.

The language of al-Bara was general. This shows that the innovations were very widespread among this category of Sahabah; and they were primarily Muhajirun and Ansar! This however does not rule out the fact that some of them also never deviated from the Qur’an and Sunnah. So, the argument that the “Sahabah” in the Hadith al-Hawdh refers to the Bedouin Arabs or to anyone in the post-Sahabah era simply cannot hold.

The innovators were from the inhabitants of al-Madinah and so were able to keep company of the Prophet, and many of them also gave him ba’yah under the Tree of al-Hudaybiyyah. They were people who saw him, and were amongst the very Sahabah he was addressing with the ahadith during his lifetime.

A key point in the reports is highlighted in this riwayah of Abu Sa’id al-Khudri: ان النبي صلى الله عليه و سلم قال فأقول أصحابي أصحابي فقيل انك لا تدري ما أحدثوا بعدك قال فأقول بعدا بعدا أو قال سحقا سحقا لمن بدل بعدي The Prophet, peace be upon him, said: “So, I will say, ‘My Sahabah!