Naturally, the ruling of such people, as it would be for anyone other than them who are in the same position of committing such an act is the same [and thus they should and must be open to critique and criticism when they openly and intentionally violate the Islamic laws].
Therefore, if the Shiʿa seek to distance themselves from an identifiable group of “companions” of the Noble Prophet (S) then it is not because they are considered as “companions”; rather, evoking the malediction of God upon this limited group of individuals known as the “companions” is due to the fact that even though they saw the Prophet (S), and were able to benefit from him and his magnanimous status, however they actively and consciously decided to stay in their state of spiritual negligence and to act against the orders and commandments of the Noble Prophet (S) such that they deserve that the Muslims distance themselves from them – as the Noble Qur’an has stated: إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يُؤْذُونَ اللهَ وَرَسُولَهُ لَعَنَهُمُ اللهُ فِي الدُّنْيا وَالآخِرَةِ وَأَعَدَّ لَهُمْ عَذاباً مُهِيناً “Indeed those who torment God and His Apostle are cursed by God in this world and in the Hereafter, and He has prepared a humiliating punishment for them.” [^2] Therefore, if one of the “companions” of (S) did something which led to the Prophet (S) being tormented, then that companion would definitely be found guilty of the infraction mentioned in the verse quoted above, just like if anyone other than one of the companions was to possess any of the traits which would make him worthy of having the mercy of God be removed from him.
Further, he too would definitely be worthy of having the malediction of God inflicted upon him – and of course in Islam, there is no discrimination when it comes to such things – all are equal in front of the law. It is with this said that the Shiʿa employ the concept of evoking the malediction of God upon certain “companions” who were sources of corruption in the Muslim society - not only during their own era, but even after they left this world and up until the Day of Judgement.