Doubting the character and sincerity of the Sahaabah will lead to doubting the religion completely

The Sahaabah (may Allah be pleased with them all) are people
whom Allah chose especially to be the companions of His Prophet (blessings
and peace of Allah be upon him). Their virtues that are referred to in the
Qur’an and saheeh Sunnah, and to which history testifies and those who loved
them and those who opposed them also testified, are too many to count.
According to the questioner’s way of thinking and reasoning, everything that
is trusted and definitive may be subjected to these baseless doubts and
illusions, and these far-fetched notions, that no man with sound reasoning
could accept. 

Whoever develops doubts about the sound character of the
Sahaabah (may Allah be pleased with them) will also develop doubts about the
religion of Allah, about the Book of Allah, about the laws of Allah, and
about the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be
upon him). 

Who is it that taught people the Qur’an and taught them their
religious obligations, their duties according to sharee‘ah, the rulings of
Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger? 

How did the people learn how to pray, fast and perform the
rituals of Hajj? How did they learn the rulings on business interactions,
marriage, divorce and how to judge between people? Where did they learn the
description of Paradise and its bliss, and the description of Hell and its
punishment? 

Who was it that taught them about the Oneness of Allah, and
taught them sound belief? 

How did they learn about the names and attributes of Allah,
and follow the right path with regard to these matters, unlike the followers
of innovation? Who is it that taught the people good manners and virtuous
deeds? 

Do you think that Allah, may He be exalted, could choose for
the leader of the sons of Adam companions who are liars, who fabricate lies
against Allah and His Messenger? 

If it was possible that they could fabricate verses of the
Qur’an and fabricate hadiths that speak of their own virtues, then how could
we trust anything that they narrated about the religion of Allah? 

Could anyone who has such characteristics be entrusted with
the laws of Allah, the rulings of His religion and the Sunnah of His
Messenger? In that case the entire religion would be lost, and there would
be no Islam, no faith and no ihsaan; there would be nothing but lies,
fabrication and selfishness. 

“Glory be to
You (O Allah) this is a great lie”
[an-Noor 24:16]. 

If we listen to these destructive insinuating thoughts that
destroy faith and put one beyond the pale of Islam, then nothing that has to
do with religion could be sound, as there would be the possibility that the
Sahaabah fabricated it and spread it among the people! 

According to your way of thinking, how could lineages be
confirmed? How could we be certain that So and so – whoever he may be – is
indeed the son of So and so? How could we know who among the people is of
legitimate birth and who is illegitimate? 

Is it not possible – according to your way of thinking – that
people could agree on a lie, so the adulterer could claim that his child is
legitimate and was born as a result of a proper marriage, not an illicit
relationship? 

If we do not affirm the sound character, sincerity and
honesty of the Sahaabah, then the entire religion would collapse, and we
would not be sure of any of its laws, beliefs, fundamental teachings,
general principles, and rulings on what is lawful and what is prohibited,
because there would be the possibility that it may be based on lies and
fabrications in all issues, since those who transmitted this knowledge would
be the type of people who could agree together to fabricate lies against
Allah and His Messenger! 

“Glory be to
You (O Allah) this is a great lie”
[an-Noor 24:16]. 

We disavow your ideas before our Lord; we reject them and do
not accept them. We seek refuge with Allah lest they cross our minds or lest
we regard them as sound thoughts, and we testify that we respect the
Sahaabah of our Prophet, and that they were the truest of people in speech,
the most trustworthy, the best in manners and attitude, the best in
character, the best in deeds, the closest to Allah and the greatest in faith
and belief. 

Therefore one of the fundamentals of belief for Ahl as-Sunnah
wa’l-Jamaa‘ah is to love the Sahaabah and take them as allies, testifying
that they were people of faith, virtue, honesty, integrity, dignity and
truthfulness; criticising them or any one of them is a cause of doom and
deviation from the straight path of Allah. 

Imam Ahmad (3589) narrated with a jayyid isnaad from
‘Abdullah ibn Mas‘ood that he said: Verily Allah looked at people’s hearts,
and He found that the heart of Muhammad (blessings and peace of Allah be
upon him) was the best of all people’s hearts, so He chose him for Himself
and sent him with His message. Then he looked at the hearts of people after
the heart of Muhammad, and He found that the hearts of his companions were
the best of people’s hearts, so he made them the helpers of His Prophet, who
fought alongside him to support his religion. 

Al-Maymooni said:

Ahmad ibn Hanbal said to me: O Abu’l-Hasan, if you see a man
speaking ill of any of the Sahaabah, then have doubts about his Islam.

End quote from al-Bidaayah wa’n-Nihaayah (8/148) 

Abu Zar‘ah az-Raazi said:

If you see a man criticising any of the companions of the
Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), then know
that he is a heretic, because the Messenger (blessings and peace of Allah be
upon him), in our view, is true and the Qur’an is true. The only ones who
conveyed this Qur’an, and the Sunnah, to us are the companions of the
Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him). All they
[i.e., those who cast aspersions upon the Sahaabah] are trying to do is
undermine our witnesses [i.e., the Sahaabah], so as to invalidate the Qur’an
and Sunnah. Those people are more deserving of having their character
doubted, and they are heretics. 

End quote from al-Kifaayah fi ‘Ilm ar-Riwaayah by al-Khateeb
al-Baghdaadi (p. 49) 

Abu Nu‘aym al-Haafiz (may Allah have mercy on him) said: Do
you not see that Allah, may He be exalted, instructed His Prophet (blessings
and peace of Allah be upon him) [in the Qur’an] to pardon his companions,
pray for forgiveness for them, and show kindness towards them. Therefore
whoever reviles them, hates them and tries to find wrong motives for their
views and their engaging in war in a way that is not good, is the one who is
drifting away from the command of Allah, may He be exalted, and His
instructions concerning them. Such a person only speaks ill of them because
he harbours resentment towards the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be
upon him) and his companions, and towards Islam and the Muslims. 

End quote from Tathbeet al-Imaamiyyah (p. 375) 

Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) said: 

Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, knows best with whom
to place His message, initially and subsequently. He knows best who is fit
to carry His message and convey it to His slaves honestly and sincerely,
respecting the sender, carrying out their duties towards Allah, showing
patience in complying with His commands, giving thanks for His blessings and
seeking to draw closer to Him, and He knows who is not fit for that.
Similarly, He, may He be glorified, knows best who among the nations is fit
to inherit knowledge from His Messengers, be their successors and carry the
message that they conveyed from their Lord. 

End quote from Tareeq al-Hijratayn (p. 97) 

Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the
meaning):

“Muhammad
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) is the Messenger of Allah, and
those who are with him are severe against disbelievers, and merciful among
themselves. You see them bowing and falling down prostrate (in prayer),
seeking Bounty from Allah and (His) Good Pleasure. The mark of them (i.e. of
their Faith) is on their faces (foreheads) from the traces of (their)
prostration (during prayers). This is their description in the Taurat
(Torah). But their description in the Injeel (Gospel) is like a (sown) seed
which sends forth its shoot, then makes it strong, it then becomes thick,
and it stands straight on its stem, delighting the sowers that He may enrage
the disbelievers with them”

[al-Fath 48:29]. 

Ibn Katheer (may Allah have mercy on him) said: 

Based on this verse, Imam Maalik (may Allah have mercy on
him), according to some reports from him, concluded that the Raafidis are
kuffaar who hate the Sahaabah. He said: That is because the Sahaabah enrage
them, and whomever the Sahaabah enrage is a kaafir because of this verse. A
number of scholars agreed with him concerning that. The hadiths that speak
of the virtue of the Sahaabah and forbid us to offend them in any way are
numerous. It is sufficient that Allah praises them and is pleased with them.

End quote from Tafseer Ibn Katheer (7/362) 

Al-Qurtubi (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

Whoever criticises any one of them or casts aspersions on him
with regard to what he narrates is rejecting what Allah, the Lord of the
Worlds, said concerning them and is shedding doubt on all the teachings of
Islam.

End quote from Tafseer al-Qurtubi (16/297) 

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him)
said: 

That is because the first generation of this ummah are the
ones who established this religion and adhered to it, believing in it,
learning it, acting upon it and conveying it. So casting aspersions on them
is casting aspersions on the religion, which would lead one to turn away
from the message with which Allah sent the Prophets. 

That was the aim of the first ones who propagated the
innovation of Shi ‘ism: the aim was only to turn people away from the path
of Allah, and to try to prove false that which the Messengers brought from
Allah, may He be exalted. Therefore they used to be active whenever the
Muslims were in a weak position, thus these misleading innovations first
emerged among the heretics.

End quote from Minhaaj as-Sunnah (1/18). 

What we want to confirm is that having doubts about the good
character and sincerity of the Sahaabah is casting aspersions upon the
entire religion, and this is kufr (disbelief) – Allah forbid. 

So seek refuge with Allah from these insinuating thoughts,
for they are no more than whispers in your heart from the Shaytaan, which
are aimed at making you doubt your religion. Remember Allah much, recite
Qur’an, read books of the Prophet’s hadiths and books written about the
virtues of the Sahaabah, such as Fadaa’il as-Sahaabah by Imam Ahmad
ibn Hanbal (may Allah be pleased with him), and books about their
biographies and lives. 

We also advise you to read a brief and very useful book,
namely Soorataan Mutadaaditaan li Juhood an-Nabi al-A‘zam by al-‘Allaamah
Shaykh Abu’l-Hasan an-Nadwi (may Allah have mercy on him), which was
recently published as a supplement in Majallat al-Azhar; you can find
a copy of it on the Internet. 

For more information, please see the answer to question no.
118176

And Allah knows best.