Ameen to that dua:jz:
Q 4. A Sahaabi is a person who has met Rasulullah:saws:.
@
azc, some answers are just by memory.
That is correct.
Hadhrat Abu Sa`eed al-Khudhri
رضي الله عنه narrates that Rasoolullaah
صلى الله عليه وسلم said:
عَنْ أَبِي سَعِيدٍ الْخُدْرِيِّ، عَنِ النَّبِيِّ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ، قَالَ: " يَأْتِي عَلَى النَّاسِ زَمَانٌ، يَغْزُو فِئَامٌ مِنَ النَّاسِ، فَيُقَالُ لَهُمْ: فِيكُمْ مَنْ رَأَى رَسُولَ اللهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ؟ فَيَقُولُونَ: نَعَمْ، فَيُفْتَحُ لَهُمْ، ثُمَّ يَغْزُو فِئَامٌ مِنَ النَّاسِ، فَيُقَالُ لَهُمْ: فِيكُمْ مَنْ رَأَى مَنْ صَحِبَ رَسُولَ اللهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ؟ فَيَقُولُونَ: نَعَمْ، فَيُفْتَحُ لَهُمْ، ثُمَّ يَغْزُو فِئَامٌ مِنَ النَّاسِ، فَيُقَالُ لَهُمْ: هَلْ فِيكُمْ مَنْ رَأَى مَنْ صَحِبَ مَنْ صَحِبَ رَسُولَ اللهِ صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ؟ فَيَقُولُونَ: نَعَمْ فَيُفْتَحُ لَهُمْ
"A time will come upon the people when a group of people would go out to fight (
fee Sabeelillaah), and it would be asked: "Is there among you anyone who has seen Rasoolullaah
صلى الله عليه وسلم?" They would say: "Yes." So victory would be granted to them. Then, a group of people would go out to fight (
fee Sabeelillaah), and it would be asked: "Is there among you anyone who has seen someone who accompanied Rasoolullaah
صلى الله عليه وسلم (i.e. seen a Sahaabi)?" They would say: "Yes." And victory would be granted to them. Then a group would go out to fight (
fee Sabeelillaah), and it would be asked: "Is there among you anyone who has seen someone who saw someone who had accompanied Rasoolullaah
صلى الله عليه وسلم (i.e. saw a Taabi`i)?" They would say: "Yes," and victory would be granted to them." [Narrated in
Saheeh Muslim.]
The first group mentioned in this Hadeeth are the Sahaabah. Second group are the Taabi`een. Third group are the Atbaa`-ut-Taabi`een. Those three groups make up the "
Khayr-ul-Quroon" (Golden Era of Islaam). This era lasted less than 300 years. Some people think that "Khayr-ul-Quroon" refers to a period of 300 years, because in their minds, they are thinking: "The Best Three Generations", but actually, the `Ulamaa have defined "
Khayr-ul-Quroon" as referring to the Sahaabah, Taabi`een and Atbaa`-ut-Taabi`een. So when the last of the Atbaa`-ut-Taabi`een left the Dunyaa, the
Khayr-ul-Quroon ended, even though that was quite a bit before 300 years had elapsed.
To summarise:
Sahaabi = One who met Rasoolullaah
صلى الله عليه وسلم and was in his company even for a very short period of time, while being Muslim, and died upon Islaam.
Taabi`i (pl. Taabi`een) = One who met a Sahaabi, while being Muslim, and died upon Islaam.
Tab`-ut-Taabi`i (pl. Atbaa`-ut-Taabi`een) = One who met a Taabi`i, while being Muslim, and died upon Islaam.
So, there is something very important to note here, and that is, a person is not simply a Sahaabi, or a Taabi`i, or a Tab`-ut-Taabi`i simply by having Lived within these 300 years of Islaam. It's not as easy as that. Even if a person lived in the time of Rasoolullaah
صلى الله عليه وسلم, he or she is not a Sahaabi unless they actually Met Rasoolullaah
صلى الله عليه وسلم. Is there an example of such a person? Yes. Uwais al-Qarni. Despite having lived in the time of Rasoolullaah
صلى الله عليه وسلم, and Rasoolullaah
صلى الله عليه وسلم actually spoke about him and praised him, Uwais al-Qarni is not counted among the Sahaabah because he never met Rasoollullaah
صلى الله عليه وسلم. He is counted among the Taabi`een, because he met the senior Sahaabah like Hadhrat `Umar
رضي الله عنه.
Likewise, a Taabi`i isn't just someone who lived during the era of the Sahaabah. Unless a person had actually Met a Sahaabi, he will not be a Taabi`i even if he had lived during that time. The same goes for being a Tab`-ut-Taabi`i.
Another thing:
Even if a person lived during the time of Rasoolullaah
صلى الله عليه وسلم, and met him, he or she will not be considered to be a Sahaabi unless they were a Muslim at the time. What do we mean by this? What we mean is that, if a person had met Rasoolullaah
صلى الله عليه وسلم but was still a Kaafir at the time, and only accepted Islaam after the demise of Rasoolullaah
صلى الله عليه وسلم, then that person will not be counted as being a Sahaabi. They had to have been Muslim During the time they spent with Rasoolullaah
صلى الله عليه وسلم in order to be counted as being a Sahaabi (male companion) or Sahaabiyah (female companion). This is very important to note as well.
The same rule applies to a person being a Taabi`i or Tab`-ut-Taabi`i. They had to have been Muslim during the period of association.
Another thing to note:
Sister Umm Abed gave the right answer when she said: "A Sahaabi is a person who has met Rasulullah
صلى الله عليه وسلم." She used the correct word: "Met.", rather than "Saw." If a person had said "Saw", the answer would not be entirely correct. Why? Because there were Sahaabah who were blind and thus were not able to physically see Rasoolullaah
صلى الله عليه وسلم. Yet, they are Sahaabah, because they spent time in his company.
The word Sahaabi itself comes from the verb
صَحِبَ يَصْحَبُ Sahiba - Yas'habu, which means "to accompany". To spend time in the company of someone. That is termed "
Suhbah". That is the requirement for being a Sahaabi, or a Taabi`i, or a Tab`-ut-Taabi`i.
