Prophet Muhammad's (peace on him) Companions &

The First Three Generations of Muslims

Prophet Muhammad peace on him, said: "The best of my nation is my generation then those who follow them and then those who follow them." (Saheeh Bukhaaree)

Ahl as-Sunnah believe that the Caliph after the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) is Abu Bakr; then 'Umar; then 'Uthman, then 'Ali, and that whoever contests the Caliphate of any one of these Imams is indeed more lost than an ass.  Ahl as-Sunnah do not think that each of the Sahabah (May Allah be pleased with them) is infallible of committing grave sins or light sins, but that they are liable to commit general offenses. Nevertheless, to them belongs priority in accepting Islam and in doing good deeds which qualify them for forgiveness of what they may have committed, to the extent that their offenses are forgiven. The same offenses will not be forgiven of those who come after them because they (as-Sahabah (May Allah be pleased with them) have a credit of good deeds which erase the bad deeds, a credit the generations after them do not have. It has been confirmed by the saying of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him): "That they are the best of all generations," (hadith al-Bukhari and Muslim)

[Ahl as-Sunnah] urge people to mend the relations with those who have broken with them, to give to those who have deprived them, and to forgive those who have done injustice to them. They order people to keep filial piety, to be good to other relatives, to be good neighbors, to treat orphans, wayfarers and the poor kindly and to be gentle and humane to the slave. They forbid bragging, arrogance and transgression. They prevent people from feeling superior over others, rightly or wrongly. And they bid people use high manners and prohibit them from pursuing trifles. All that they say or do of the above, or of other than it, in all of it they follow the Book (The Qur'an) and the Sunnah. Their "path" is the religion of Islam, for which Allah sent Muhammad (peace be upon him).

But for all this, the Prophet (peace be upon him) foretold: "That his 'Ummah will split into seventy-three factions, all of them in Hell except one: The Jama'ah (the Community)." (Reported by Ahmad Ibn Hanbal)

 And (the Prophet) (peace be upon him) said in another hadith: "They are those who will follow what I am and what my companions are today." (at-Tirmidhi)

Abdulla Ibn Umar

At Shaykhan, halfway between Madinah and Uhud, the thousand strong
Muslim army led by the Prophet stopped. The sun had begun to sink
beneath the horizon. The Prophet dismounted from his horse Sakb. He
was fully dressed for battle. A turban was wound about his helmet.
He wore a breastplate beneath which was a coat of mail which was
fastened with a leather sword belt. A shield was slung across his
back and his sword hung from his side.

As the sun set, Bilal called the adhan and they prayed. The Prophet
then reviewed his troops once more and it was then that he noticed
in their midst the presence of eight boys who despite their age were
hoping to take part in the battle. Among them were Zayd's son Usamah
and Umar's son Abdullah, both only thirteen years old. The Prophet
ordered them all to return home immediately. Two of the boys however
demonstrated that they were able fighters and were allowed to
accompany the army to the Battle of Uhu d while the others were sent
back to their families.

From an early age, Abdullah ibn Umar thus demonstrated his keenness
to be associated with the Prophet in all his undertakings. He had
accepted Islam before he was ten years old and had made the Hijrah
with his father and his sister, Hafsah, who was later to become a
wife of the Prophet. Before Uhud he was also turned away from the
Battle of Badr and it was not until the Battle of the Ditch the he
and Usamah, both now fifteen years old and others of their age were
allowed to join the ranks of the men not only for the digging of the
trench but for the battle when it came.

From the time of his hijrah till the time of his death more than
seventy years later, Abdullah ibn Umar distinguished himself in the
service of Islam and was regarded among Muslims as "the Good One,
son of the Good One", according to Abu Musa al-Ashari. H e was known
for his knowledge, his humility, his generosity, his piety, his
truthfulness, his incorruptibility and his constancy in acts of
ibadah.

From his great and illustrious father, Umar, he learnt a great deal
and both he and his father had the benefit of learning from the
greatest teacher of all, Muhammad the Messenger of God. Abdullah
would observe and scrutinize closely every saying and act ion of the
Prophet in various situations and he would practise what he observed
closely and with devotion. For example, if Abdullah saw the Prophet
performing Salat in a particular place, he would later pray in the
same place. If he saw the Prophet makin g a supplication while
standing, he would also make a dua while standing. If he saw him
making a dua while sitting, he would do the same. On a journey if he
saw the Prophet descend from his camel at a particular place and
pray two rakats, and he had occa sion to pass on the same route, he
would stop at the same place and pray two rakats. In a particular
place in Makkah, he once observed the Prophet's camel making two
complete turns before he dismounted and prayed two rakats. It might
be that the camel did that involuntarily but Abdullah ibn Umar when
he happened to be in the same place at another time, made his camel
complete two turns before making it kneel and dismounting. He then
prayed two rakats in precisely the same manner as he had seen the
Prophet do.

Aishah, may God be pleased with her, noticed this devotion of
Abdullah to the Prophet and remarked: "There was no one who followed
the footsteps of the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace,
in the places where he alighted as did Ibn Umar."

In spite of his close observance of the Prophet's actions, Abdullah
was extremely cautious, even afraid, of reporting the sayings of the
Prophet. He would only relate a hadith if he was completely sure
that he remembered every word of it. One of his conte mporaries said:

"Among the companions of the Prophet, no one was more cautious about
adding to or subtracting from the hadith of the Prophet than
Abdullah ibn Umar."

Similarly he was extremely cautious and reluctant to make legal
judgments (fatwas).' Once someone came to him asking for a judgment
on a particular matter and Abdullah ibn Umar replied: "I have no
knowledge of what you ask." The man went on his way and Ab dullah
clapped his hands in glee and said to himself: "The son of Umar was
asked about what he does not know and he said: I do not know."

Because of this attitude he was reluctant to be a qadi even though
he was well qualified to be one. The position of qadi was one of the
most important and esteemed offices in the Muslim society and state
bringing with it honor, glory and even riches but h e declined this
position when it was offered him by the Khalifah Uthman. His reason
for so doing was not that he underestimated the importance of the
position of qadi but because of his fear of committing errors of
judgment in matters pertaining to Islam. Uthman made him agree not
to disclose his decision lest it might influence the many other
companions of the Prophet who actually performed the duties of
judges and juris consults.

Abdullah ibn Umar was once described as the "brother of the night."
He would stay up at night performing Salat, weeping and seeking
God's forgiveness and reading Quran. To his sister, Hafsah, the
Prophet once said: "What a blessed man is Abdullah. Should he
perform Salat at night he would be blessed even more."

From that day, Abdullah did not abandon aiyam alLayl whether at home
or on journeys. In the stillness of the nights, he would remember
God much, perform Salat and read the Quran and weep. Like his
father, tears came readily to his eyes especially when he heard the
warning verses of the Quran. Ubayd ibn Umayr has related that one
day he read these verses to Abdullah ibn Umar:

"How then (will the sinners fare on Judgment Day) when We shall
bring forward witnesses from within every community and bring you (O
Prophet) as witness against them? Those who were bent on denying the
truth and paid no heed to the Apostle will on that Da y wish that
the earth would swallow them but they shall not (be able to) conceal
from God anything that has happened." (Surah an-Nisa, 4:41-42).

Abdullah cried on listening to these verses until his beard was
moist with tears. One day, he was sitting among some close friends
and he read: "Woe unto those who give short measure, those who, when
they are to receive their due from people, demand that it be given
in full but when they have to measure or weigh whatever they owe to
others, give less than what is due. Do they not know that they are
bound to be raised from the dead (and called to account) on an
awesome Day, the Day when all men shall stan d before the Sustainer
of all the worlds?" (The Quran, Surah al Mutaffifin, 83: 1-6). At
this point he kept on repeating "the Day when all men shall stand
before the Sustainer of all the worlds" over and over again and
weeping until he was faint.

Piety, simplicity and generosity combined in Abdullah to make him a
person who was highly esteemed by the companions and those who came
after them. He gave generously and did not mind parting with wealth
even if he himself would fall in want as a result. He was a
successful and trustworthy trader throughout his life. In addition
to this he had a generous stipend from the Bayt al-Mal which he
would often spend on the poor and those in need. Ayyub ibn Wail ar-
Rasi recounted one incident of his generosity:

One day Umar received four thousand dirhams and a velvet blanket.
The following day Ayyub saw him in the suq buying fodder for his
camel on credit. Ayyub then went to Abdullah's family and asked:

"Didn't Abu Abdur-Rahman (meaning Abdullah ibn Umar) get four
thousand dirhams and a blanket yesterday?" "Yes, indeed," they
replied.

"But I saw him today in the suq buying fodder for his camel and he
had no money to pay for it." "Before nightfall yesterday. he had
parted with it all. Then he took the blanket and threw it over his
shoulder and went out. When he returned it was not with him. We
asked him about it and he said that he had given it to a poor
person," they explained.

Abdullah ibn Umar encouraged the feeding and the helping of the poor
and the needy. Often when he ate, there were orphans and poor people
eating with him. He rebuked his children for treating the rich and
ignoring the poor. He once said to them: "You invi te the rich and
forsake the poor."

For Abdullah, wealth was a servant not a master. It was a means
towards attaining the necessities of life, not for acquiring
luxuries. He was helped in this attitude by his asceticism and
simple life-style. One of his friends who came from Khurasan once
brought him a fine elegant piece of clothing:

"I have brought this thawb for you from Khurasan," he said. "It
would certainly bring coolness to your eyes. I suggest that you take
off these coarse clothes you have and put on this beautiful thawb."

"Show it to me then," said Abdullah and on touching it he asked: "Is
it silk?" "No, it is cotton," replied his friend.

For a little while, Abdullah was pleased. Then with his right hand
he pushed away the thawb and said: "No! I am afraid for myself. I
fear that it shall make arrogant and boastful. And God does not love
the arrogant boaster."

Maymun ibn Mahran relates the following: "I entered the house of Ibn
Umar. I estimated everything in his house including his bed, his
blanket, his carpet and everything else in it. What I found was not
a hundred dirhams' worth."

That was not because Abdullah ibn Umar was poor. Indeed he was rich.
Neither was it because he was a miser for indeed he was generous and
liberal.

"The best words in their best order in any language cannot adequately depict the way God's Messenger (peace be upon him) looked at the dirham and dinar, wealth and property, and the world and all that it stands for. Indeed, even the disciples who had served their time at the feet of the Prophet's companions (may Allah be pleased with them) or the disciples of such disciples never regarded fortunes and treasures fit enough for the dusthole. Their pure and pious lives, their indifference to wealth and worldly possessions, the way they showered bounty on one and all and preferred others over their own selves, their contentedness with the barest minimum and their heroic selflessness and self-denial take one's breath away. One can only picture to oneself the nobleness of heart and openhanded generosity as well as self-abnegation and unearthly disposition of the great teacher who had enlarged the minds of all the later godly souls."
 
-IslamToday.com