The People of Hadeeth hold that one must refrain ( from discussing the dispute between the Companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. The tongues must be purged from mentioning anything which entails the attribution of shortcomings and deficiencies to them. They (The People of Hadeeth ), hold that one should seek Allaah’s Mercy for all of them and have love and defend each and every one of them. They also hold that one should exalt the status of the Prophet’s wives, radiyallahu ‘anha, supplicate for them, recognise their excellence and acknowledge that they are the Mothers of the Believers.
Imaam Abee Uthmaan Ismaa’eel bin Abdir-Rahmaan As-Saaboonee
Narrated Abu Sa’id Al-Khudri: Allah’s Apostle ﷺ said, A time will come upon the people, when a group of people will wage a holy war and it will be said, ‘Is there amongst you anyone who has accompanied Allah’s Apostle?’ They will say, ‘Yes.’ And so victory will be bestowed on them. Then a time will come upon the people when a group of people will wage a holy war, and it will be said, ‘Is there amongst you anyone who has accompanied the companions of Allah’s Apostle?’ They will say, ‘Yes.’ And so victory will be bestowed on them. Then a time will come upon the people when a group of people will wage a holy war, and it will be said, ‘Is there amongst you anyone who has been in the company of the companions of the companions of Allah’s Apostle ?’ They will say, ‘Yes.’ And victory will be bestowed on them.
Sahih Al Bukhari 1: Chapter 63, Hadith 3649
Ibn Mas’ood (may Allah be pleased with him) said:
Allaah looked into the hearts of His slaves, and He saw that the heart of Muhammad ﷺ was the best of people’s hearts, so He chose him for Himself and sent him with His message. Then He looked into the hearts of His slaves 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 supporters of His Prophet, who fought for His religion. So whatever the Muslims think is good, is good before Allah, and whatever they think is bad, is bad before Allah.
Narrated by Ahmad in al-Musnad (1/379)
Al-Bukhārī has narrated from ibn Abī Mulaykah who said:
Muʿāwiyah prayed one rakʿah [unit of prayer] of witr [odd-numbered evening prayer] and a Mowla [freed slave] of Ibn ʿAbbās was with him, so he came to Ibn ʿAbbās [telling him about Muʿāwiyah] and he [Ibn ʿAbbās] said: “Leave him for indeed he has been in the companionship of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
Imam Ahmed Narrated in his Musnad that Abū Ḥamzah narrated to us that he heard Ibn ʿAbbās saying:
I was a young boy running around with the other children when the Messenger of Allah ﷺ happened to approach us from behind us, I assumed that he did not seek anyone but me so I ran and hid behind a door of a house and I did not realise until suddenly he embraced me. He patted me between my shoulders and said, “go and call Muʿāwiyah for me,” and he [Muʿāwiyah] was his [the Prophet ﷺ] scribe, so I ran and said:
Sūrah al-Ḥadīd: 10 25 “respond to the call of the Messenger of Allah when he needs you.”
The fact that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ took him as a scribe for the revelation is a great merit and accolade for Muʿāwiyah.
Al-Bukhari narrates (2924) by way of ʿUmayr ibn al-Aswad that he came to ʿUbadah ibn al-Ṣāmit I when he was descending upon Ḥimṣ in a structure of his and with him was Umm Ḥarām – ʿUmayr says – she narrated to us that she heard the Prophet ﷺ, saying:
The first army to fight in the sea; [Paradise] will be incumbent for them. So she asked the Messenger of Allah ﷺ if she would be one of them and he said, “you are among them.”
Al-Bukhari (2799-2800) narrates it by way of al-Layth, through Anas ibn Mālik, from his aunt Umm Ḥarām bint Malḥān and he mentioned the narration; and at the end he says: The first naval expedition by the Muslims was by Muʿāwiyah.
Ibn Ḥajar says in Fatḥ al-Bārī (6/90): 41 … and Muʿāwiyah I was the first to undertake a naval expedition and that was during the era of ʿUthmān. MuʿāwiyahI was the leader of that navy.
Al-Khallāl has narrated in al-Sunnah (pg. 447) that Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal was asked about a person who ridicules Muʿāwiyah I and ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ I will such a person be called a Rāfiḍī? He responded: None shall have the courage to say something about them except that he harbours within himself evil intent.
Al-Mizzī has mentioned in Tahdhīb al-Kamāl (1/45): Al-Ḥākim has narrated with his chain to Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad al-Qābisī who said, “I heard Abū al-Ḥasan ibn Hilāl saying, ‘Abū ʿAbd alRaḥmān al-Nasā’ī was asked about Muʿāwiyah ibn Abī Sufyān, the Ṣaḥābī of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and he said: ‘Indeed Islam is like a home with a door. The door of Islam is the Ṣaḥabah. So whoever causes harm to the Ṣaḥābah in essence wishes to cause harm to Islam just as one who knocks at the door intends to enter that home. As for those who seek out Muʿāwiyah, they only want to get to the Ṣaḥābah.
Al-Ājurrī narrates in al-Sharīʿah (5/2466 – number 1955) that a man from Marw [Merv] asked ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Mubārak whether Muʿāwiyah was superior or ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, so ibn al-Mubārak responded: The dust that entered the nostrils (during Jihad) of Muʿāwiyah with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ is better than ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz.
Messenger of Allah ﷺ and Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī was at his side – and he ﷺ was saying:
This son of mine is a Sayyid [noble/chief/leader] and I anticipate that Allah will bring about reconciliation, through him, between two great groups of the Muslims.
Al-Bukhārī has repeatedly mentioned this narration at various places in his compilation (Ḥadīths: 3629,3747,7109)
This Ḥadīth contains of the great merits of Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī that he is a Sayyid and the sign of that is his abdication of the Khilāfah [in favour of Muʿāwiyah I].
In this ḥadīth there is also a description of the parties that were with Ḥasan and with Muʿāwiyah I that they are both Muslims; further it includes merit and praise for Muʿāwiyah ibn Abī Sufyān since the Prophet ﷺ praised the action of Ḥasan – abdicating in favour of Muʿāwiyah – and were Muʿāwiyah not fit for leadership the Prophet ﷺ would not have praised that reconciliation and Ḥasan’s abdication in favour of Muʿāwiyah.
Sufyān ibn ʿUyaynah said: The prophetic statement, “… two parties from the Muslims,” impresses us greatly.
Abū Bakr al-Bayhaqī stated: The reason for being impressed is that the Prophet ﷺ called both parties Muslims. And this narration is a prediction from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ as to what will happen with Ḥasan ibn Ali. It has been narrated by Yaʿqūb ibn Sufyān in his Tārīkh and Saʿīd ibn Manṣūr as quoted by Ibn Ḥajar in Fatḥ al-Bārī (13/66) after the death of Ali ibn Abi Talib; and his handing over the rule to Muʿāwiyah ibn Abī Sufyān.
Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī I has said in his sermon: O people, indeed Allah has guided you by the first of us, and has saved your blood by the last of us; and this matter in which Muʿāwiyah and I have differed in is either the right of an individual who was more deserving of it than me, or it is a right belonging to me which I have forgone for Muʿāwiyah with the intention of reconciliation among Muslims and preserving their blood [from being spilt], and I know not whether it is a trial for you or an enjoyment for a period of time.
Al-Bukhārī narrates that Abū Hurayrah said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
The [final] Hour shall not come until two groups fight each other; their call being one.
Muslim narrates that Abū Saʿīd who said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
A faction will renegade at a time when there is division among the Muslims; and the party, among two parties, which is closer to the truth will fight them.
So in the narration of Abū Hurayrah is an explanation of of what occurred between ʿAlī and Muʿāwiyah ; and there is no doubt that ʿAlī was closer to the truth than anyone else, and it was also ʿAlī who fought against the Khawārij renegades. In this narration is also a clear indication of the Islam of Muʿāwiyah ibn Abī Sufyān since the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said that “… their call is one,”’ and that “the party closest to the truth among two parties,” would fight the defectors.
Al-Nawawī has said in his commentary of Muslim (7/168): …
and in it [the narration] is an unequivocal pronouncement that both parties were believers; and they do not, on account of their fighting, exit the religion neither are they described with fisq [flagrant sin]; and this is our stance [i.e. the Ahl al-Sunnah].
Ibn Kathīr in his Bidāyah (10/513) states: …
and in it [the narration] is a ruling of Islam upon both parties, the people of al-Shām and the people of Iraq; not as is claimed by the Rāfiḍī group – the people of ignorance and deviation – who pronounce apostasy upon the people of al-Shām.
Ahlul-Hadith 