Praise be to Allah the Lord of the Worlds. May His peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Mohammad and upon all his family and companions.

Allah the Almighty chose for His Prophet (peace be upon him) the best of creation, distinguishing them with his companionship, receiving directly from him, and sitting in his presence. Allah the Almighty praised the Companions in several verses in His Book, saying {what means}, Exalted is He: "And the first forerunners [in the faith] among the Muhajireen and the Ansar and those who followed them with excellence – Allah is pleased with them, and they are pleased with Him, and He has prepared for them Gardens beneath which rivers flow, wherein they will abide forever. That is the great attainment." [At-Tawbah/100]. The Muslim's duty is to supplicate for those who preceded him in goodness, and to remove malice and hatred from his heart. Allah the Almighty says {what means}: "And those who came after them say, 'Our Lord, forgive us and our brothers who preceded us in faith and do not put in our hearts [any] resentment toward those who have believed. Our Lord, indeed You are Kind and Merciful." [Al-Hashr/10].

Therefore, the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) are trustworthy and upright, by Allah the Almighty's own attestation. It is forbidden to defame or disparage any of them. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "Do not curse my Companions, for if one of you were to spend the equivalent of Mount Uhud in gold, it would not reach a mudd (handful) of one of them, nor even half of it." [Narrated by Al-Bukhari]. In addition, he (peace be upon him) said: "Fear Allah, fear Allah concerning my Companions! Do not take them as targets after me. Whoever loves them, loves them due to his love for me; and whoever hates them, hates them due to his hatred for me. Whoever harms them has harmed me, and whoever harms me has harmed Allah, and whoever harms Allah is soon to be seized by Him." [Narrated by Al-Tirmidhi]. Abdullah ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Indeed, Allah looked into the hearts of His servants and found the heart of Muhammad (peace be upon him) to be the best of the hearts of His servants, so He chose him for Himself and sent him with His message. Then He looked into the hearts of His servants after the heart of Muhammad and found the hearts of his Companions to be the best of the hearts of His servants, so He made them the ministers of His Prophet, fighting for His religion. So, what the Muslims deem good is good in Allah's sight, and what they deem bad is bad in Allah's sight." [Narrated by Ahmad].

Indeed, the disagreements that occurred among the Companions arose from Ijtihad (independent juristic reasoning). Allah the Almighty has forgiven those who erred in their Ijtihad; rather, it is established that they are rewarded with one reward, and those who were correct are rewarded with two. Imam Ibn Ruslan Al-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him) said in his poem Safwat al-Zubad: And what occurred among the Companions, we keep silent about it, And we affirm the reward of Ijtihad.

Thus, the fortunate one is he who loves them all in their entirety, makes no distinction between any of them, is guided by their guidance, and holds fast to their rope. The wretched one is he who ventures into the intricate disagreements among them, enters the danger of dividing them, and lets his soul follow its whims in cursing any of them. Abu Zur'ah Al-Razi (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "If you see a man disparaging any of the Companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him), know that he is a heretic (zindiq). This is because the Messenger (peace be upon him) is truth, the Holy Qur'an is truth, and what he brought is truth. And all of that was conveyed to us by the Companions. These heretics want to discredit our witnesses to invalidate the Book and the Sunnah, so discrediting them (the heretics) is more appropriate." [Al-Kifayah fi `Ilm al-Riwayah/ p. 49].

It is forbidden for an unqualified common person to delve into the complexities of their disagreements and the tribulations that occurred after the death of the Prophet (peace be upon him). Such delving often leads to a religiously prohibited outcome, such as hating one of them out of ignorance and lack of knowledge. Hujjat al-Islam Imam Al-Ghazali (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "Know that the Book of Allah contains praise for the Muhajireen and the Ansar, and continuous reports have confirmed the Prophet's (peace be upon him) commendation of them with various wordings, such as his saying: 'My Companions are like stars; by whichever of them you are guided, you will be guided,' and his saying: 'The best of people are my generation, then those who follow them.' And there is no one among them but that specific praise for him has been mentioned, which would be lengthy to narrate. Therefore, it is appropriate to maintain this belief concerning them, and do not harbor ill thoughts about them, as is narrated about situations that contradict the expectation of good opinion. For most of what is narrated is fabricated due to fanaticism against them and has no basis. And for what is authentically narrated, interpretation is possible. It is not permissible to attribute to them what reason cannot attribute to error and forgetfulness. And their actions should be understood as having good intentions, even if they did not achieve them." [Al-Iqtisad fi al-I'tiqad/ p. 131].

Accordingly, it is forbidden for a Muslim to hate any of the Companions or to disparage them, due to the numerous texts praising them and their established exclusivity in accompanying the Prophet (peace be upon him), witnessing his noble lights, interacting with his sublime character, gaining from his knowledge and wisdom, and directly receiving his rulings and judgments without intermediaries. So, consider which state is better for you in the sight of Allah the Almighty: to meet Him with a pure heart free from rancor towards the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, holding a good opinion of them, and honoring and revering them, or to meet Him while you are cursing, hating, and defaming them. Imam Ibn al-Jawzi (may Allah have mercy on him) said: "Love for the Companions is prescribed by Sharia, and it should be in a manner permitted by Sharia. And among its necessities is following the beloved." [Kashf al-Mushkil, Vol. 1/P.308]. And Allah the Almighty knows best.