TRUE COMPANIONSHIP

TRUE COMPANIONSHIP I t is widely understood that the esteemed status of the Companions of the Prophet in Islam was due to their close association with the Prophet. This point is, in itself, correct. However, it does not mean that companionship is some mysterious phenomenon, and that the Companions, through mere presence, automatically gained benefit from some unexplained effect. From a scholarly point of view, this explanation is not satisfactory, because it does not fully account for the facts. For example, it fails to explain why hundreds of other people in Madinah, who outwardly professed faith and repeatedly sat in the Prophet’s company, derived no benefit from it and came to be known in Islamic history as hypocrites. The truth is that there is only one way for a person to achieve a high level of faith—and that is marifah, or intellectual growth. After embracing faith, a process of reflection begins within the individual. It is this thinking process that, in reality, is the only path for a believer to reach higher stages of faith.