THE PHILOSOPHY OF COMPANIONSHIP

THE PHILOSOPHY OF COMPANIONSHIP Learning from the Prophet’s Company I T is generally believed that the distinguished status the Companions of the Prophet Muhammad received in Islam was due to the Companionship of the Prophet. In one sense, this is a true statement. But this does not mean that Companionship is a mysterious thing, and as a result of its mysterious effect, the Companions of the Prophet automatically got this benefit only due to being in his company. This view is not correct. It does not fully explain the phenomenon. For example, it offers no explanation to the fact that hundreds of people of Madinah who apparently proclaimed belief in the message of the Prophet and spent a considerable time in his company but they could not benefit from his company and were called hypocrites in the history of Islam. In fact, there is only one means for a human being to attain higher level of faith, and that is God-realization or intellectual development. After accepting faith, a thinking process continues in a person along the path of God-realization. This thinking process is actually the only means for a believer to attain a higher level of faith. For the Companions of the Prophet, this process continued in the company of the Prophet. People would listen to him; they would keep thinking over his words in such a way that the words would stir their minds. In this way, the process of contemplation continued unfalteringly every day. The Companionship of the Prophet of God was the source of this thinking process, so it was attributed to the Companionship of the Prophet. However, it is not enough to simply listen to the Prophet’s words. The prophet’s words will only be useful to a person who has a receptive mind, who can listen with unwavering attention and then accept them while being free from psychological complications. This receptivity was fully present among the sincere believers, so they got the benefit of Companionship of the Prophet. In contrast, this receptivity was lacking among the hypocrites, so they could not benefit from it despite the Companionship of the Prophet. Companionship in this sense is an Islamic term. It is defined as: “The person who observes the Prophet Muhammad in a state of faith and dies in the state of faith is a Companion (Sahabi) of the Prophet.” This is an incomplete definition of Companionship. In fact, to determine