The Companions, a community of virtuous friends

Yeni Şafak · Yasin Aktay - The Companions (Ashab), a community of virtuous friends

Setting aside the tragic scarcity, deficiency or absence of friendship in other philosophies, in the friendship of Muhammad (pbuh) one sees, as a perfect model that can always be taken as an example, a fully proven abundance. Apart from other philosophies, and even from the experiences of other religions or prophets, the Prophet's friendship, in terms of his relationship with his companions, is a path of life without tragedy, strongly supported by fellow travelers, and rich in loyalty. The devotion, support and dedicated companionship of his companions toward him show a very great difference even when compared with the other prophets. For this he (pbuh) gave thanks to God and praised his companions.

We have touched before, for instance, on what the people of Moses did to him, even though he had delivered them from Pharaoh's tyranny and slavery and guided them on a road to freedom. At the very first stops of the slightly arduous road to the freedom granted them, they at once tried to compare it with the illusory advantages of their days of slavery. Unwilling to undertake any hardship, they asked that all their needs be given them by Moses' Lord, and all their capricious requests were fulfilled. They flung in their prophet's face the labor of setting out on the road of freedom he had opened for them, and instead of seeing how good this road was for them and giving thanks for it, they made a hard-to-bear caprice of it. They were drawn to idolatry, demanded food and drink without working, without deserving, asked for water and shade, and after all of it was given, disliking all this, asked for onions and garlic. This meant they longed for their old days, that is, the days of slavery. That was not enough: when Moses, on the final stretch, called them to enter, without turning back, the holy land that God had written for them, they left Moses alone with his own enemies, saying to him: "Go, you and your Lord, and fight; we are sitting right here!"

The companions of Muhammad, by contrast, always knew the blessing of guidance, its worth and value, and always gave thanks for it. They also separated their pre-guidance times from their present life with a firm line, as jahiliyya, and never yearned for the jahiliyya period. On the contrary, whenever the jahiliyya period was mentioned, a sadness and a feeling of pity for their former state arose in all of them. They never left their Prophet alone with the enemy in his war. On the contrary, in all the wars they shielded him with their own bodies. When they answered the call of the Prophet, who acted as their friend, it was never as though making a sacrifice, but seeing a bounty that would revive them, and they ran to him in gratitude.

Very few of the earlier prophets were able to reach companions who would gather around them, believe in them, and be friends to them in a real sense. Of course, each had some who believed in him, even if few. The most important characteristic of the companions of these prophets mentioned in the Qur'an is that they were people from the lower strata of society. Indeed, often those of the higher strata made removing these lower-stratum people a bargaining matter for joining the prophet's circle of friendship. This includes the Quraysh, who made believing in Muhammad conditional on removing the slaves, strangers or poor around him. Could the quality of being a companion be tied to such a bargain?

One of the greatest tests concerning friendships in ordinary life is whether we tie friendships to this kind of class or group restriction. Do we not sometimes dislike our friend's friends? Have we ever questioned the real motivation and meaning of the effort we show to move them away from our friend? Why is our friend's friend not unconditionally our friend? Does this stem from our friend's wrong choices, or from our not actually being ready to take on the responsibilities of being a friend?

What benefit would the participation of those who put forward, as a condition for their own joining, removing from Muhammad or the other prophets the companions with whom he had set out on the road have been to friendship, to companionship? What could they have done, "other than add further to your burden with their trouble-making"?

Truly, they had neither eyes to see the quality within that circle of friendship where the poor, slaves, strangers and the different were found, nor hearts to join it. While, with the bargain they put forward, they were slaughtering the friendship that would revive them, they were at the same time burying themselves alive.

Had the Prophet likewise overlooked these friend-killing sides of theirs and, following their sides that seemed superior in position, office and stratum, sent away those beside him for their sake, not only would they not have become companions to him, but he would also have lost his chosen companions. For those who "seek purification, who will take counsel and whose counsel will benefit them, who know the worth and value of friendship and come to it running" could not be sacrificed to the caprice and arrogance of those who regarded themselves as self-sufficient and made friendship a subject of bargaining.

Those whom we find on the road, or those who have found us on the road, do they want to take the place of those with whom we set out together? Do we find in them a superiority that would replace our more ancient friendships? This road is of course never closed to the participation of new friends, but one must pay attention to why and how new friends drive away or want to remove old friends.

Indeed, the companions of the Prophets were in constant increase. There were those who answered their call. Against the few people beside them when they set out, the number of their friends grew over time, but there was never room for a newly arrived friend to drive out an old friend. New friends regarded the old friends as friends too; the old did not find the newcomers strange, nor were they jealous. The companions were not only in a companionship that sacrificed their lives, wealth and all they possessed for their friendship with the Prophet; they also became companions to one another and took one another as guardians (wali).

At Badr they displayed, in an epic manner, the highest example of this guardianship not based on blood ties but entirely on virtues. Thus they brought this very special form of friendship, this seemingly impossible practice, within the realm of possibility. They became the best community brought forth for humankind, a good community of friends who enjoin good and forbid evil and who do not fear the blame of those who blame.