Sahaba - Tradition

Tradition

Because the hadith were not properly written down until many years after the death of Muhammad, although there were many individual written copies, the isnads, or chains of transmission, always have several links. The first link is preferably a companion, who had direct contact with Muhammad. The companion then related the tradition to a Tabi‘un, the companion of the companion. Tabi‘un had no direct contact with Muhammad, but did have direct contact with the Ṣahāba. The tradition then would have been passed from the Tabi‘un to the Tābi‘ at-Tābi‘īn, the third link.

The second and third links in the chain of transmission were also of great interest to Muslim scholars, who treated of them in biographical dictionaries and evaluated them for bias and reliability. Shi'a and Sunni apply different metrics.

Regard for the companions is evident from the hadith:

Sunni Muslim scholars classified companions into many categories, based on a number of criteria. The hadith quoted above shows the rank of ṣaḥābah, tābi‘īn, and tābi‘ at-tābi‘īn. Al-Suyuti recognized eleven levels of companionship. Shia do not have a ranking system dependent on when the Sahabi embraced Islam but according to what they did during their life. If a Sahaba made Muhammad angry or questioned his decision several times then he is viewed as unreliable. Shias consider that any hadith where Muhammad is claimed to have absolved all Sahaba from sin is a false report by those who opposed the Ahl al-Bayt.

The Shi'a believe that after the death of Muhammad, the majority of the sahabah turned aside from true Islam and deviated from Muhammad's family, instead electing the caliph by themselves at a place called Bani Saqeefa, they did this by a majority vote and elected Abu Bakr as the first Caliph. Although some of the sahabah repented later, only a few of the early Muslims held fast to Ali, whom Shi'a Muslims regard as the rightful successor to Muhammad. Shi'a scholars therefore deprecate hadith believed to have been transmitted through unjust companions, and place much more reliance on hadith believed to have been related by Muhammad's family members and companions who supported Ali. The Shi'a believe that Muhammad announced his succession during his lifetime at Dawat Zul Asheera then many times during his prophethood and finally at Ghadeer e Khum.