successors

The Successors

“The Successors (At-Tabi’un) are those who met with one of the Companions of the Messenger of God, peace and blessings be upon him, and narrated hadiths from him.”¹⁾

“The generation that follows the Respected Companions are called the Successors. The reason why this generation is called ‘the Successors’ is that they came right after the Companions and followed them with great seriousness and care. The notables of this period were brought up by the Companions of the Prophet, who understood and lived Islam in the best way possible. They were the first to deal with many intellectual movements that were not encountered in the time of the Companions. By struggling with these movements, they provided important services in not harming the authentic understanding of Islam that they inherited from the Companions and transferring it to future generations.”²⁾

“The Companions and the Successors were the first generations who took all pains to keep and preserve the authentic recitation and interpretation of the Qur’an.”³⁾

“The Companions, the Successors, and the generation after the Successors saw everything in the Qur’an and believed that it was possible to find everything in it. Those who were complete strangers to the Qur’an may find my words exaggerated and odd, but their opinions are based on their own worldview. Naturally, people who are a stranger to a subject or an experience may come to the wrong conclusions.”⁴⁾

“The abstinence known by humanity during the Age of Happiness was perfectly observed by the blessed generations following the Companions, and became an objective of almost every believer. It was during this period that Bishru’l-Khafi’s sister asked Ahmad ibn Hanbal: ‘O Imam! I usually spin (wool) on the roof of my house at night. At that time, some officials pass by with torches in their hands, and I happen to benefit, even unwillingly, from the light of their torches. Does this mean that I mix into my earnings something gained through a religiously unlawful way?’ The great Imam wept bitterly at this question and replied: ‘Something doubtful even to such a minute degree must not find a way into the house of Bishru’l-Khafi.’ It was also during this period that people shed tears for the rest of their lives because they had cast a single glance at something forbidden, and people who vomited a piece of unlawful food that they had swallowed in ignorance wept for days.”⁵⁾

Footnotes

¹⁾

Mücteba Uğur, Ansiklopedik Hadis Terimleri Sözcüğü, Ankara: Diyanet Vakfı Yayınları, 1992, p. 381.

²⁾

M. Fethullah Gülen, Ölümsüzlük İksiri, (Kırık Testi-7), İstanbul: Nil Yayınları, 2011, p. 222.

³⁾

M. Fethullah Gülen, Fatiha Üzerine Mülâhazalar, İstanbul: Nil Yayınları, 2010, pp. 34–35.

⁴⁾

M. Fethullah Gülen, Kur’ân’ın Altın İkliminde, İstanbul: Nil Yayınları, 2010, p. 47.

⁵⁾

M. Fethullah Gülen, Emerald Hills of the Heart: Key Concepts in the Practice of Sufism, vol. 1, New Jersey: Tughra Books, 2011, pp. 53–54.

The Successors