Encyclopedia of Islam

Further reading: Alexandre Bennigsten and Chan-

tal Lemercier-Quelquejay, Islam in the Soviet Union

(London: Praeger, 1967); Ernest Gellner, “Islam and 

Marxism: Some Comparisons.” International Affairs 67 

(1991): 1–6; Dru C. Gladney, Muslim Chinese: Ethnic 

Nationalism in the People’s Republic (Cambridge, Mass.: 

Harvard University Press, 1991); Ali A. Mazrui, “The 

Resurgence of Islam and the Decline of Communism.” 

Futures 23 (1991): 273–289.

community

  See 

umma

.

community

  

161  J

---

Companions of the Prophet

 

(Arabic:  

al-sahaba; ashab al-nabi)

The Companions of the Prophet are the Muslims 

who joined with m

Uhammad

 (d. 632) in m

edina

during the seventh century to form the first 

Islamic community. They are highly esteemed by 

Sunni Muslims not only because of the roles they 

played in early Islamic history but also because of 

their involvement in the preservation and trans-

mission of the q

Uran

 after Muhammad’s death 

and in the definition and consolidation of the 

sUnna

 itself. In fact, the 

hadith

 upon which the 

sunna is based include lists of transmitters that 

invariably give the names of companions who had 

witnessed what Muhammad said or did or who 

are themselves considered to have been virtuous 

exemplars of authentic Islamic practice.

Sunni tradition recognizes several groups among 

the companions, with some overlap among them. 

They are the first four “rightly guided 

caliphs

” 

(Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and Ali); the e

migrants

(muhajirun) from m

ecca

; the Helpers (a

nsar

) 

from Medina, veterans of Badr, Uhud, and other 

early battles against Muhammad’s enemies; and the 

People of the Bench. The last-named was a group of 

poor and pious Muslims who gathered at a bench 

(suffa) in Muhammad’s 

mosqUe

 in Medina. They 

are highly respected in Sufi tradition. The compan-

ions also included 

Women

, especially the “Moth-

ers of the Believers,” among whom Muhammad’s 

wife, a

isha

, was foremost. On the other hand, the 

companions whom Sunnis revere (except Ali) are 

reviled by many Shii Muslims. The Shia contend 

that individuals such as Abu Bakr, Umar, and Aisha 

actually corrupted the pristine Islamic community 

by preventing Ali, the first Shii Imam, from becom-

ing Muhammad’s successor after his death in 632.

See also 

sharia

; 

umma

.