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A famous recorded oral tradition among Muslims (Arabic: Hadith) is about a comment made by Muhammad. Although this narration is prominently quoted and referred to, it is not given any formal name, in contrast to other hadith such as the Hadith of the pond of Khumm or the Hadith of Qur'an and Sunnah

Muslim view

Muslims put different weight on this hadith, the majority, the Sunnis, viewing it as very favorable.

Sunni view

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Based on the narrations, Sunnis have listed ten people whom they believe were promised paradise while living. The list is written in the order Sunnis believed they were ranked in by Muhammad. The first four of them are known by Sunnis as the "Righteously Guided Caliphs".

1. Abu Bakr As-Siddiq (51 B.H - 13 A.H; 573 - 634 C.E)
2. Umar bin Al-Khattab (40 B.H - 23 A.H; 584 - 644 C.E)
3. Uthman ibn Affan (47 B.H- 35 A.H; 577-656 C.E)
4. Ali ibn Abi Talib (23 B.H - 40 A.H; 600 - 661 C.E)
5. Talha ibn Ubayd-Allah (28 B.H - 36 A.H; 596 - 656 C.E)
6. Zubayr ibn al-Awwam (28 B.H - 36 A.H; 596 - 656 C.E)
7. Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf (d. 31 A.H; 654 C.E)
8. Sa'ad ibn Abi Waqqas (23 B.H - 55 A.H; 600 - 675 C.E)
9. Abu-Ubaida ibn al-Jarrah (40 B.H-18 A.H; 584-640 C.E)
10. Said ibn Zayd (d. 51 A.H; 671 C.E)

Sunnis call these ten people the The Ten Promised Paradise (Arabic: Al-Asharatu Mubashshirun or Al-Mobashareen Bel-Jannah), a concept widely referred to in order to strengthen the status of those enumerated.

according to swordofallah.com:

The Companions were divided into twelve ranks by the scholars. This division was made according to the chronological order and some groups are also included in others. It was accepted by the majority of scholars:

It then enumerates twelve groups of Sahaba, starting with the "ten promised paradise" being included as the first and highest ranked group.

Shias often raise the differences in narration of certain hadith found in Sunni collections as a legitimate reason to disavow their authenticity. Sunnis have argued that slight differences in the narration of a hadith do not dismantle its credibility. Most ahadeeth have more than one narration, indeed they tend to be more trustworthy, as the ones with only a single narration are usually found only transmitted through a single isnad. The difference, Sunnis argue, is that websites like al-islam.com fail to acknowledge the many different narrations of Shia hadith from Shia collections which, unlike this one, don't have their authenticity doubted.

Shi'a view

Shia Muslims do not believe in the concept and have concluded that the idea is built on hadeeth that were fabricated during Umayyad reign, forged for political reasons to elevate the adversaries of the Shi'a Imam Ali and the Ahl al-Bayt. They also note that Ali is put together with nine other Sahaba who never supported him in his conflicts: Talha and Zubair were generals in the armies against him in the Battle of the Camel and Umar and Abu Bakr were in opposition to Ali during the succession of Muhammad. In contrast, Sahaba like Ammar ibn Yasir, Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr and Malik ibn Ashter, who staunchly defended Ali, are not included in the list.

Shi'a mention that the hadith was not even included in neither Sahih Bukhari nor Sahih Muslim, implying that not even the top Sunni scholars could consider it completely authentic. As argument for their un-authenticity, the Shi'a site al-islam.org points to the following dissimilarities in the three hadith:

• There are two versions, the version narrated by Said ibn Zayd includes a question and answer in the end, while the Abd-al-Rahman ibn Awf does not. Abu Dawud includs only the Said ibn Zayd version.
• The hadith in Sunan Abu Dawud version includes Sa'd ibn Malik, while the Sunan al-Tirmith replaces him with Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas in both versions.
• The Sunan Abu Dawud hadith does not even include Ali and also excluded are Zubayr ibn al-Awwam and Abu-Ubaida ibn al-Jarrah, and excluding Muhammad himself, the count goes down to seven, although the hadith aim to enumerate ten people.
• The three narations do not even agree on the order of the people included in all three of them.

Among other arguments, Shi'a point out that in the chapter of merits of Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim, no sections can be found for neither Said ibn Zayd nor Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf, while in contrast there are merits mentioned for other companions who are ranked lower by the Sunnis. There is a section in Sahih Bukhari for Muawiyah, one hadith for Khalid ibn Walid and a section heading for Masaab ibn Umayr (see volume 5, Book of Virtues). Sunnis do not even regard Sa'd ibn Malik as among the highly respected ten.

Further, Shi'a argue that if Uthman was really mentioned by name as one going to paradise, then he would have used it as defence when besieged, while nobody came forward mentioning this narration in support of Uthman. In fact, he was not even buried within the boundaries of Jannat al-Baqi when he died, he became included only after a later expansion of the cemetery, implying that the people of his time could not be familiar with the concept of him belonging to heaven.

References

See also

• Sunni view of the Sahaba
• Rashidun
• List of hadith

External links

Sunni:

• sunnah.org, presenting Abu Bark as the first of "ten promised paradise"
• http://www.anwary-islam.com/companion/ten-said-ibn-zayd.htm
• http://www.iqra.net/articles/muslims/family6.php
• http://www.livingislam.org/n/shb_e.html
• http://www.bysiness.co.uk/history/asharah_mubash.htm
• http://www.swordofallah.com/html/companionshome.htm
• http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/reference/glossary/term.MUBASHIR.html
• http://members01.chello.se/onesr/n/pku_e.html#u24

• Hadith