Allah Most High says in the Quran: "Allah was well pleased with the believers when they swore allegiance unto thee beneath the tree, and He knew what was in their hearts, and He sent down peace of reassurance on them, and hath rewarded them with a near victory" [48:18]. According to the consensus of the Qur’anic exegetes, the believers that Allah is pleased with and referred to in this verse are the Companions of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. The Prophet also testified to their great standing when he said that: "The best of my community are my generation, and then those who follow them, and then those who follow them" [related by Imran ibn al-Husayn in Bukhari].
There are numerous other Qur'anic verses and hadiths testifying to the high rank of the Family and Companions of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and give him peace. They are the best of creation after the prophets and the best community of people that have ever lived. Allah Most High honored them by choosing them to be the family and friends of His beloved, peace be upon him. They were also the ones chosen to carry the Prophet’s message after his death.
Loving the Companions is a religious duty, and in order to love them, we must know them. Thus, the goal of this course is to introduce you to some of the greatest Companions, studying both their lives and the lessons we can learn from their sacrifices for the sake of Allah. Together, we will reflect on how the Prophet, peace be upon him, interacted and lived with them, and how they changed and flourished under the light of his guidance.
There are thousands of Companions, and we cannot do justice to them all in one course. Consequently, we will look at selected Companions, beginning with the innermost circle around the Prophet, peace be upon him, and moving on to some of the scholars among the Companions, in whose debt we all remain forever. These are the people who loved the Prophet, peace be upon him, more than anything, and whom he loved in return.
The ultimate goal is to renew our faith and reawaken our desire to draw close to Allah, by learning about the best of those who ever walked in the footsteps of the Best of Creation—our Beloved Messenger Muhammad, may Allah bless him and give him peace. We will learn about their lives and their uniqueness, and then learn from their example on how to bring the light of religion and directedness to Allah into our own lives.
The instructor for this course, Ustadha Noura, has completed coursework for a Ph.D. in Islamic Thought through the International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilization in Malaysia. She has spent many years studying with notable scholars at Zaytuna Institute, including Shaykh Salek bin Siddina who referred to her as a dedicated student of excellent manners and character, and in Amman, Jordan, where she currently resides.