Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

As Salam Alai Kum Brother,

I have a doubt regarding the hadith mention below because i came across a book which declared it to be "fabricated". But as this hadith is very commonly used, I want to know your comments on this in the light of authentic sources.

"My Companions are like the stars: whichever of them you follow, you will be rightly-guided"

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Answer:

Prophet(saws) companions star hadith

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Sahih Muslim Hadith 6167 Narrated by Abu Hurayrah

Allah's Messenger (saws) said: ‘Do not revile my Companions, do not revile my Companions. By Him in Whose Hand is my life, if one amongst you would have spent as much gold as (Mount) Uhud it would not amount to as much as one ‘mudd’ (a small measure) on behalf of one of them or half of it!’

Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 171 Narrated by Abdullah ibn Amr

Allah's Messenger (saws) said: ‘There will befall my Ummah exactly (all those) evils which befell the people of Israel, so much so that if there was one amongst them who openly committed fornication with his mother there will be among my Ummah one who will do that, and if the people of Israel were fragmented into seventy-two sects my Ummah will be fragmented into seventy-three sects. All of them will be in Hell Fire except one sect.’ They (the Companions) said: ‘O Allah's Messenger (saws), which one is that?’ Whereupon he (saws) replied: ‘It is one to which I and my companions belong.’

Sunan of Abu-Dawood Hadith 4590 Narrated by Irbad ibn Sariyah (part)

…The Messenger of Allah (saws) said: ‘I enjoin you to fear Allah, and to hear and obey even if it (your appointed ruler or ‘Ameer) be an Abyssinian slave, for those of you who live after me will see great disagreement. You must then follow my Sunnah and that of the Rightly-guided Khalifahs. Hold to it and stick fast to it. Avoid innovations (in the deen), for every innovation (in the deen) is an error.’

Dear and beloved brother, although there are several Verses in the Glorious Quran and several authentic narrations in the authentic and established Sunnah whereby Allah and His Messenger (saws) have endorsed the example of the noble companions (r.a.) of the Messenger of Allah (saws)….to the best of our knowledge there is no such specific hadith found in the authentic and established records of Sunnah which states: "My Companions are like the stars: whichever of them you follow, you will be rightly-guided"

And Allah Alone Knows Best.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan