The companions and the early community
Islamic Studies · Key Stage 2 · The School
Who the companions were
The SAHABAH were the people who met the Prophet ﷺ and followed his teaching. The best known include Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman and Ali. Those four led the community after him. Khadijah and Aisha are among them too. Their accounts are a main source for how he lived. The companions matter for a simple reason. Almost everything known about his life and practice was passed on through them.
The move to Madinah
In 622 CE the Prophet ﷺ and his followers left Makkah. They went to Yathrib, which was later called Madinah. That journey is the HIJRAH. The Islamic calendar counts its years from it. It changed everything for the community. Before, they were a persecuted minority. Now they had to govern a city. Agreements bound its Muslim, Jewish and other people together.
Why this period is studied so closely
For Muslims this generation saw most closely how the teaching was really practised. So their reports are examined with great care. Who said what? Who did they hear it from? Does the chain of people hold up? That method of checking is why hadith scholarship became such a demanding subject. Sometimes reports disagree. Scholars have disagreed too. Honest teaching says so rather than hiding it.
At Badr the Prophet ﷺ first camped in one place. Al-Hubab ibn al-Mundhir asked him a question. Was this revelation, or was it his own judgement? He was told it was a judgement. So he suggested a different position, one that controlled the wells. The army moved. The sources kept a story in which a companion corrects the Prophet's tactical choice and turns out to be right. That kind of record is part of why the tradition is trusted.