The following words are often attributed to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ):
أصحابي كالنجوم، بأيهم اقتديتم اهتديتم
~
My Companions are like the stars; whichever of them you follow, you will be guided.
It is well known that the various chains of narration for this hadith are weak. Al-Albani (d. 1999) discussed this isnad and went so far as to grade the report mawduʿ (fabricated),[1] though some scholars have opined that the hadith may attain acceptability due to its multiple chains.[2]
Without entering into the details of that discussion, there is another hadith that conveys a related meaning.
In Sahih Muslim, it is narrated from Abu Musa al-Ash’ari that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said:
النجوم أمنة للسماء، فإذا ذهبت النجوم أتى السماء ما توعد، وأنا أمنة لأصحابي، فإذا ذهبت أتى أصحابي ما يوعدون، وأصحابي أمنة لأمتي، فإذا ذهب أصحابي أتى أمتي ما يوعدون
~
The stars are a source of security for the sky, and when the stars disappear, there will come to the sky what it has been promised. I am a source of security for my Companions, and when I am gone, there will come to my Companions what they have been promised. And my Companions are a source of security for my Ummah, and when my Companions are gone, there will come to my Ummah what it has been promised.[3]
Al-Bayhaqi (d. 458/1066) also narrated this hadith. Thereafter, he referred to the famous disputed report and remarked:
والذي رويناه هاهنا من الحديث الصحيح يؤدي بعض معناه
~
The authentic hadith we have narrated here supports some of its meanings.[4]
Ibn Amir Hajj (d. 789/1474) and Mulla Ali al-Qari (d. 1014/1606) also noted this proximity in meaning.[5]
Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalani (d. 852/1449), commenting on al-Bayhaqi’s words, wrote:
صدق البيهقي هو يؤدِّي صحّة التشبيه للصّحابة بالنجوم خاصّة، أمّا في الاقتداء فلا يظهر في حديث أبي موسى. نعم يمكن أن يتلمّح ذلك من معنى الاهتداء بالنجم، وظاهر الحديث إنما هو إشارة إلى الفتن الحادثة بعد انقراض عصر الصحابة، من طمس السنن وظهور البدع، وفشو الجور في أقطار الأرض. والله المستعان.
~
Al-Bayhaqi put it right. The hadith specifically supports likening the Companions to the stars. As for following them, that does not explicitly appear in the hadith of Abu Musa. However, it is possible to perceive a subtle indication of that from the notion of guidance by the stars. The apparent meaning of the hadith, though, is an indication of the tribulations that would arise after the passing of the age of the Companions, including the effacement of the Sunnahs, the emergence of innovations, and the spread of injustice throughout the lands. And Allah is the One whose help is sought.[6]
One possible objection is that unrestricted imitation of every individual opinion attributed to every Companion would be untenable, since the Companions themselves differed in subsidiary legal matters and some opinions were later recognised as mistaken in light of stronger evidence from the Sunnah. However, this goes beyond what scholars such as al-Bayhaqi and Ibn Hajar intended when they connected the meaning of the report to authentic narrations. Their point was not that every isolated legal opinion of every Companion is independently sufficient to the exclusion of all else, but rather that the Companions collectively represented guidance, preservation of the Sunnah, and protection of the Ummah from deviation and tribulation. In this sense, adhering to the path of the Companions and remaining within their inherited framework of guidance was safer and more sound than departing from it altogether. This broader meaning is precisely what the authentic hadith of Abu Musa supports.
References:
[1] Al-Albani, Silsilah al-Ahadith al-Daʿifa, (Riyadh: Dar al-Ma‘arif, 1992) nos. 58–61
[2] Abdul Hayy al-Laknawi’s Iqamat al-Hujjah ʿala anna al-Iksar fi al-Taʿabbud Laysa bi Bidʿah, Edited by Abd al-Fattah Abu Ghuddah (Damascus: Dar al-Basha’ir al-Islamiyya, 1993) 48–52
[3] Muslim b. Hajjaj, al-Sahih, no. 2531
[4] Al-Bayhaqi, Abu Bakr, al-I’tiqad wa al-Hidayah ila Sabil al-Rashad ‘ala Madhhab al-Salaf wa Ashab al-Hadith, (Beirut: Dar al-Afaq al-Jadida, 1981) 318-319
[5] Ibn Amir Hajj, Muhammad al-Hanafi. al-Taqrir wa al-Tahbir. 2nd ed. Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-‘Ilmiyyah, 1983) Vol.3, 99; Al-Qari, Ali ibn Sultan, Mirqat al-Mafatih Sharh Mishkat al-Masabih, (Beirut: DKI, 2001) Vol.11, 154
[6] Al-‘Asqalani, Ibn Hajar, al-Tamyiz fi Talkhis Takhrij Ahadith Sharh al-Wajiz (=Talkhis al-Habir), (Riyadh: Dar ‘Adwa’ al-Salaf, 2007) Vol.8, 3189-3190;
