حديث العشرة

The Prophet ﷺ named ten Companions who would enter Paradise: Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, Ali, Talha, az-Zubayr, Abd ar-Rahman ibn Awf, Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas, Sa'id ibn Zayd and Abu Ubayda ibn al-Jarrah (Tirmidhi 3747, Abu Dawud 4649). They are called al-Ashara al-Mubashshara, "the ten given the good news".

This does not mean that only they are promised Paradise: many other Companions received the same news, including Bilal, Thabit ibn Qays, Abdullah ibn Salam and the participants of Badr and Hudaybiyyah. Allah says: "Allah is pleased with the foremost of the Muhajirun and Ansar and those who followed them in goodness" (9:100).

The ten were of different backgrounds: poor and rich, soldiers and merchants, old and young. What united them was early faith, sacrifice and sincerity. Studying their lives is a way to learn how faith becomes action. Accounts of the Companions come from authentic reports, and where a detail is only reported in weaker sources we leave it out. We speak of all the Companions with respect and ask Allah to be pleased with them.