THE SAHABAH WHO GAVE FATAWA DURING THE PROPHET'S LIFETIME

The Sahabah who gave Fatawa in the Prophet's lifetime were: Abu Bakr, 'Uthmtan, 'Ali, 'Abd al
Rahman ibn 'Awf, Abd Allah ibn Mas'ud, Ubay ibn Kab, Mu'adh ibn Jabal, Ammar ibn Yasir,
Hudhayfah ibn al Yaman, Zayd ibn Thabit, Abu al Darda, Abu Musa al Ash'ari and Salman al
Farisi, may Allah be pleased with them.
Some Sahabah gave more Fatawa than others. Those who gave the most Fatawa were: 'Aishah
Umm al Mu'minin, 'Umar ibn al Khattab and his son Abd Allah, 'Ali ibn Abu Talib, Abd Allah
ibn Abbas and Zayd ibn Thabit. The Fatawa given by any one of these six would fill a great
volume. For example, Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Musa ibn Ya'qub ibn al Khalifah Ma'mun
collected the Fatawa of Ibn Abbas in twenty volumes.
Those from whom a lesser number of Fatawa were narrated are: Umm Salmah Umm al Mu'minin,
Anas ibn Malik, Abu Sa'id al Khudri, Abu Hurayrah, 'Uthman ibn 'Affan, Abd Allah ibn Amr ibn
al 'As, 'Abd Allah ibn Zubayr, Abu Musa al Ash'ari, Sa'd ibn Abu Waqqas, Salman al Farisi, Jabir
ibn Abd Allah, Mu'adh ibn Jabal and Abu Bakr al Siddiq. The Fatawa of each of these thirteen
would fill only a small part of a book.
To this list can be added Talhah, al Zubayr, 'Abd al Rahman ibn Awf, 'Imra-n ibn Husayn, Abu
Bakrah, 'Ubadah ibn al Samit and Mu'awiyah ibn Abu Sufyan. The rest gave only a few Fatawa,
and only one or two, in some instances more, have been transmitted from any of them. Their
Fatawa could be collected into a small volume, but only after much research and sifting through
texts18.
In preparing their Fatawa the Sahabah used to compare the particulars of events that had
happened to them with similar matters for which judgments had been given in the texts of the
Qur'an and the Sunnah. In thus referring the matter to the sources, they employed the method of
looking for the meaning and legal significance through examination of the text's literal wording,
its implications, and any other relevant details.
Having arrived at a decision, they would then explain to others how they had adduced the
arguments that led them to their judgments, whether these had been derived from the letter of
the text or from its spirit, and the people would follow them. Indeed, these early Muslim jurists
never stopped researching a question until they reached a decision they felt certain of, and until
they were completely satisfied that they had done their best and could do no more