Surah 33 · Verse 12

[33:12] In Sunni literature, the view of infallible or saint-like companions of Prophet Muhammed is predominant. Sunni literature tries to establish a taboo on discussing or criticizing any companion (sahaba, plural ashab) whose names are listed in the so-called authentic books as narrators. In a hadith falsely attributed to Muhammed, his companions are likened to stars and following any of them would be sufficient for guidance. The Quran, however, gives us a very different picture of Muhammed's companions. The Quran uses the word sahaba and its plural ashab for all companions of Muhammed, including his opponents, hypocrites, and muslims (34:46; 53:2; 81:22). The Quran informs us about the existence of hypocrites among Muhammed's companions; nevertheless, their names are not exposed to the public. The reason for not exposing the name of the hypocrites is God's will to implement the test freely on earth. As it is the case in most religious matters, Sunnis prefer fabricated hadiths to the Quran. In Sunni teaching there is a hierarchy of righteousness, starting from the stars of the sky to the next generation and the next generation. Through this myth, they craftily established ancestor-worship, one of the versions of polytheism categorically rejected by the Quran. Shiites, on the other hand, have a stricter rule for creating idol stars from dead people. They require Muhammed's or Ali's genes as a pre-requisite for sainthood. Idolizing early generations was a natural consequence of their theology: the authority of hadiths solely relies on the credibility and superiority of sahaba, and subsequent generations (tabeen, etba tabeen...), whose names have been sanctified in the lists of narrators of hearsay. They found it imperative to create a blanket protection for all companions, since allowing one to be scrutinized or questioned would create a slippery slope that would ultimately expose the human nature of the superhuman, ideal, angelic characters. Nevertheless, numerous works by Sunni scholars have challenged the mainstream position. Even if their history books point at some of those "holy men" killing other "holy men," the Sunnis claim that all will go to heaven; both the murderers and the victims. Sunni sources refuse even to condemn Muawiya and his governor Marwan who committed many atrocities. Though they express their grievances for the brutal murdering of Hassan and Hussain, prophet Muhammed's grandchildren, Sunnis again, refuse to criticize, let alone condemn the murderers, who happened to be Muhammed's companions when he was alive, or the companions of his companions! Sahaba-worship is one of the main teachings of Sunni sects. Shiites, on the other hand, condemn anyone who somehow participated in the conflict against anyone related to Muhammed through Ali and Fatima's lineage. Shiites, rather than using the universal criteria of justice and truth, use genes as their compass to hell or heaven. They worship only those ashab (plural of sahaba) who either supported Muhammed's son in-law Ali or his children. In brief, the historical animosity between Sunnis and Shiites originates from the differences in the list of their idols. All other differences are secondary, and can be found plentiful among their own subjects.