Questions About the Sahaba

Wa alaykum as salaam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu.

Thank you for your question! Regarding the Companions, we generally say that their status is based on their overall attitudes and actions regarding the Ahl al-Kisaa during their lifetimes. So, if a Companion displayed loyalty to the Ahl al-Bayt as those personalities you mentioned, then we respect them highly. As for those earlier Companions who died in Badr and Uhud and the like, we also respect them a lot. As for those Companions who did not manifest support or hostility towards the Ahl al-Bayt, we don't manifest any support or hostility towards them. As for those Companions who showed hostility and opposition to the right of Ahl al-Bayt, we don't respect them. And our stances towards them in particular would relate to the extent of how they acted towards the Ahl al-Bayt. We would have a problem with someone who misappropriated the property of one of them but not as much as one who fought against them and sought their blood for example.

As for your second question, I guess it would depend on your meaning of 'status.' We would take a hadith from one of our imams who narrated on the authority of their forefathers over a hadith narrated by a Companion for example. This is because we regard a just, Fatimi imam as an independent authority if his imamate has been established. However, a Companion's authority would have to be juxtaposed against other factors, such as the Companion's adaalat or whether it correlated to the authority of the Ahl al-Kisa or the consensus of Companions.

And Allah knows best!

IRS