ĀṢAF (اصف‎). The wazīr or prime minister of Solomon. Alluded to in the Qurʾān, [Sūrah xxvii. 40], as “He with whom was knowledge of the scripture.” Muḥammadan commentators say he was the son of Bark͟hīya.

AS̤AR (اثر‎). Relating; handing down by tradition. Generally used for a Ḥadīs̤ related by one of the Companions, as distinguished from one of the Prophet’s own.

AL-AS̤ARU ʾSH-SHARĪF (الاثر الشريف‎). The sacred relic. A hair of either the beard or mustachios of Muḥammad, or a foot-print of the Prophet. One of these sacred relics (a hair of his beard) is exhibited in the great mosque at Delhi, another in a mosque in Cashmere.

AṢḤĀB (اصحاب‎), pl. of Ṣāḥib. The Companions or Associates of Muḥammad. The term used for a single companion is ṣaḥābī. Concerning the title of “Companion,” there is considerable controversy as to the persons to whom it can be applied. Saʿīd ibn al-Musaiyab reckoned none a “Companion,” but those who had been a year or more with Muḥammad, and had gone on a warlike expedition with him. Some say that everyone who had attained puberty, had embraced Islām, and had seen the Prophet, was a “Companion,” even though he had attended Muḥammad but an hour. Others, however, affirm that none could be a “Companion” unless Muḥammad chose him and he chose Muḥammad, and he adhered to the Prophet at all times. The general opinion is that every one who embraced Islām, saw the Prophet, and accompanied him, even for a short time, was a “Companion.”

It is related that the Prophet marched to Makkah with 10,000 Muslims, to Ḥunain with 12,000, and that 40,000 accompanied him on the farewell pilgrimage. The number of the “Companions” at his death is said to have been 144,000.

In point of merit, the refugees (Muhājirūn) are more worthy than the auxiliaries (Anṣār); but by way of precedence, the auxiliaries are more worthy than the later refugees.

The “Companions” have been arranged in thirteen classes, which are given by Abū ʾl-Fidāʾ as follows:—I. Those who first embraced Islām, such as K͟hadījah, ʿAlī, Zaid, and Abū Bakr, and those who did not delay till he had established his mission. II. The Companions who believed in him after his mission had been fully established, amongst whom was ʿUmar. III. Those who fled to Abyssinia. IV. The first Companions of ʿAqabah, who preceded the Auxiliaries. V. The second Companions of ʿAqabah. VI. The third Companions of ʿAqabah, who were seventy. VII. The refugees who went to the Prophet after his flight, when he was at Qubā, before the erection of the temple. VIII. The soldiers of the great battle of Badr. IX. Those who joined Islām between Badr and Hudaibiyah. X. Those who took the oath of fealty under the acacia tree at Hudaibiyah. XI. Those who joined after the treaty of Hudaibiyah, but before the conquest. XII. Those that embraced Islām on the day of conquest. XIII. Those who were children in the time of the Prophet, and had seen him.

Muḥammad frequently commended the “Companions,” and spoke of their excellences and virtues, a chapter in the Traditions being devoted to this subject. (Mishkāt, xxiv. c. xiii.) He is related to have said, “My companions are like stars by which roads are found, for which ever companion you follow you will find the right road.”

AL-AṢḤĀBU ʾL-FĪL (اصحاب الفيل‎). “The Companions of the Elephant.” A term used in the Chapter of the Elephant, or the CVth Sūrah:—“Hast thou not seen how thy Lord dealt with the companions of the elephant? Did He not cause their stratagem to miscarry? And He sent against them birds in flocks, small stones did they hurl down upon them, and he made them like stubble eaten down!”

This refers to the army of Abrahah, the Christian king of Abyssinia and Arabia Felix, said to have been lost, in the year of Muḥammad’s birth, in an expedition against Makkah for the purpose of destroying the Kaʿbah. This army was cut off by small-pox, and there is no doubt, as the Arabic word for small-pox also means “small stones,” in reference to the hard gravelly feeling of the pustules, what is the true interpretation of the fourth verse of this Sūrah, which, like many other poetical passages in the Qurʾān, has formed the starting point for the most puerile and extravagant legends.