Huzoor (rh): This description of the companion of Hazrat Muhammad Mustafa ﷺ holds good whenever, in whichever situation such people appear as become similar to the Sahaba, earlier Sahaba. Their qualities would be exactly like those, though their status may not be the same, but as far as the similarity goes, their qualities can be imitated by others and followed by others and in this regard, this is a timeless declaration. مُحَمَّدٌ رَّسُوۡلُ اللّٰہِ ؕ وَالَّذِیۡنَ مَعَہٗ is to be understood from two, in two ways. Number one, مَعَہٗ means those people of his time who have sided with him and secondly, people who in any time, at any time, at any age, have sided, started siding with him, that is helping the cause of Islam and the cause of Hazrat Muhammad Mustafa ﷺ.
Because مَعَہٗ is a timeless phrase, so it can be applied to both these situations. So in the first sense, it can be only strictly applicable to those of the companions of Hazrat Muhammad ﷺ who believed in him, who supported him and offered sacrifices in his cause. They are the people in the first instance who are referred to as وَالَّذِیۡنَ مَعَہٗ and those who are with him and whoever follows, in the later ages, the example of those people who were with him, secondly, they can also be referred to as counted among this world, if they follow the footsteps of those people who were with him truly and honestly. They can be counted and in this regard, this verse becomes timeless. It’s not only applicable to our time, it will be applicable to any time, before or after. Only you have to be مَعَہٗ.
