فضل الصحابة رضي الله عنهم
Jundub ibn ‘Abdullāh (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: I heard the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) five (nights) before he died, saying: "I stand acquitted before Allah that I took anyone of you as an intimate friend, for Allah has taken me as an intimate friend just as he took Ibrahīm as an intimate friend. Had I taken anyone from my nation as an intimate friend, I would have taken Abu Bakr as an intimate friend. Beware! Those who were before you used to take the graves of their prophets as places for prayer. Beware! Do not take tombs as places for prayer, for I forbid you to do so."
عن جندب بن عبد الله -رضي الله عنه- قال: سمعت النبي -صلى الله عليه وسلم- قبل أن يموت بخمس، وهو يقول: «إني أبرأ إلى الله أن يكون لي منكم خليل، فإن الله قد اتخذني خليلا كما اتخذ إبراهيم خليلا، ولو كنت متخذا من أمتي خليلا لاتخذت أبا بكر خليلا، ألا وإن من كان قبلكم كانوا يتخذون قبور أنبيائهم مساجد، ألا فلا تتخذوا القبور مساجد، فإني أنهاكم عن ذلك».
شرح الحديث :
Shortly before his death, the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said an important Hadīth to his Ummah. He informed them about his status in Allah's sight; that he attained the highest levels of love, just as Prophet Ibrahīm (peace be upon him) did. For this reason, he negated that he had an intimate friend other than Allah, because his heart was replete with loving, glorifying, and knowing Allah, thereby having no room for anyone else. Intimate friendship is confined in man's heart to one person. Had the Prophet had an intimate friend from among people, it would have been Abu Bakr As-Siddīq. This is an indication of the merit of Abu Bakr, and of appointing him to lead Muslims after the Prophet's death. Then the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) mentioned the immoderation of Jews and Christians in relation to the graves of their prophets, which they turned into polytheistic places of worship (where they associate partners with Allah in worship). So he forbade his followers to act like that. Christians have only one prophet, which is Jesus. They believe that there is a tomb on earth where he is buried, but the truth is that Jesus was raised to heavens, and he was neither crucified nor buried.