One of the most important criteria to qualify as a companion of the Holy Prophet (peace be on him and his progeny) is to obey him unconditionally because he (peace be on him and his progeny) does not speak of his own accord. He (peace be on him and his progeny) only speaks what is revealed to him. So, whoever disobeys or defies him (peace be on him and his progeny) has in reality disobeyed Allah the High.
Now let us see who disobeyed the Holy Prophet (peace be on him and his progeny) and refused to comply with his order.
Abu Saeed al-Khudri (r.a.) reports: Abu Bakr came to the Holy Prophet (peace be on him and his progeny) and said: “O Messenger of Allah! Surely, I passed by so and so valley and saw a person praying with utmost humility and a good appearance.” The Prophet (peace be on him and his progeny) said to him, “Go to him and kill him.” Abu Bakr went to him but when he saw him in that condition he disliked the idea of killing him. He returned to the Messenger of Allah (peace be on him and his progeny) (without complying with his order).
The Prophet (peace be on him and his progeny) said to Umar, “Go to him and kill him.” Umar went to him but when he saw him in that same condition in which Abu Bakr had seen him, he disliked the idea of killing him. He too returned to the Messenger of Allah (peace be on him and his progeny) (without complying with his order) and said, “O Messenger of Allah! I saw him praying with humility and hence disliked to kill him.”
(Musnad Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, vol. 5, p. 41, H. 11416)
Just to complete the context, that man was Harqoos Ibn Zuhair, notorious as Zu al-Thadyai (the owner of breasts), who went on to become the leader of the Khawaarij and led them in the Battle of Naharwaan (near the border of Iran and Iraq) against Ameerul Momineen Ali Ibn Abi Talib (peace be on them both), leading to the bloodshed of thousands of Muslims. Of course, the Khawaarij were defeated and Harqoos was killed in this battle. When Ali (peace be on him) heard about his killing, he went into prostration to express his gratitude to Allah the High.
Here, we would like to cite only three verses of the Holy Quran:
“And whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger and violates His laws, He will cause him to enter the fire and for him is a degrading punishment.” (Surah Nisaa (4): Verse 14)
“…and whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger, then indeed he has deviated, a clear deviation.” (Surah Ahzaab (33): Verse 36)
“..and whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger, then surely for him is the Fire of Hell, he will abide in it forever.” (Surah Jinn (72): Verse 23)
Conclusion:
- Disobedience of the Prophet (peace be on him and his progeny) is disobedience of Allah the High.
- Consequence of his disobedience is as follows:
- The disobedient one is deviated, a clear deviation (i.e. without any doubt)
- He will go to Hell
- He will stay in it forever
- In it, he will have a degrading punishment
Aligning the above clear verses of the Holy Quran with the irrefutable incident mentioned in Musnad Ahmad Ibn Hanbal, is there still any doubt?
Take lesson, O people of intellect!