The masses quote several traditions that speak of the excellence of the companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his holy progeny), so much so that they even go to the extent of declaring all of them to be righteous and that all of them will go to Paradise, they call this concept, the Righteousness of the Companions (Adalat-e-Sahabah).
To support their stance, they often quote a weak tradition from the Prophet (peace be upon him and his holy progeny) that, “My companions are like stars and whichsoever you follow from them, you will be guided.”
This tradition is considered weak and false among the scholars of the Ahle Tasannun due to its narrator. Furthermore, it is illogical since even if we were to seek to travel using the stars, we could not randomly follow any star and reach our desired destination.
Although there is a tradition in the book of Muslim, that the companions should act as guides after the Prophet (peace be upon him and his holy progeny) it doesn’t declare that a person should follow every companion blindly.
Muslim narrates from Abu Burda who reports on the authority of his father, that the Prophet (peace be upon him and his holy progeny) said, “… The stars are a source of security for the sky and when the stars disappear there comes to the sky, i. e. (it meets the same fate) as it has been promised (it would plunge into darkness). And I am a source of safety and security to my Companions and when I would go away there would fall to the lot (of my Companions) as they have been promised with and my Companions are a source of security for the Umma and as they would go there would fall to the lot of my Umma as (its people) have been promised.”
Reference: Muslim, Book 44, Hadith 295
Rather, we find a tradition in Bukhari, that completely rejects the concept of the righteousness of all companions and clearly mentions that some of them will abandon the religion of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his holy progeny) and be sent to hell.
عَنِ ابْنِ الْمُسَيَّبِ، أَنَّهُ كَانَ يُحَدِّثُ عَنْ أَصْحَابِ النَّبِيِّ، صلى الله عليه وسلم أَنَّ النَّبِيَّ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ “ يَرِدُ عَلَى الْحَوْضِ رِجَالٌ مِنْ أَصْحَابِي فَيُحَلَّئُونَ عَنْهُ فَأَقُولُ يَا رَبِّ أَصْحَابِي. فَيَقُولُ إِنَّكَ لاَ عِلْمَ لَكَ بِمَا أَحْدَثُوا بَعْدَكَ، إِنَّهُمُ ارْتَدُّوا عَلَى أَدْبَارِهِمُ الْقَهْقَرَى
Narrated Ibn Al-Musaiyab:
“The companions of the Prophet (Peace be upon him and his holy progeny) said, “Some men from my companions will come to my Lake-Fount and they will be driven away from it, and I will say, ‘O Lord, my companions!’ It will be said, ‘You have no knowledge of what they innovated after you left: they turned apostate as renegades (reverted from Islam).”
Reference: Bukhari, Book 81, Hadith 174
Hence, we can conclude that the concept that all companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his holy progeny) were upright and would go to heaven is baseless and is rejected through authentic traditions of the Ahle Tasannun.