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Is it Islamically permissible to describe the Rightly Guided Caliphs, after Islam transformed them, with what they were like in the pre-Islamic era (Jahiliyyah), such as adultery, infanticide, and alcohol consumption?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

The sins from which a Muslim has repented should not be detailed, especially if they were from among the Companions and the Rightly Guided Caliphs, for fear of slandering them or speaking ill of them. This can be alluded to in a general description, such as "Before Islam, people used to do such and such." Ahlus-Sunnah do not mention the faults of the Companions, and this includes their actions before Islam from which they repented. And the believers say: "Our Lord, forgive us and our brethren who preceded us in faith and put not in our hearts any ill-will toward those who believed." Not all that has been mentioned occurred with all of the Rightly Guided Caliphs.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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