The Four Companions

The Four Companions, also called the Four Pillars of the Sahaba, is a Shia term for the four Companions of the Islamic prophet Muhammad who are supposed to have stayed most loyal to Ali ibn Abi Talib after Muhammad's death in 632: Salman al-Fārisī Abū Dharr al-Ghifāri Miqdad ibn Aswād al-Kindi Ammār ibn Yāsir Salman is generally considered to be the loftiest amongst these elite four in Shia theology. It is narrated from Muhammad that: Faith has ten grades, and Salman is on the tenth (i.e., highest) grade, Abu Dharr on the ninth, and Miqdad on the eighth grade.