Documents of the Right Word

Believers’ wrongdoings!” Commanding istighfâr (invoking Allâhu
ta’âlâ for forgiveness) means prohibiting cursing. This âyat-ikerîma
commands to make istighfâr for those who commit grave
sins. It may be permissible to curse wrongdoing, yet this does not
mean that wrongdoers can be cursed, too. The tenth âyat of Hashr
sûra purports, “Do not feel hostility towards earlier Believers.
Pronounce benedictions over them.” It is a fact written even in
Shiite books that hadrat Alî prohibited to curse Damascenes. This
indicates that they were Muslims. It is stated in a hadîth-i-sherîf
addressed to hadrat Alî, “Fighting you is fighting against me.” Yet
this hadîth-i-sherîf is intended to alarm against the risk of fighting
against those great people. This hadîth-i-sherîf is explained in
detail in the forty-first paragraph. In reality, the position occupied
by hadrat Mu’âwiya ‘radiy-Allâhu ta’âlâ anh’ and his successors
was that of a Ruler, a Sultân. They were doing only one of the
three different duties of a Khalîfa.
Hurûfî books state that hadrat Mu’âwiya’s governor’s
oppressed the people. One of them was Ziyâd, the governor of
Shîrâz. He was Abû Sufyân’s illegitimate son, whom he had from
a concubine named Sumayya belonging to a doctor named Hâris
in the time of Nescience (before Islam). As he grew up, he
became legendary for his noble conduct, eloquence and
intelligence. Amr ibni Âs, who was one of Arabia’s geniuses, said
about him, “If this child were a Qoureishî, he would become a
great man.” Hadrat Alî was there, too. Abû Sufyân said, “He is
my son.” When hadrat Alî became Khalîfa, he appointed Ziyâd
governor of Iran. He managed perfectly and conquered a number
of lands. Hadrat Mu’âwiya heard about these accomplishments of
his brother’s and invited him. Yet Ziyâd did not leave office till
hadrat Alî’s martyrdom. After hadrat Mu’âwiya became Khalîfa
lawfully, he declared, in the forty-fourth year (of the Hegira), that
Ziyâd was Abû Sufyân’s son and appointed him governor of
Basra. Thus he protected hadrat ’Uthmân and hadrat Alî from
being criticized for having appointed someone without a father as
a governor. Ziyâd was intending to take revenge on Qâdî
Shureyh’s son Sa’îd for (what he had done against) hadrat Alî. To
this end he seized his house and property. Sa’îd went to Medîna
and complained to hadrat Huseyn about him. Hadrat Huseyn
‘radiy-Allâhu anh’ wrote a letter to Ziyâd, advising him to return
the property he had seized from Sa’îd. In his reply to hadrat
Huseyn, Ziyâd wrote rather insolently and said, for instance, “O
the son of Fâtima! You wrote your name above mine. Yet you are
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