Documents of the Right Word

cursing his (supposed) enemies instead of spending it, for
instance, pronouncing maledictions upon the enemies of Allâhu
ta’âlâ and His Messenger ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wa alâ âlihi wa
sallam’, upon those people who had inflicted all sorts of torture
and persecution on the Sultân of both worlds, our master, the
beloved Prophet of Allâhu ta’âlâ ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wa sallam’?
On the other hand, his statement, “They have acted on their
ijtihâd,” shows that he was not hostile to them. The truth is that
the wars and controversies between them did not stem from
inimical feelings, nor were they based on inveterate bitternesses
such as grudge. They were the results of ijtihâd and ta’wîl. There
could have been no place for criticising, let alone cursing, in this
business. If it were a pious act, a worship to vituperate or curse a
person, it would have been one of the requirements of Islam to
curse the accursed devil, Abû Jahl, Abû Lahab, and the other
ferocious, unbelievers of Qoureish who hurt, persecuted and
tormented our master the Prophet ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wa sallam’
and who perpetrated so many pernicious acts of turpitude against
this true religion. Inasmuch as it is not a commandment to curse
the enemies, how could it be a pious act to curse the friends?
Rasûlullah ‘sall-Allâhu alaihi wa sallam’ stated, “If a person
curses the Shaytân (Satan), he (the Satan) will say, ‘I am the
accursed already. Your cursing will not give me any (additional)
harm’. If a person supplicates, “Yâ Rabbî (o my Allah)! Protect
me against the Shaytân’, he (the Shaytân) will say, ‘You have
broken my back.’ ” This comes to mean that the allegations above
are slanders, calumniations against hadrat Emîr. On the other
hand, to say that Mu’âwiya ‘radiy-Allâhu anh’ began to curse
hadrat Emîr, hadrat Hasan, hadrat Huseyn, and the others ‘radiy-
Allâhu anhum ajma’în’ would mean to slander hadrat Mu’âwiya
‘radiy-Allâhu anh’. You say, “Did this event really take place? If
it did, why should it not be normal to curse Mu'âwiya and the
others? If it did not happen, what is the meaning in the book of
Tafsîr of Kash-shâf (the book titled Sherh-i-Dîwân-i-kutub-itawârih)?”
Our answer is: No, it did not take place. According to
the Madh-hab of Ahl as-sunnat wa-l-jamâ’at (the scholars of the
Sunni way), it is not permissible to speak ill of Mu’âwiya ‘radiy-
Allâhu anh’. The allegation (above) is intended to traduce him. In
addition, there is not a true report in this respect. Historians
narrate it; yet how can their narration be of documentary value?
Religious principles cannot be based on historians’ statements. In
this matter the statements of Imâm-i-a’zam Abû Hanîfa and his
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