Nasb-and-the-Nawasib

Hence this initiative of ʿUthmān I is actually a virtue in his favour which will
not be forgotten and omitted by the passage of time. 1
These are all the issues that the mischief makers had raised against him. They
reveal how ignorant, narrow minded, and prejudiced these people really were
that they contrived the weakest of reasons to criticise ʿUthmān I, even though
he was not blameworthy at all, without any evidence. It is strange indeed that
some of the issues raised against him were actually some of his great feats and
achievements. Ibn ʿUmar I indeed spoke the truth when he said:
لقد عبتم على عثمان أشياء لو أن عمر فعلها ما عبتموها
You have criticised ʿUthmān I for such issues that if ʿUmar I were to
do the same you would never have criticised him. 2
ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn I, 3 one of the leading members of the Ahl al-Bayt, is reported
to have said:
والله ما قتل عثمان على وجه الحق
By Allāh! ʿUthmān was not killed for a legitimate reason. 4
When rebutting all these claims and criticisms it is sufficient to note that Nabī
H foretold that the Khilāfah after him will last for thirty years, 5 and his
1 Al-ʿAwāṣim min al-Qawāṣim p. 80; al-Ṭuruq al-Ḥukmiyyah p. 18, 27, 400; Fitnah Maqtal ʿUthmān 1/73.
2 Muṣannaf Ibn Abī Shaybah: chapter of merit: sub-chapter regarding the virtues of ʿUthmān I:
ḥadīth no. 32047.
3 ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib al-Hāshimī, Abū al-Ḥusayn al-Madanī. From the scholars
of the successors and their ascetics. He was born in 33 A.H. He was with Ḥusayn I in Karbalāʾ but
was spared due to his sickness. He was reliable and enjoyed prominence and leadership. Al-Zuhrī has
said regarding him, “I have not seen a Qurayshī more virtuous than ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn.” He passed
away in 94 A.H. and was buried in al-Baqīʿ. His narration are found in the six canonical collections.
See: Tārīkh Madīnah Dimashq 41/360; Tahdhīb al-Kamāl 20/382; Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ 4/386; Tahdhīb al-
Tahdhīb 5/216.
4 Al-Ṭabaqāt al-Kubrā 5/216.
5 Sunan Abī Dāwūd 4/211; Sunan al-Tirmidhī 4/503.
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