Nasb-and-the-Nawasib

Likewise Marwān ibn al-Ḥakam would acknowledge before ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn that
ʿAlī I was innocent from the blood of ʿUthmān I. Not only that, but was also
his greatest defender. But in spite of all of this he would very often talk ill of him.
When asked, “What is it with you people that you revile ʿAlī from the pulpits?” He
said, “The matter will not be straight without doing so.” 1 I.e. leadership.
He also suggested the following to the governor of Madīnah:
أن ابعث إلى الحسين بن علي وعبد الله بن الزبير فإن بايعا وإل فاضرب أعناقهما
Send a messenger to Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī and ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Zubayr, if they
pledge their allegiance (well and good), or else decapitate them. 2
The reason for this suggestion again was none other than his desire for rulership
to stay in the Banū Umayyah and his fear that it would leave them after the
demise of Muʿāwiyah I before the allegiance was fully taken for Yazīd.
Based on this it would be fine to assert that initially the basis of Naṣb in the Nawāṣib
who did not excommunicate was religion. Subsequent to that it progressed after
the Umayyads had settled into power and took on the dimension of opposing
the Ahl al-Bayt for various reasons and political motives. 3 Thereafter it was the
latter which remained the general feature of Naṣb and the prevalent distinction
of their aversion.
The Ninth Cause: The Revolts of the ʿAlawīs
Many of the ʿAlawīs for a very long time continuously tried to reach the pedestal
of rulership due to the assumption that it was their inevitable right due to it
being an extension of the Khilāfah of their father ʿAlī which was usurped from
1 Tārīkh Madīnah Dimashq 42/438; Simṭ al-Nujūm al-ʿAwālī 2/533.
2 Tārīkh Khalīfah Ibn Khayyāṭ p. 232; al-Badʾ wa al-Tārīkh 6/8; Tārīkh Madīnah Dimashq 28/202; Tārīkh
al-Islām 4/169.
3 Muḥammad Khalīl Harrās: Sharḥ al-ʿAqīdah al-Wāsiṭiyyah p. 251
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