Nasb-and-the-Nawasib

The Third Discussion
The Loci of Naṣb
Usually people prefer to settle in places where they know their needs will be
secured, whether those needs are financial, social, religious or otherwise.
This, over the passage of time, plays a role in the people of a particular society
assimilating and developing shared interests which they all agree upon and
distinctions which distinguish them from all else, as the proverb goes ‘people are
naturally inclined toward sameness and similarity’.
Thus, for example, Kūfah was infamous for being the hub of Shīʿism, to the extent
that Maʿmar ibn Rāshid 1 would say:
عجبت من أهل الكوفة كأن الكوفة إنما بنيت على حب علي،‏ ما كلمت أحدا منهم إل وجدت المقتصد
منهم الذي يفضل عليا على أبي بكر وعمر
I am amazed at the people of Kūfah. It is as if Kūfah was established upon
the love of ʿAlī. I have not spoken to any of them but I have found that their
moderate people give preference to ʿAlī over Abū Bakr and ʿUmar. 2
Hence it is recorded that only two people specifically went against the norm
of Kūfah and gave preference to ʿUthmān I over ʿAlī I. 3 Likewise it was
1 Maʿmar ibn Rāshid al-Azdī, their client, Abū ʿUrwah al-Baṣrī. He eventually settled in Yemen. He
was one of the prominent reliable scholars. He was born in 95 A.H. and was one of the vessels of
knowledge. He was a truthful person and was an ascetic and pious man. He has made mistakes which
have been overlooked due to his immense transmissions which he overall mastered and perfected.
He passed away in 153 A.H. His narrations appear in the six canonical works. See: Tahdhīb al-Kamāl
28/303; Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ 7/5; Mīzān al-Iʿtidāl 6/480; Tahdhīb al-Tahdhīb 10/218.
2 Tārīkh Madīnah Dimashq 42/530; al-Bidāyah wa al-Nihāyah 8/11.
3 They are Ṭalḥah ibn Muṣarrif and ʿAbd Allāh ibn Idrīs. See: al-Sunnah of al-Khallāl: 2/395; Siyar Aʿlām
al-Nubalāʾ 9/438.
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