Nasb-and-the-Nawasib

أعظم من امتناعهم من لعن أخي رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم على منبرهم،‏ وهو يلعن على منابر
الحرمين مكة والمدينة
Greater than all of this is that ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib was being cursed upon
the pulpits of the east and the west but he was not cursed upon its pulpit
except once. They refused to pledge their allegiance to the Banū Umayyah
unless they assured them that no one will be cursed upon their pulpit. Can
there be any accolade greater than them refusing to curse the brother of
Rasūl Allah H upon their pulpit when at that time he was being cursed
upon the pulpits of Makkah and Madīnah. 1
Even though this statement is not free of exaggeration, as is apparent; however,
the spread of Naṣb to various places is a fact that cannot be denied. Also, the fact
that only ʿAlī I was cursed and that they added to their pact that he will not
be cursed on their pulpits suggests that cursing him was promoted by the ruling
empire.
However, it should also be clear that there is a very big difference between what
the ruling empire promotes and what the general subjects do, for there is no
relation of necessity between the two; even though the influence yielded by the
empire cannot be denied.
Nonetheless, we will analyse the loci of Naṣb according to the following
method:
First of all, I have relied purely upon the sources of the Ahl al-Sunnah in
identifying and expounding upon the areas of Naṣb, and not upon the sources of
the Imāmī Shīʿah. This is because the latter has extended the definition of Naṣb to
include anyone who is not an Imāmī, even if he be a Shīʿī, let alone him being from
the Ahl al-Sunnah; hence according to them all the lands of the Ahl al-Sunnah
are lands of Naṣb. A person who studies their literature will be appalled at the
1 Muʿjam al-Buldān 3/191.
192