Nasb-and-the-Nawasib

And Sufyān al-Thawrī would say:
امتنعنا من الشيعة أن نذكر فضائل علي
Due to the Shīʿah we refrain from mentioning the merits of ʿAlī I. 1
He would also say:
تركني الروافض وأنا أبغض أن أذكر فضائل علي
The Rawāfiḍ have denounced me. And I dislike mentioning the merits of
ʿAlī I. 2
This approach of his was not because he denied the merits of ʿAlī I or hated
him, how would that be possible when he was from Kūfah and when giving
preference to ʿAlī I over ʿUthmān I was one of his views? 3 Instead he
knew well that the Shīʿah will exploit his narrations in order to proselytise their
falsehood amongst the people, especially when they would be citing a prominent
Sunnī scholar such as Sufyān as their reference.
Al-Nasāʾī also adopted the same methodology, but with the Nawāṣib. Hence when
he entered Damascus he noticed the ubiquitous presence of the Nawāṣib, which
prompted him to write his acclaimed book Khaṣāʾiṣ ʿAlī. And when a person asked
him to narrate to him something of the merits of Muʿāwiyah I he responded
in a suggestively condescending manner. 4
1 Ḥilyah al-Awliyāʾ 7/27; Tārīkh al-Islām 10/228; al-Wāfī bi al-Wafayāt 15/175.
2 Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ 7/253.
3 Minhāj al-Sunnah al-Nabawiyyah 2/73.
4 Bughyah al-Ṭālib fī Tārīkh Ḥalab 2/786; Tahdhīb al-Kamāl 1/339; Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ 14/133; Mirʾāt
al-Jinān 2/241. It is very far-fetched that Imām al-Nasāʾī intended to denigrate Muʿāwiyah I. But he
thought it wise, after seeing this state of affairs, to not narrate anything about him so as not to allow
the Nawāṣib the opportunity to draw evidence therefrom for their innovation. The evidence for this
is that when he was asked regarding Muʿāwiyah I he said, “Islām is like a house with a door, the
door of Islam is the Ṣaḥābah M. continued ...
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