Nasb-and-the-Nawasib

Hence, they would not suffice on recording the merits of ʿAlī I alone in their
works, but would also record the merits of others besides him. And even when
they wrote a book regarding the merits and specialities of ʿAlī I specifically,
they would couple it with writing another book regarding the merits of other
Ṣaḥābah M, like Abū Bakr, ʿUmar and ʿUthmān I. 1
What had prompted them to do this was their endeavour to have a balanced
approach regarding all the Ṣaḥābah M. 2
Furthermore, the scholars of the Ahl al-Sunnah did not deem this to be sufficient.
They were vigilant at all times and were fully alert of any action which could be
exploited to promote an innovation, even if those carrying it out tried their best
to quote it with a veneer of the Sharīʿah so that it may be more appeasing to
the common people. Hence when Sufyān al-Thawrī was told that Sālim ibn Abī
Ḥafṣah, 3 a Shīʿī ḥadīth transmitter, always starts his gatherings with the mention
of the merits of Abū Bakr and ʿUmar L and only thereafter does he mention
the merits of ʿAlī I, he said:
احذروه فأنه يريد ما يريد
Fear him, for he intends what he intends. 4
He was implying that mentioning the merits of Shaykhayn was not really what
Sālim intended, due to him being at the forefront of those who denigrate them
and despise them.
1 For example: al-Arbaʿīn fī Faḍāʾil ʿUthmān and al-Arbaʿīn fī Faḍāʾil ʿAlī, both the works of Ismāʿīl ibn
Yūsuf al-Qazwīnī al-Ḥākim. See: Kashf al-Ẓunūn 4/287.
2 Minhāj al-Sunnah 4/287.
3 Sālim ibn Abī Ḥafṣah, Abū Yūnus al-Kūfī. A leading Shīʿī scholar. The scholars have disputed
regarding his reliability after having agreed that he was an extremist Shīʿī. He died in 140 A.H. His
narrations appear in al-Adab al-Mufrad of Imām al-Bukhārī and the Sunan of Imām al-Tirmidhī. See:
al-Ṭabaqāt al-Kubrā of Ibn Saʿd 6/336; al-Kāmil fī Ḍuʿafāʾ al-Rijāl 3/343; Mīzān al-Iʿtidāl 3/162; Tahdhīb al-
Tahdhīb 3/374.
4 Ḍuʿafāʾ al-ʿUqaylī 2/153; Tahdhīb al-Kamāl 10/135.
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