Nasb-and-the-Nawasib

In summary, their efforts in countering Naṣb varied and took many forms, all of
which can be summarised in two categories:
The First Category:
Their efforts regarding ʿAlī I and his household, which are also of two types:
1. Narrating the merits of ʿAlī I and his household:
The scholars of the Ahl al-Sunnah and its people did not fall short of countering
the averseness many people felt toward Amīr al-Muʾminīn ʿAlī I in any way.
The most effective way and the most successful medium which they deployed
was narrating his established virtues, whereby they intended to bring to the
fore those of his virtues which might otherwise be unknown to many who have
no relation whatsoever with the ḥadīth tradition, i.e. the majority. It is obvious
that this type of ignorance plays an integral role in making them vulnerable
to the propaganda of the Nawāṣib, especially when there are other factors as
well contributing to the same, like pressure from the Umayyad Empire and the
constant proselytization of the Khawārij.
Hence the scholars of the Ahl al-Sunnah, deployed the ḥadīth tradition as a
weapon against this falsehood, due to it holding a very high ranking in the heart
of a Muslim and his psyche. For latching on to the Sunnah is salvation, 1 or it is, as
succinctly described by Imām Mālik:
كسفينة نوح،‏ من ركبها نجا،‏ ومن تخلف عنها غرق
It is like the arch of Nūḥ S, whoever boards it will attain salvation, and
whoever stays behind will drown. 2
It is for this reason the scholars passionately strove to narrate the merits of
ʿAlī I and spread them amongst the people. Hence al-Thawrī would narrate
1 Sunan al-Dārimī 1/58; Ḥilyah al-Awliyāʾ 3/369; Tafsīr al-Samʿānī 3/460; Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ 5/337.
2 Tārīkh Baghdād 7/336; Dham al-Kalām wa Ahlih of al-Harawī 5/81; Tārīkh Madīnah Dimashq 14/9;
Miftāḥ al-Jannah of al-Suyūṭī p. 76.
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