Nasb-and-the-Nawasib

May Allah have mercy upon ʿAlī. Indeed ʿAlī was an arrow of Allah who
struck the enemy; he was upon the noblest position of knowledge and he
was the closest relative of Rasūl Allah H. He was the ascetic of the
Ummah, he was not one who stole the wealth of Allah nor was he one who
was heedless regarding the orders of Allah. He gave the Qurʾān the cream
of his knowledge and was thus in a glamorous orchard thereof and upon
clear signs. That is who ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib is, O lowly man. 1
Likewise some scholars would not allow a Ḥarūrī to visit them. 2
The efforts of the successors and those who followed them in this regard were
considered to be an extension of the efforts of the Ṣaḥābah M which had
already previously weakened the might of the Khawārij to a very large extent.
As with regard to the second type, despite Naṣb spreading amongst many of
the Umayyads who were known to be leaders of might, but this did not stop the
scholars from condemning them whenever they deviated from the straight path
regarding ʿAlī I.
Al-Zuhrī 3 had stood firm on his stance at two occasions with two of the Khalīfahs
of the Banū Umayyah. He says:
كنت عند الوليد بن عبد الملك ليلة من الليالي وهو يقرأ سورة النور مستلقيا فلما بلغ إِناَّ‏ الاَّذِ‏ يْنَ‏ جَ‏ اءُ‏ وْ‏ ا
بِاإلْ‏ ‏ِفْكِ‏ عُ‏ صْ‏ بَةٌ‏ مِّ‏ نْكُ‏ مْ‏ ۚ لَ‏ تَحْ‏ سَ‏ بُوْ‏ هُ‏ شَ‏ راًّ‏ ا لاَّكُ‏ مْ‏ ۖ بَلْ‏ هُ‏ وَ‏ خَ‏ يْرٌ‏ لاَّكُ‏ مْ‏ ۚ لِكُ‏ لِّ‏ امْ‏ رِئٍ‏ مِّ‏ نْهُ‏ مْ‏ ماَّ‏ ا اكْ‏ تَسَ‏ بَ‏ مِنَ‏ اإلْ‏ ‏ِثْمِ‏ ۚ وَ‏ الاَّذِ‏ يْ‏
تَوَ‏ لاَّى ٰ كِبْرَ‏ هُ‏ مِنْهُ‏ مْ‏ لَهُ‏ عَ‏ ذَ‏ ابٌ‏ عَ‏ ظِ‏ يْمٌ‏ جلس ثم قال:‏ يا أبا بكر من تولى كبره؟ أليس علي بن أبي طالب.‏ قلت
1 Al-Mujālasah wa Jawāhir al-ʿIlm p. 220; Tārīkh Madīnah Dimashq 42/490; al-Bidāyah wa al-Nihāyah 8/5.
2 Al-Ṭabaqāt al-Kubrā 7/185; Muṣannaf Ibn Abī Shaybah 7/557; Ḥilyah al-Awliyāʾ 2/285.
3 Muḥammad ibn Muslim ibn ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Shihāb al-Zuhrī, Abū Bakr al-Madanī. A successor
who settled in Shām. He was a jurist and a great retainer of ḥadīth. His prominence and perfection
is unanimously accepted. Ayyūb al-Sakhtiyānī said about him, “I have not seen anyone more
knowledgeable than al-Zuhrī.” He passed away in Shām in 124 A.H. His narrations appear in all six
books. See: Tārīkh Madīnah Dimashq 55/294; Tahdhīb al-Kamāl 26/419; Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ 5/326;
Tadhkirah al-Ḥuffāẓ 1/108.
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