Nasb-and-the-Nawasib

The First Discussion
The Stance of the Umayyad Khulafāʾ1
1 It is more appropriate to rather class them and Mulūk (kings) than as Khulafāʾ, as per the ḥadīth of
Nabī H. Dubbing them Khulafāʾ is merely a trope. Safīnah I narrates that Rasūl Allah H
said:
خالفة النبوة ثالثون سنة ثم يؤيت اهلل امللك أو ملكه من يشاء.‏ قال سعيد:‏ قال يل سفينة:‏ أمسك عليك:‏ أبا بكر سنتني،‏ وعمر عرشا،‏
وعثامن اثنتي عرشة،‏ وعيل كذا.‏ قال سعيد:‏ قلت لسفينة:‏ إن هؤلء يزعمون أن عليا مل يكن نبيا.‏ قال:‏ كذبت أستاه بني الزرقاء!‏ يعني
بني مروان.‏ زاد الرتمذي:‏ بل هم ملوك من رش امللوك.‏
The Khilāfah (succession) of Nubuwwah will be thirty years. Thereafter Allah will grant
kingdom, or his kingdom, to whomsoever he wishes.”
Saʿīd, the narrator from Safīnah I, mentions, “Bear this from me: Abū Bakr I ruled for
two years, ʿUmar I for ten years, ʿUthmān I for twelve years, and ʿAlī I for so many
years.” Saʿīd says that he said to Safīnah I, “These people claim that ʿAlī I was not a
Khalīfah.” He replied, “The butt-cheeks of the Banū al-Zurqāʾ have lied!” intending the Banū
Marwān. Al-Tirmidhī has added, “In fact they are kings from the worst of kings.”
This ḥadīth appears in Sunan Abī Dāwūd 4/211; Sunan al-Tirmidhī 4/503 (he has deemed it Ḥasan; al-
Albānī has deemed it Ṣaḥīḥ and has documented it in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Jāmiʿ wa Ziyādatuh: narration no. 5568.)
When this ḥadīth was narrated before Muʿāwiyah I he said, “We are content with kingdom.” See:
al-Bidāyah wa al-Nihāyah 6/198.
Likewise he would also say, “I am the first king.” See: Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ 3/157.
Whilst commenting upon the aforementioned ḥadīth of Safīnah I Ibn Kathīr mentions:
وهذا احلديث فيه املنع من تسمية معاوية خليفة،‏ وبيان أن اخلالفة قد انقطعت بعد الثالثني سنة ل مطلقا بل انقطع تتابعها
This ḥadīth contain the prohibition of dubbing Muʿāwiyah I a Khalīfah, just as it contains
mention of the fact that Khilāfah ended after thirty years, not completely but its perpetuity
ended.
See: al-Bidāyah wa al-Nihāyah 6/250.
That is why Ibn Taymiyyah mentions the following in his Fatāwā:
اتفق العلامء عل أن معاوية أفضل ملوك هذه المة،‏ فأن الربعة قبله كانوا خلفاء نبوة،‏ وهو أول امللوك كان ملكه ملكا ورمحة
The scholars agree that Muʿāwiyah I was the best king of this Ummah. The four that
preceded him were successors of Nubuwwah, but he was the first king. His kingdom was
kingdom coupled with mercy.
See: Majmūʿ Fatāwā Shaykh al-Islam 4/478; also see: 10/356, 35/19.
And al-Dhahabī said, “Amīr al-Muʾminīn and the first king of Islam.” See: Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ 3/120.
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