Nasb-and-the-Nawasib

when the report contains the word كان which denotes continuity, and also
considering the fact that reports of lesser importance and significance have been
widely reported.
Thirdly, a person who studies the books of transmitter biographies will certainly
come to realise that during the Umayyad period there were many people whose
names were ʿAlī, but none of them suffered any sort of harassment merely because
of his name. This was not specific to the common people but was also inclusive of
the Alawids themselves. 1
Fourthly, the narrator of the report was born during the end period of the
Umayyads, and thus only witnessed fifteen years of their rule. This supports the
possibility that he narrated this from someone else, but who is this someone else?
Nonetheless, it is correct to aver that the Umayyads hated this name and wanted
that no one be named with it, which is why during their rule this name was not
very prevalent. But this is one thing, and killing every child because of his name
is something completely different.
Likewise, there is doubt as to the fact that the Shīʿī historians and their scholars
forged the greatest amount of lies in this regard. Lies which did not remain
confined to the events that transpired, but surpassed them to impugning the
lineage of the Umayyads and their integrity in the most of wicked ways; to the
extent that they went on to impugn their forefathers of the pre-Islamic era who
had nothing to do whatsoever with what had transpired after them. Thus, they
first targeted Umayyah (the first grandfather) 2 by alleging that he was a Roman
1 Al-Tārīkh al-Kabīr 6/269; al-Tuḥfah al-Laṭīfah fī Tarīkh al-Madīnah al-Sharīfah 2/288.
2 Umayyah ibn ʿAbd Shams ibn ʿAbd Manāf ibn Quṣay al-Qurashī. The grandfather of the Umayyads
of Syria and Andalusia. He lived in the pre-Islamic era and was an inhabitant of Makkah. He was
the commander of the Quraysh after his father. He lived on to witness the birth of Nabī H. He
and his cousin ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib were amongst those who visited Sayf ibn Dhī Yazan in his palace in
Ghamdān in order to congratulate him upon his victory against the Abyssinians. His death of demise
is not known. See: al-Zarkalī: al-Aʿlām 2/23 (with a little bit of change).
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