Nasb-and-the-Nawasib

There is no doubt that his hatred for them was not because they were Hashimids,
especially when he was a bosom friend of ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn. But it was because
his chauvinism for the Umayyad household compelled him to disenchant people
from everything that was related to ʿAlī I, even it be by reviling him upon the
pulpits and clashing vigorously with his two sons. 1 And thus Abū Hurayrah’s open
expression of love for them actually went against his goal and mission.
The Third Aspect: The Political Aspect
The interaction of the Umayyads with many of the Alawids was characterised by
harshness and intransigence, it was motivated by the phenomena of exercising
caution and sensing fear. This was due to the following reasons:
The first reason: Their passion to rule exclusively.
Humans have been created with the tendency to own and claim possession of even
the most basic things, then what can one say about kingdom and the authority
and pomp that it holds. Hence it is no surprise that many a people have due to it
become victims of inconsistencies and have sacrificed the closest and the dearest
of people to them. When the head of Muṣʿab ibn al-Zubayr 2 was placed before
ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān he said:
لقد كان أحب الناس إلي وأشدهم لي ألفة ومودة،‏ ولكن الملك عقيم
He was the most beloved of people to me and of those who loved me the
most, but kingdom is barren. 3
1 Al-Muʿjam al-Kabīr 3/85; Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ 3/276, 447.
2 Muṣʿab al-Zubayr ibn al-ʿAwwām ibn Khuwaylid al-Qurashī, Abū ʿAbd Allah al-Madanī. The ruler of
Iraq and one of the warriors of the Quraysh and its geniuses. He was the most handsome of men and
the most generous of them. He assumed governorship over Iraq for his brother, ʿAbd Allah, and was
the man who put an end to Mukhtār ibn ʿUbayd and his comrades. Then in 71 A.H. he clashed with
ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān and was killed. See: Tārīkh Baghdād 13/105; Tārīkh Madīnah Dimashq 58/210;
al-Muntaẓam 6/114; al-Bidāyah wa al-Nihāyah 8/317.
3 Tārīkh Baghdād 13/107; Tārīkh Madīnah Dimashq 58/235; al-Muntaẓam 6/114; al-Bidāyah wa al-Nihāyah
8/321.
292