Nasb-and-the-Nawasib

And care for our cousin ʿAlī ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAbbās who has joined
our camp by loving us and being our well-wisher. He is a man of noble
pedigree and has a right over us, so foster ties with him and acknowledge
his rights. 1
Conversely, the beard of one of the Umayyads was plucked due to him not
standing with his people and supporting them when they were gathered and
besieged. 2 Likewise ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Marwān got one of his cousins 3 executed
due to him coveting the Khilāfah; He slaughtered him after granting him amnesty
and promising to appoint him to office after him. 4
All of this makes it very clear that the harshness and leniency in many of the
dealings of the Umayyads was not motivated by dīn or kinship, it was rather
motivated by the desire to ground themselves in leadership.
The Second Reason: The Alawids coveting the Khilāfah
Probably this was the underlying malady which caused an increase in the suffering
of the Alawids and the disillusionment of the Umayyads. The belief of majority
of the Alawids was that ʿAlī and his household were much more deserving of the
Khilāfah and that they were wronged and their rights were usurped. 5 And thus
they viewed the Umayyads as transgressors and usurpers.
This belief had dragged the Alawids to such harassment that only Allah E
knows, whether it be during the era of the Umayyads or the era of the Abbasids.
The sentiment of being the oppressed which never parted from them would always
erupt in them the spirit of revolting at any availing opportunity. Hence it is worth
1 Al-Muntaẓam 6/275; Tārīkh al-Islam 6/144; al-Bidāyah wa al-Nihāyah 9/67.
2 ʿAmr ibn ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān. See: al-Kāmil fī al-Tārīkh 3/461; al-Bidāyah wa al-Nihāyah 8/220.
3 ʿAmr ibn Saʿīd ibn al-ʿᾹṣ, well known as al-Ashdaq.
4 Al-ʿIbar fī Khabar man Ghabar 1/78; Tārīkh al-Ṭabarī 3/423; al-Kāmil fī al-Tārīkh 4/85; al-Bidāyah wa
al-Nihāyah 8/307.
5 Al-Khuḍrī: al-Dawlah al-Umawiyyah 1/151.
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