Nasb-and-the-Nawasib

of the Alawids becoming propelled by all of this toward coveting the Khilāfah had
incited the people to revolt. This had induced the fury of the Umayyads and had
prompted them to deploy excessive harshness toward the Alawids, even if it be
denigrating ʿAlī I, disrespecting him and disassociating from him. Especially
when they discerned that the Alawids have the capacity to pounce upon their
kingdom at any given time.
The conclusion of all the aforementioned is that the Umayyad Khulafāʾ and their
subordinates played a role in the emergence of Naṣb. The details are as follows:
1. The Role of the Khulafāʿ
Previously we have alluded to the fact that impugning ʿAlī I had started a
short while after the murder of ʿUthmān I. Subsequent to that, the Khawārij
and the people of Shām had taken his disparagement to a more extreme level.
Hence, during the Battle of Ṣiffīn explicit revilement and mutual imprecation had
ensued between the two groups. Here, however, we will only allude to that with
which ʿAlī I was targeted.
When the Umayyads had achieved stability in their dominion they found that
there were people who objected to their Khilāfah and criticised it a lot, doing
so by extolling the merits of ʿAlī I and claiming that they usurped his right.
This could potentially cause the hearts to yearn toward Fitnah and rise toward
rebellion once again. As a result, most of the Umayyad Khulafāʾ were propelled
to intentionally denigrate him and openly revile him, thereby attempting to
disenchant the people from and obstruct the path of any person who wanted to
criticise their Khilāfah.
Muʿāwiyah I had asked Saʿd I, “What prevents you from reviling Abū
Turāb” He replied thusly:
أما ما ذكرت ثالثا قالهن له رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم فلن أسبه-‏ لن تكون لي واحدة منهن أحب
إلي حمر النعم،‏ سمعت رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم يقول له:‏ خلفه في بغض مغازيه فقال له علي:‏
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