Nasb-and-the-Nawasib

يا رسول الله خلفتني مع النساء والصبيان؟ فقال له رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم أما ترضى ان تكون
مني بمنزلة هارون من موسى إل أنه ل نبوة بعدي.‏ وسمعته يقول يوم خيبر:‏ لعطين الراية رجال يحب الله
ورسوله ويحبه الله ورسوله،‏ قال فتطاولنا لها فقال:‏ ادعوا عليا فأتي به أرمد فبصق في عينه،‏ ودفع الراية إليه
ففتح الله عليه.‏ ولما نزلت هذه اآلية فَقُ‏ لْ‏ تَعَ‏ الَوْ‏ ا نَدْ‏ عُ‏ أَبْنَاءَ‏ نَا وَ‏ أَبْنَاءَ‏ كُ‏ مْ‏ دعا رسول الله عليا وفاطمة وحسنا
وحسينا فقال:‏ اللهم هؤلء أهلي
After hearing three things Rasūl Allah H mentioned regarding him
I will never revile him, I would prefer one of them over red camels for
myself. When Rasūl Allah H deputised him in one his battles and ʿAlī
asked, “O Rasūl Allah do you leave behind with the women and children,”
I heard Rasūl Allah H saying, “Are you not happy that you to me like
how Hārūn was to Mūsā, however there is no Nubuwwah after me.” I also
heard him saying on the day of Khaybar, “I will give the flag to a man
who loves Allah and his Rasūl and Allah and his Rasūl love him.” We all
aspired for it but he said, “Call ʿAlī.” He was brought and his eyes were
sore. Rasūl Allah H applied his saliva in his eyes and gave him the
flag. Subsequently Allah had granted him victory. And when the verse: “So
say, come we call our sons and your sons…” was revealed, Rasūl Allah H
summoned ʿAlī, Fāṭimah, Ḥasan and Ḥusayn M and said, “O Allah this is
my household.” 1
Al-Nawawī, however, explains:
قالوا:‏ ول يقع في روايات الثقات إل ما يمكن تأويله.‏ فقول معاوية هذا ليس فيه تصريح بأنه أمر سعدا
بسبه،‏ وإنما سأله عن السبب المانع له من السب كأنه يقول:‏ هل امتنعت تورعا أو خوفا أو غير ذلك؟ فإن
كان تورعا وإجالل له عن السب فأنت مصيب محسن،‏ وإن كان غير ذلك فله جواب آخر.‏
They (ʿUlamā’) say, “In the narrations of reliable transmitters there is
always content which is plausibly interpretable.” Hence in this statement
of Muʿāwiyah I there is no explicit mention that he ordered Saʿd to revile
him. In fact he only asked him regarding the reason which prevented him
from doing so, as if he was asking him, “Is it due to piety or fear or otherwise
1 Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: chapter of merits: sub-chapter regarding the merits of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib: ḥadīth no.
2404.
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