Nasb-and-the-Nawasib

Mālik did not narrate from Jaʿfar 1 but after the matter of the Abbasids
prevailed. 2
Nonetheless, due to the reason for the denigration of ʿAlī I persisting, the
Umayyad Khulafāʾ continued to do so. The later Umayyads had, however, taken a
step ahead and begun to harass many of the Alawids to an extent that some of them
had to resort to going undercover; 3 they had likewise refused to acknowledge the
prominent figures amongst them, as Hishām ibn ʿAbd al-Malik had done with ʿAlī
Zayn al-ʿᾹbidīn in his time; and the most horrendous ill-treatment was carried
out against Zayd ibn ʿAlī who was crucified and left hanging naked for four to
five years and thereafter burnt. 4 Subsequent to that his son was crucified. 5 The
Abbasids constantly reminded the Alawids about these events (so as to win their
sympathy). 6
All of this had changed dramatically after ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz had assumed
the Khilāfah. This was due to him being very keen on returning the Ummah to
the teachings of the Qurʾān and the Sunnah in many of its political, religious,
financial and social matters, wherein it had diverted from the correct path.
1 Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn al-ʿAlawī, Abū ʿAbd Allah al-Madanī. He was given the
title ‘al-Ṣādiq’. He was a jurist, an ascetic and a great scholar. He was the leader of the Banū Hāshim
in his time and was considered the sixth Imām in the line of Imāmah according to the Twelvers. They
falsely attribute themselves to him as ‘the Jaʿfariyyah’. He passed away in 148 A.H. at the age of 68. His
narrations appear in the al-Adab al-Mufrad of al-Bukhārī, the Ṣaḥīḥ of Muslim and the four Sunans. See:
al-Muntaẓam 8/110; Tahdhīb al-Kamāl 5/74; Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ 6/255; Tahdhīb al-Tahdhīb 2/88.
2 Al-Kāmil fī Ḍuʿafāʾ al-Rijāl 2/131; Tahdhīb al-Kamāl 5/76; Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ 6/256; Tahdhīb al-
Tahdhīb 2/88. Note: It would not be possible to say that the reason why Imām Mālik did not narrate
from Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad during the Umayyad era was due to his tender age. This is because at
that time he was at least 39 years of age, because he was born in 93 A.H., as appears in Siyar Aʿlām al-
Nubalāʾ 8/49. And the reign of the Abbasids started in 132 A.H., as appears in al-Badʾ wa al-Tārīkh 6/55;
al-Bidāyah wa al-Nihāyah 10/38.
3 Al-Ṣawāʿiq al-Muḥriqah 2/524.
4 Wafayāt al-Aʿyān 6/111; Minhāj al-Sunnah al-Nabawiyyah 1/35; Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ 5/389.
5 Al-Badʾ wa al-Tārīkh 6/52; Tārīkh Madīnah Dimashq 64/228; Shadharāt al-Dhahab 1/167.
6 Tārīkh al-Ṭabarī 3/431; al-Muntaẓam 8/66; al-Kāmil fī al-Tārīkh 5/154; al-Bidāyah wa al-Nihāyah 10/86.
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