Nasb-and-the-Nawasib

Likewise, when Hārūn al-Rashīd 1 apprehended an Alawid revolutionist after
several attempts which spanned over several years, and that also after giving him
amnesty, he was kind to him; he honoured him and gave him a lot of wealth. 2
Maybe a third reason can be added to the aforementioned, and that is in order to
give the Alawids the impression that there was a vast difference between them
and the Umayyads at whose hands the Alawids had suffered for very long.
However, this amiable treatment was mostly due to them not revolting against
them and the Abbasids not suspecting them and not sensing danger in them. But
at times they dealt with the revolutionists amongst them with the same type of
harshness with which they treated others.
The Alawids started to show contempt at the exclusivity the Abbasids came to
enjoy over the newly attained dynasty. They were not happy with this new setting,
as it was their belief which persisted till then that they were the most deserving
of rulership, and that every other person who assumed it was a usurper, without
differentiating between an Umayyad and an Abbasid. Hence it was expected that
they would draw their weapons against the Abbasids immediately after they came
into power. 3 Just as it was expected that their revolts would continue unabated,
it would not die down in some region but that it would regain momentum in
another region. 4
1 Hārūn ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Hāshimī, Abū Jaʿfar al-Rashīd. One of
the great rulers of the Abbasids and the great kings of the world. He was born in 149 A.H. He was
appointed to office after his brother al-Hādī in 170 A.H. He would excessively go for Jihād and Ḥajj. He
had many outstanding traits and his grasp would be very severe when infuriated. He passed away in
Ṭūs in 194 A.H. at the age of forty five. He remained in office for twenty three years. Tārīkh Baghdād
14/5; Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ 9/286; Tārīkh al-Khulafāʾ 283; Maʾāthir al-Ināqah 1/192.
2 Shadharāt al-Dhahab 1/338.
3 Al-ʿIlāqāt Bayn al-ʿAlawiyyīn wa al-ʿAbbāsiyyīn p. 55.
4 Al-Maʿṣūmī has probably given the most comprehensive account of the Alawid revolutionists. He
says:
➢➢ Thereafter his brother (i.e. the brother of al-Nafs al-Zakiyyah), Ibrāhīm ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-
Maḥḍ, revolted. He was based in Baṣrah. continued ...
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