Nasb-and-the-Nawasib

nothing to do with the revolutionist other than kinship. And on the other hand it
demands that the Abbasids whose harassment had extended to the family of the
revolutionist be unjust to the distant people. But this is not what had happened.
Manner in which the Abbasids countered Alawid rebellions
Nevertheless, the Abbasids had countered the rebellions of the Alawids in two
different ways:
1. Military confrontation
Since the beginning of the Abbasid rule, they had tried to establish their
worthiness for the Khilāfah, as is clear from the sermon of al-Saffāḥ and his uncle
thereafter upon the pulpit of Kūfah.
The Alawids did not mobilise during the era of Abū al-ʿAbbās, but were rather
quite. Hence there were no clashes between them and the Alawids regarding
anything. In fact he had brought them close and had honoured them. The affinity
between them was pure. 1
Ostensibly, the Alawids did not rebel against al-Saffāḥ for the following reasons:
Firstly, due to him being preoccupied with eliminating the Umayyads who were
the enemy number one according to them as well. 2 They were satisfied because
he was doing something which they had failed to accomplish for a very long time
despite their numerous and repeated attempts.
Secondly, due to him going out of his way in honouring them, like giving some
of their leaders a million Dirhams, being forbearant with the wrongdoers among
them and overlooking some of the offences that reached him regarding some of
them. Likewise, he also insisted that the children of ʿAbbās and the children of
1 Simṭ al-Nujūm al-ʿAwālī 3/362; also see: al-ʿIlāqāt bayn al-ʿAlawiyyīn wa al-ʿAbbāsiyyīn p. 105.
2 See what al-Saffāḥ did to the Umayyads in Makkah and Madīnah in Tārīkh al-Ṭabarī 4/366; al-
Muntaẓam 321; al-Kāmil fī al-Tārīkh 5/89; al-Bidāyah wa al-Nihāyah 10/56.
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