Nasb-and-the-Nawasib

The First Discussion
The Concept of Naṣb according to the Ahl al-Sunnah
The term ‘Naṣb’ is an invented term which has no basis in the Book of Allah
E, the Sunnah of Rasūl Allah H, or the reports of the Ṣaḥābah M. It
is a term which does not feature in the works of any of the early scholars who have
documented the Fitnah (unrest) and analysed its various events, starting from the
murder of the Khalīfah ʿUthmān I and continuing through the various battles
which ensued between the people of Iraq and the people of Syria.
Despite it being difficult to identify the precise time wherein this term, with its
specific definition, was born, it is, however, possible to say with certainty that it
was born at the hands of the Shīʿah. This is so due to the following reasons:
Firstly, the oldest texts wherein this term is used are the texts of the Shīʿah.
Secondly, some of the early scholars of the Ahl al-Sunnah considered the usage
of this term to be a sign of its user being a Rāfiḍī, which implies that according
to their understanding it had a link with the Shīʿī dogma and that it was a term
specifically used by the Shīʿah, as will come ahead.
Lastly, the divergence of people regarding the rulership of ʿAlī I and their
various opinions regarding it are issues which dominated the Shīʿī attention in
the past and remains so right up to the present. Given such attention it is not
far-fetched that this term was conceived at their hands so that they may use it to
impugn any person who opposes them in their views and beliefs.
Probably the oldest text wherein this term appears, according to the sources of
the Ahl al-Sunnah, is the following poem of al-Sayyid al-Ḥimyarī: 1
1 Ismāʿīl ibn Muḥammad ibn Yazīd ibn Mufarragh al-Ḥimyarī, Abū Hāshim, known as al-Sayyid. He was
born in 105 A.H. He was a very staunch Rāfiḍī who was an affiliate of the Kaysāniyyah sect. continued ...
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