Nasb-and-the-Nawasib

إذا رأيت الكوفي يطعن في سفيان الثوري وزائدة فال شك في أنه رافضي،‏ وإذا رأيت الشامي يطعن على
مكحول والوزاعي فال شك أنه ناصب
If you see a Kufī impugning Sufyān al-Thawrī 1 and Zāʾidah 2 then there is no
doubt that he is a Rāfiḍī. And if you see a Shāmī impugning Makḥūl 3 and
Awzāʿī 4 then no doubt he is a Nāṣibī. 5
Subsequent to this its usage became very popular ushering it henceforth into the
circles of people. Hence in the biography of al-Qunnabīṭī, 6 who passed away in
1 Sufyān ibn Saʿīd ibn Masrūq al-Thawrī, Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Kūfī. He was one of the prominent people
of his time in knowledge and piety. He was born in 97 A.H. and was accorded the title ‘the leader of the
believers in ḥadīth’. He was offered the post of a judge few times but he declined. He had his own school
in Fiqh but with the passage of time it dwindled away. He passed away in 161 A.H. Some of his works are:
al-Jāmiʿ al-Kabīr, al-Jāmiʿ al-Ṣaghīr and Kitāb fī al-Farāʾīḍ. His narrations feature in all six canonical works.
See: Ṭabaqāt Ibn Saʿd 6/371; Tārīkh Baghdād 9/151; Tahdhīb al-Kamāl 11/154; Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ 7/229.
2 Zāʾidah ibn Qudāmah al-Thaqafī, Abū al-Ṣalt al-Kūfī. A scholar of precision in ḥadīth and a great
retainer thereof; he is considered to be an equal of Shuʿbah in precision. But he only narrated from the
people of his city and would not narrate any narration to an innovator. He passed away whilst out in
Jihād in the lands of Rome in 161 A.H. The following are his books: Kitāb al-Sunan, Kitāb al-Qirāʾāt and
Kitāb al-Tafsīr. His narrations feature in all six of the canonical works. See: al-Fihrist p. 316; Tadhkirah
al-Ḥuffāẓ 1/215; Tahdhīb al-Kamāl 9/273; Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ 7/375.
3 Makḥūl ibn Abī Muslim Shahzāb ibn Shādhil al-Hudhalī (their client), Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Dimashqī.
A prominent jurist of his time and a Qāriʾ. He was originally from Persia and was born in Kabul. He is
considered to be from the middle class of the Tābiʿīn. Al-Zuhrī has said the following regarding him,
“There was no one more knowledgeable than him in his time in matters of Fatwā.” He had an unclear
way of expression. He passed away in Damascus in 112 A.H. His narrations appear in Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim
and the four Sunans. See: al-Ṭabaqāt al-Kubrā 7/453; Tārīkh Madīnah Dimashq 60/197; Tahdhīb al-Kamāl
28/464; Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ 5/155.
4 ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAmr ibn Yaḥmud al-Awzāʿī, Abū ʿAmr. A reliable scholar and ascetic who was
considered the supreme jurist of Sham. He was born in 88 A.H. He was known to follow the Sunnah
rigorously. His school prevailed for a while in Sham and Spain and thereafter dwindled away. He
passed away in Beirut in 157 A.H. Some of his books are: Kitāb al-Sunan fī al-Fiqh and al-Masāʾil fī al-Fiqh.
His narrations appear in all six of the canonical works. See: Tārīkh Madīnah Dimashq 35/147; Tahdhīb
al-Kamāl 17/307; Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ 7/107; Tārīkh al-Islām 9/483.
5 Ṭabaqāt al-Ḥanābilah 1/200; al-Maqṣid al-Arshad 2/70.
6 Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn Khālid al-Qunnabīṭī, Abū al-Ḥasan al-Baghdādī. Al-Khaṭīb al-Baghdādī
has considered him reliable. He passed away in 304 A.H. See: Tārīkh Baghdād 2/231; al-Ansāb 4/547.
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