Monday, October 20, 2008

Veracity of Tabari's Islamic History - 13


syed-mohsin naquvi wrote:

O.K. now we are on the right track. You ahve quoted soem reports, now I am goingt o quote soem redports. Let us discuss teh veracity of individual reports. How do you rate SAHEEH MUSLIM as compared to the ones you have quoted below?

We will discuss Bukhari separately because that is a special book in teh world of Islam.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Syed-Mohsin Naquvi
==================================================

Dear Naquvi Sahab,

"QUOTE"

A Hadith of Saheeh Muslim is often quoted to malign Hazrat Ameer Muawiya Bin Abu Sufiyan [May Allah be pleased with him]


This hadith has been narrated. on the authority of Shu'ba with the same chain of transmitters. Amir b. Sa'd b. Abi Waqqas reported on the authority of his father that Muawiya b. Abi Sufyin appointed Sa'd as the Governor and said: What prevents you from abusing Abu Turab (Hadrat 'Ali), whereupon he said: It is because of three things which I remember Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) having said about him that I would not abuse him and even if I find one of those three things for me, it would be more dear to me than the red camelg. I heard Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) say about 'Ali as he left behind hrin in one of his campaigns (that was Tabuk). 'All said to him: Allah's Messenger, you leave me behind along with women and children. Thereupon Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) said to him: Aren't you satisfied with being unto me what Aaron was unto Moses but with this exception that there is no prophethood after me. And I (also) heard him say on the Day of Khaibar: I would certainly give this standard to a person who loves Allah and his Messenger and Allah and his Messenger love him too. He (the narrator) said: We have been anxiously waiting for it, when he (the Holy Prophet) said: Call 'Ali. He was called and his eyes were inflamed. He applied saliva to his eyes and handed over the standard to him, and Allah gave him victory. (The third occasion is this) when the (following) verse was revealed:" Let us summon our children and your children." Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) called 'Ali, Fitima, Hasan and Husain and said: O Allah, they are my family. [Muslim]

This hadeeth does not mean that Mu’awiyah ordered Sa’ad to insult Ali. But, as it is obvious, Mu’awiyah wanted to know the reason that prevented Sa’ad from insulting Ali. Therefore, Sa’ad gave him the reason, and we do not know that when Mu’awiyah heard Sa’ad’s answer got angry with him or punished him. Mu’awiya’s silence is a correction for Sa’ad’s opinion. If Mu’awiyah was despotic; forcing people to insult Ali , then Mu’awiyah would not be quiet and would force Sa’ad to insult Ali, but nothing of that happened. Hence, it is known that Mu’awiyah did not order to insult Ali nor was pleased by that. Al-Nawawi (the famous shaafii comentator of sahih muslim)says: “Mu’awiyah’s saying does not declare that he ordered Sa’ad to insult Ali, but asked him for the reason that prevented him from insulting. As if Mu’awiyah was saying to him: “Have you refrained from insulting Ali as a result of piety, fear or anything like that? If it was as a result of piety and veneration to refrain from insulting, then you are rightful and if it were other than that, then there would be another answer.” Or it might be that Sa’ad was in a group of people who insults Ali and he did not insult Ali with them, and could not prevent them and controverted them so Mu’awiyah asked him this question. They said: “And it may have another explanation, that what prevented you from making Ali wrong in his thought and opinion, and to show to people our good opinion and thought and that Ali was wrong.

It has been narrated on the authority of 'Abd al-Rahman b. Abd Rabb al-Ka'ba who said: I entered the mosque when 'Abdullah b. 'Amr b. al-'As was sitting in the shade of the Ka'ba and the people had gathered around him. I betook myself to them and sat near him. (Now) Abdullah said: I accompanied the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) on a journey. We halted at a place. Some of us began to set right their tents, others began to compete with one another in shooting, and others began to graze their beasts, when an announcer of the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him) announced that the people should gather together for prayer, so we gathered around the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him). He said: It was the duty of every Prophet that has gone before me to guide his followers to what he knew was good for them and warn them against what he knew was bad for them; but this Umma of yours has its days of peace and (security) in the beginning of its career, and in the last phase of its existence it will be afflicted with trials and with things disagreeable to you. (In this phase of the Umma), there will be tremendous trials one after the other, each making the previous one dwindle into insignificance. When they would be afflicted with a trial, the believer would say: This is going to bring about my destruction. When at (the trial) is over, they would be afflicted with another trial, and the believer would say: This surely is going to be my end. Whoever wishes to be delivered from the fire and enter the garden should die with faith in Allah and the Last Day and should treat the people as he wishes to be treated by them. He who swears allegiance to a Caliph should give him the piedge of his hand and the sincerity of his heart (i. e. submit to him both outwardly as well as inwardly). He should obey him to the best of his capacity. It another man comes forward (as a claimant to Caliphate), disputing his authority, they (the Muslims) should behead the latter. The narrator says: I came close to him ('Abdullah b. 'Amr b. al-'As) and said to him: Can you say on oath that you heard it from the Messenger of Allah (may peace be upon him)? He pointed with his hands to his ears and his heart and said: My ears heard it and my mind retained it. I said to him: This cousin of yours, Mu'awiya, orders us to unjustly consume our wealth among ourselves and to kill one another, while Allah says:" O ye who believe, do not consume your wealth among yourselves unjustly, unless it be trade based on mutual agreement, and do not kill yourselves. Verily, God is Merciful to you" (iv. 29). The narrator says that (hearing this) Abdullah b. 'Amr b. al-As kept quiet for a while and then said: Obey him in so far as he is obedient to God; and disobey him in matters involving disobedience to God. [Muslim]

The hadith that the prophet prayed for Muawiyah [May Allah be pleased with him] that he should be guided and guide other is hasan which is regarded trustworthy. However it should be known that it is not necessary that Muawiyah [May Allah be pleased with him] attained those qualities immediately after the prophet finished his supplication. in reality he attained those qualities later on after going through many step by step processes and trials. It should be known that Muawiyah [May Allah be pleased with him] was human being and was falliable. Yes he made mistakes. after the martyrdom of Uthman yes he was hasty in seeking revenge against the killers of his cousin and this made him to judge the situation incorrectly. things would have been quite different had he listened to Ali[May Allah be pleased with him] who believed that once the anger climate had settled then it was possible to implement justice on the ibn Sabaites. but Muawiyah [May Allah be pleased with him] made his own ijtihaad of the situation and if a mujtahid makes mistakes then instead of the full reward he gets only half. It was about this scenario which Abdurahman ibn Abd Rabb al- kaba objected with regards to Muawiyah [May Allah be pleased with him] . It should be known that during muawiyah caliphate the muslim world enjoyed peace except for some khawarij skirmishes in Iraq and Iran. So there was no point to state that Muawiyah [May Allah be pleased with him] fought other fellow muslims during his caliphate. regarding the financial matters muawiyah could be wrong after all he was human and falliable. but he was always corrected by other companions as Imam Malik has pointed out in his Muwatta. It could be also a rumour which abdurahman reported to Abdullah ibn Amr, because at that time many rumors and slanders were carried out against muawiyah as reported by Ad-Dhahabi in his siyr alam an nabula and Ibn Katheer in his Al Bidaya wan Nihaya. However Allah later on blessed him very much as we show as follows:

Reports that show Muawiya [May Allah be pleased with him] was guided:

1- "Narrated Anas bin Malik: Allah's Messenger used to visit Umm Haram bint Milhan and she was the wife of Ubada bin As-Samit. One day the prophet peace be upon him visited her and she provided him with food and started looking for lice in his head. The Allah's Messenger peace be upon him slept and afterwards woke up smiling. Umm Haram asked, " what makes you smile, O Allah's Messenger? He said, " Some of my followers were presented before me in my dream as fighters in Allah's Cause, sailing in the middle of the seas like kings on the thrones or like kings sittings on their thrones. Umm Haram added, " I said, " O Allah's Messenger ! Invoke Allah, to make me one of them, ' So Allah's Messenger invoked Allah for her and then laid his head down ( and slept ). The he woke up smiling (again). (Umm Haram added I said, " what makes you smile, O Allah's Messenger?" He said, " Some people of my followers were presented before me ( in a dream) as fighters in Allah's Cause". He said the same as he had said before. I said, ' O Allah's Messenger ! Invoke Allah to make me from them." He said, " You are among the first ones." Then Umm Haram sailed over the sea during the caliphate of Mu'awiya bin Abu Sufyan, and she fell down from her riding animal after coming ashore, and died." [Saheeh Al-Bukhari, Kitab Al-Jihad]

2- "Abu Bakrah [May Allah be pleased with him] related that he heard the Messenger of Allah [Peace be upon him] say while Hasan Bin Ali [May Allah be pleased with him] was beside him on the pulpit, 'This son of mine is a leader, and through him, Allah will bring together two huge groups of Muslims.'" [Bukhari]

Note: One group was of Hazrat Ameer Muawiyah [May Allah be pleased with him] and the other group was of Hazrat Hassan Ibn Ali [May Allah be pleased with him], means both the groups after much bloodshed [as per unreliable history] of the conflict of Jamal and Siffin were after all Muslim groups.

3- The Prophet Mohammad [PBUH] said, “Oh Allah, make him [Mu’awiyah] a guide, guided, and guide people through him.” [Al-Tirmidhi and Mishkat Al-Masabeeh]

4- The Prophet Mohammad [PBUH] said, “O’ Allah, teach Mu’awiyah the Quran and math, and save him from the hellfire.” [Mawarid Al-Dam’an, by Al-Haythami]

Narrated Ibn Abu Mulaika:

5- Muawiya offered one Rak'a Witr prayer after the 'Isha prayer, and at that time a freed slave of Ibn 'Abbas was present. He (i.e. the slave) went to Ibn 'Abbas (and told him that Muawiya offered one Rak'a Witr prayer). Ibn Abbas said, "Leave him, for he was in the company of Allah's aostle." [Sahih Bukhari]

Narrated Ibn Abi Mulaika:

6- Somebody said to Ibn 'Abbas, "Can you speak to the chief of the believers Muwaiya, as he does not pray except one Rak'a as Witr?" Ibn 'Abbas replied, "He is a Faqih (i.e. a learned man who can give religious verdicts) ."[Saheeh Bukhari]

7- Imam Ahmad reports with an authentic chain from Ali ibn abi Hamla who heard his father saying: "I saw Muawiyah in Damascus standing on the pulpit and delivering a sermon to the people while his clothes had patches."[Musnad Imam Ahmed Bin Hanbal]

8- Ibn Katheer reported from Yunus ibn Maiysar az Zahid who stated: "I saw Muawiyah in the market of Damascus and he was walking in the streets of the city with a shirt having patch.[Al Bidaya Wan Nihaya]

Narrations that show muawiya guided others:

9- Narrated Said bin Al-Musaiyab:

When Muawiya bin Abu Sufyan came to Medina for the last time, he delivered a sermon before us. He took out a tuft of hair and said, "I never thought that someone other than the Jews would do such a thing (i.e. use false hair). The Prophet named such a practice, 'Az-Zur' (i.e. falsehood)," meaning the use of false hair. [Sahih Bukhari]

10- Narrated Humran bin Abbas:

Muawiya said (to the people), "You offer a prayer which we, who were the companions of the Prophet never saw the Prophet offering, and he forbade its offering," i.e. the two Rakat after the compulsory 'Asr prayer.[Sahih Bukhari]

11- Abi Mujliz reported: "Muawiyah went to Abdullah ibn Zubayr and Abi Amir, when he reached there abi amir stood up out of respect to muawiya whereas abdulla ibn zubayr remained sitting. Muawiya then said to abi Amir:"sit down for i have heard the Apostle of Allah(saw) saying:"that person who likes to see others stand up for him, then let him occupy his seat in hell fire."[Sunan Abu Dawoud]

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