Umayyad tradition of cursing Ali
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There was an Umayyad tradition of cursing Ali, that is said to have started with Muawiyah I, a practice put to end by Umar II. This is tradition is described in sources such as Sahih Muslim and is prominently mentioned by Shi'a when retelling the history of Islam.
People who were told to curse Ali include:
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Contents |
[edit] History
[edit] Halt to the cursing of Ali
In an effort to bring the empire into greater conformity with the standards set by the prophet Muhammad, Umar II made a number of important religious reforms. He abolished the long-standing Umayyad custom of cursing Ali ibn Abi Talib (the fourth Caliph and an Umayyad rival) at the end of Friday sermons and ordered the following Qu'ranic verse be recited instead:
- Surely God enjoins justice, doing of good and giving to kinsfolk
[edit] Hadith
A narration attributed to Umar ibn Sa'ad from his father reports:
Muawiya ibn Abi Sufyin appointed Sa'd as the Governor and said: What prevents you from abusing Abu Turab (Ali), whereupon be said:
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A narration attributed to Sahl ibn Sa'd reports:
| A person from the offspring of Marwan was appointed as the governor of Medina. He called Sahl ibn Sa'd and ordered him to abuse Ali. Sahl refused to do that. He (the governor) said to him: If you do not agree to it (at least) say: May Allah curse Abu Turab. Sahl said: There was no name dearer to Ali than Abu Turab (for it was given to him by the Holy Prophet himself) and he felt delighted when he was called by this name. He (the governor) said to him: Narrate to us the story of his being named as Abu Turab. He said: Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) came to the house of Fatima and he did not find 'Ali in the house; whereupon he said: Where is your uncle's son? She said: (There cropped up something) between me and him which had annoyed him with me. He went out and did not rest here. Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) said to a person to find out where he was. He came and said: Allah's Messenger, he is sleeping in the mosque. Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) came to him and found him lying in the mosque and saw that his mantle had slipped from his back and his back was covered with dust and Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) began to wipe it away from him (from the body of Hadrat 'Ali) saying: Get up, covered with dust (Arabic:Abu Turab); get up, covered with dust. |
Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari, a 10th century Sunni Islamic scholar writes:
| al Hasan had already made peace with Muawiyah on condition that he concede to him what was in his treasury plus the revenue of Darabjird and that 'Ali not be reviled in his hearing. [4] |
| Particularly useful for Muawiyas purpose was the public cursing of Ali in Kufa where he hoped it would bring out into the open the latent opposition of the Umayyad rule, thus facilitating his measures of repression. When he appointed al Mughira ibn Shuba governer of Kufa in Jumada 41/September-October 661, he instructed him: 'Never desist from abusing and censuring 'Ali, from praying for God's mercy and forgiveness for Uthman from disgracing the followers of Ali, from removing them and refusing to listen to them, and never cease praising the partisans of Uthman, may God be pleased with him, bringing them close to you and listening to them [5]. |
Ali ibn al-Athir, a 13th century Sunni Islamic scholar writes:
| Marwan the architect of Umayyad dynastic rule, clearly recognized the importance of cursing as a tool of the government. He told 'Ali's grandson Ali ibn al-Husayn privately: 'No one [among the Islamic nobility] was more temperate (akaff) towards our master than your master'. The harmless son of al Husayn asked him: 'Why do you curse him then from the pulpits? 'He answered: 'Our reign would not be sound without that (la yastaqimu l-amru illa bi-dhalik) [6]. |
[edit] Sunni view
Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, a 20th century Sunni Islamic scholar writes:
| One more dis-liked innovation (bid'at) that reigned in the time of Hadhrat Muawiya [ra], that he himself (khud), and by his orders all (tamam) his governers, in their sermons (khutboon) through the pulpit reviled and insulted (sab o shatm) Hadhrat Ali [ra]. Even yet, in the mosque of the Prophet (S), through the pulpit (minbar) before the rawdah e nabawi, the dearest of the Prophet's (S) relatives were villified (gal'ian) and Hadhrat Ali's (ra) children and the nearest of his kin bore witness to these villifications (gali'an). [7]. |
[edit] References
- ^ This hadith has been narrated. on the authority of Shu'ba with the same chain of transmitters.
- ^ Sahih Muslim Book 31 Hadith 5915
- ^ Sahih Muslim Book 31 Hadith 5924
- ^ History of the Prophets and Kings, Between Civil Wars: The Caliphate of Muawiyah, Section: The Rendering of Allegiance to al Hasan b. Ali
- ^ History of the Prophets and Kings, Volume II, page 112
- ^ Baladhuri, AnsabII, 184-5 and ; Ibn Asakir, 'Ali, III, 98-9
- ^ Caliphs and Kings, page 174, referencing:
- History of the Prophets and Kings Volume 4 page 188
- The Complete History Volume 3 page 234 or v3, v4, p154
- Al Bidayah wa al-Nihayah Volume 8 page 259 and Volume 9 page 80
