Haafidh
Ibn Rajab al-Hanbalee [may Allaah have Mercy on him] said in his book “The Difference Between Advising and Defaming”
in the Chapter - Those Who Appear To Be Sincere but Conceal Animosity are From
the Attributes of the Hypocrites:
In
this example, we have a group of people who appear to be well-wishers but in
actuality are guilty of two terrible prohibited actions:
Firstly,
they fail to admit the mistake of a scholar and any attempt to rectify the
mistake and repel such attempts are met by tarnishing the reputation of the
opposing scholar, who’s seeking clarification, because of the following of
their desires. Animosity is created towards those who wish well by seeking
rectification of the mistake, to spread beneficial knowledge and not to conceal
it.
Secondly,
because of the following of their desires, they openly insult those who try to
cooperate with them. Their intent is evil and corrupt and display a lack of
respect towards the scholars of the religion. Similar to this was the plot and
oppression that (a fraction attributed to) Banee Marwaan and those who followed
them fell into. They called people to follow them and give allegiance to them
and to dissociate themselves from ‘Alee bin Abee Taalib and his sons, Hasan and
Hussayn, may Allaah be Pleased with them and all their progeny.
To explain this incident; when ‘Uthmaan bin Affaan [may
Allaah be Pleased with him] was assassinated, the Ummah were in disagreement as
to what to do. No one deserved to be the ruler of the Muslims more so than
‘Alee bin ‘Abee Taalib, therefore, the Muslim masses gave their allegiance to
him. However, a segment of the Ummah called for a delay so that the
assassination of ‘Uthmaan can be investigated and the culprits brought to
account. They then began to rally behind a leader they had elected for
themselves and called for a revolution by opposing to the leadership of ‘Alee
bin Abee Taalib. They demeaned ‘Alee by claiming that he was not concerned with
the crime committed against ‘Uthmaan, and this a lie and slander against him. Rather,
he swore a truthful and pious oath to bring the criminals to justice. Nevertheless,
those who opposed him waged war against him eventually killed him and they
continued this onslaught by murdering his children too, may Allaah be Pleased
with them all.
They
got this far and achieved their corrupted targets by using the pulpit and other
forms of propagation against the leadership of ‘Alee. They would entice crowds
in large rallies until hatred was established in the hearts of the masses
against ‘Alee and those with him. Banee Marwaan claimed that they deserved
leadership more so than ‘Alee and his offspring, as they claimed to be blood
relatives of ‘Uthmaan thus deserving the right to inherit the government. Their
aim was eventually accomplished by the killing of ‘Alee and the kingship being
transferred to them. Some of them even use to confess that ‘Alee was superior
in ranking within the Ummah after ‘Uthmaan but admitted that they only incited hatred
against him in order for them to gain (worldly) authority and control.
Their
objective was to stir the emotions of the Muslims and to plant within their
hearts the seeds of hatred against Alee and his children, to insult them and
claim that they were oppressors and that they must be overthrown. This is all
despite the fact that they acknowledged his lofty status and noble
characteristics, yet they hastened to rebellion and removed any trace of
support for him and his family. This was done with the sole purpose of gaining
control and authority for the family of Ummayyah[1].
[1] Shaykh Saaleh al-Suhaymee [may Allaah Preserve him] said:
This
chapter discusses issues which has escaped many people; be warned against those
who apparently wish well but have a hidden evil agenda.
These people are extremely dangerous. Their speech is
sweet and their appearance is beautiful but they are hypocrites masquerading as
sincere believers. Their objectives are to spill blood, to make the believers
become like sheep to the wolves, and overall, they want to gain the Dunyaa for
themselves without having any inkling for the Hereafter. Not all those who
display unpraiseworthy traits are hypocrites, however. It may be that they have
aspects of hypocrisy but not exiting the fold of al-Islaam in its entirety.
Ibn Rajab here gives an important benefit; the actions
of a person indicate their motives, so we usually have an indication to the
persons inner-characteristics of hypocrisy.
Similar to the example given here is how a person from
Ahl as-Sunnah makes it perceive that he is defending the correct methodology by
making it seem that he wants to create unity however, what he spreads
hate-speech to incite enmity between the scholars. In this process, instead of
wishing goodness and the truth to prevail, he disgraces the reputation of those
against him. Such people are liars, accusers and those who create disunity between
the Ummah. They want nothing except corruption to prevail in the lands.
Do you not see this today? They claim such and such a
person is an innovator, when you ask them way, they will say, “Because he is
against such and such a scholar!”
Be warned! Do not misunderstand what I am saying! You
see people attributing speech to scholars which they did not even say. They
will say, “This statement of the scholar implies that he is against such and
such scholar, so he intends by it to go against him.” How do they know what is
in the hearts? No doubt, creating discord between the people of knowledge is
prevalent today and is from the worst of sins;
“And whoever contradicts and opposes the Messenger
(Muhammad) after the right path has been shown clearly to him, and follows
other than the believers' way. We shall keep him in the path he has
chosen, and burn him in Hell - what an evil destination.” [an-Nisaa’ 4:115]
Another example given by the Shaykh is the example of
the differences that occurred between the Companions and the Tabi’oon with them
[May Allaah be Pleased with them all]. The point behind mentioning the historical
events that occurred between them is to highlight the danger of propaganda and the
spreading of rumours.
There is no doubt that the opinion of ‘Alee bin Abee
Taalib [may Allaah be Pleased with him] was stronger, and those involved in
igniting the feud are responsible for the killing of ‘Alee. As the Prophet described
them, a transgressing party of criminals. The use of the word Banee Umayyah
here is used in its general sense and it is impermissible to understand this to
mean that the Shaykh is talking about the pious amongst them as well – namely
the Companions and Tabi’een. Rather, he is referring to a fraction amongst them
that wanted to ignite this feud. The dangers of what occurred between them is a
lesson for us all.
The Fitnah started with propaganda from the likes of
‘Abdullah bin Saba’, who was a Jewish convert. He then travelled throughout the
Muslims lands in order to corrupt the opinions of the masses, to the extent
that some of the most pious amongst the Ummah at that time were also affected
by his corruptness. As a result, a feud was fuelled, what happened, happened - yet
we do not target any bad thoughts towards any of them. We are pleased with all
of them and this is our ‘Aqeedah, without exception for any one of them. All of
them are deemed as pious and trustworthy. They have been described as being the
best of generations in the texts of the Quraan and the Sunnah, so what Ibn
Rajab is talking about is the evil ones from amongst Banoo Umayyah and not the
pious Companions from them.
The lesson we directly extract from this is that it is
not permissible to fish in murky waters, the expression of our Shaykh
‘Abdul-‘Azeez bin Baaz [may Allaah have Mercy on him]; using information to propagate
negativity against other Muslims. The texts and history tell us that these are
from the plots and characteristics of the hypocrites. This is the example the
Shaykh is drawing here, because Ahl as-Sunnah are in agreement that we are not
permitted to enter into the differences between the Companions [may Allaah be
Pleased with them all]. Based on this scholarly agreement, we know that Ibn
Rajab is talking about those who used fitnah to spread the blood of the
Muslims.
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