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Answer:
wa alaykum
al salam wa rahmat Allah wa barakatuh,
Imam Al-Nisa'ei did not insult Mu'awiyah. That's a lie.
However, Imam Al-Nisa'ei compiled hadeeths about the virtues of Ali bin
Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased at him.
When the Nasibites (this is a term that describes the people who hate Ahl
Al-Bayt) saw that, they got angry and beated Imam Al-Nisa'ei. Al-Nisa'ei
died as a result of the beating, may Allah have mercy on his soul. May
Allah give the Nasibites what they deserve.
It is noteworthy to mention that Bukhari, Muslim, Abi Dawood, Ahmed bin
Hanbel, and others all compiled hadeeths in the virtue of Ali.
It just happened that Al-Nisa'ei lived in a Nasebites environment. Ahl
Al-Sunnah do not consider the Nasebites to be one of them.
wa al salam
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Question:
Salaam alaikum,
1) Ibn Khallikan in his Wafayat al-ayan, records an incident that
transpired with al-Nasa'i:
"Abd al-Rahman Ahmad b. ‘Ali b. Shu’ayb b. ‘Ali b. Sinan b. Bahr
al-Nasa’i, chief traditionist of his age and author of a Sunan, or
collection of traditions, was an inhabitant of Old Cairo, in which city
his works got into circulation, and where he had also many pupils.
Muhammad b. Ishaq al-Isfahani gives the following account of his death: “I
heard our elders in Old Cairo relate that Abu ‘Abd al-Rahman left Misr
towards the end of his life and went to Damascus, where he was asked what
he thought of Mu’awiyah and what tradition he knew respecting the merits
of that prince; to which he made this reply: ‘It is not then enough for
Mu’awiyah to enter (into salvation ) on an equal footing with others, but
he must even surpass them by exclusive merits.’
But some relate that his answer was: ‘I know not any tradition respecting
his special merit but this: May God never satiate thy belly! Now this
doctor was an advocate for the rights of the khalif ‘Ali: so the people
began to strike him on the sides, nor did they discontinue till they
thrust him out of the mosque. (In another account it is said that they
struck him on the testicles and trod him under foot.) He was then borne to
Ramla, where he expired.”
Did Imam Al-Nasai ever record any merits of the sahaba in general, so as
to prove that he had respect for the sahaba in general? Or maybe a quote
of Al-Nisai's in praise of Muawiya (RA)?
Jazakhallah.
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Answer:
al salam
alaykum wa rahmat Allah wa barakatuh,
Ibn Khalkan says in Wafiyat Al-Ayan (the deaths of the elites) after
mentioning the story of the murder of Al-Nisa’ei, ‘Al-Hafedh Abu Na’eem
Al-Isbahani said, “When he [Al-Nisa’ei] was stepped upon in Damascus, he
died as a result. Al-Nisa’ei had written a book describing the virtues of
Ali bin Ai Talib may Allan be pleased at him, and Ahl Al-Bayt. He had
taken most of these hadeeths from Ahmed Bin Hanbal, may Allah have mercy
on his soul. So he was asked why he would not write a book describing the
virtues of the Companions may Allah be pleased at them all. He said, ‘I
entered Damascus, and saw lots of people hating Ali bin Abi Talib may
Allah be pleased at him and hence I wanted Allah to guide them through
this book.’”’ [Wafiyat Al-Ayan, 1/77-78]
Imam Al-Nisa’ei wrote the book of the virtues of Ali bin Abi Talib only
after he witnessed the injustice done towards the memory of Ali by the
Nasebites. Al-Nisa’ei had passed away as a result of defending this grand
Companion. If this tells anything, it tells about the love and respect of
Sunni scholars to the memories and virtues of Ahl Al-Bayt.
Al-Nisa’ei’s view of Mu’awiyah was due to the fact that Ahl Al-Sunnah
unanimously agree that Mu’awiyah is nowhere close to the virtue and
position of Ali bin Abi Talib. Ali is the son-in-law of the Prophet, his
cousin, and among the ten persons who were given the glad tidings in their
life in entering heaven. Hence, no comparison is applicable between
Mu’awiyah and Ali may Allah be pleased at both of them.
However, every Imam has certain conditions that must be met to validate or
invalidate a particular hadeeth. It seems that the hadeeths that were
reported about the virtues of Mu’awiyah did not meet the conditions of
Al-Nisa’ei in his hadeeth course. Hence, he did not give any virtue to
Mu’awiyah.
It is permissible that Al-Nisa’ei did not receive the authentic hadeeths
through authentic chain of narrators in his country. And when he visited
Syria, he suspected that the Nasebites invented the hadeeths that praise
Mu’awiyah, as the scholars were suspicious of the hadeeths that originated
in Kufah since it was the center of Shiasim at that time.
Nonetheless, the majority of the scholars had recorded some authentic
narrations about the virtues of Mu’awiyah. Yet, these narrations are few,
as it is widely known.
In Saheeh Al-Bukhari, the following incident was reported:
"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, #2181]
The Prophet said, “Oh Allah, make him [Mu’awiyah] a guide, guided, and
guide people through him.” [Al-Turmithi, hadeeth#3842, Al-Silsilah
Al-Saheehah, by Al-Albani, hadeeth#1969, and Mishkat Al-Masabeeh 623]
And he also said, “O’ Allah, teach Mu’awiyah the Quran and math, and save
him from the hellfire.” [Mawarid Al-Dam’an, by Al-Haythami, 7/249]
Al-Nisa’ei is a man after all. He could had been unaware of these hadeeths
or mistaken when he did not authenticate such hadeeths albeit proven
authentic by grand hadeeth scholars. However, this does not slander him,
he is after all a grand scholar among Ahl Al-Sunnah wa Al-Jama’ah.
It is never known that Imam Al-Nisa’ei had slandered or libeled any
Companion, male or female.
wa al salam
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