Unsheathing the Arrowhead in Defense of Mu’awiyah ibn Abi Sufyan

Preface by the Esteemed Shaykh and Muḥaddith ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Saʿd The Virtues and Merits of Muʿāwiyah 1. His Islam 2. His Companionship 3. He was a Scribe of the Prophet H 4. The Praise of the Ṣaḥābah and Tābiʿīn Praise for him by ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib and his Senior Companions The Pledge of Allegiance to Muʿāwiyah by Ḥasan, Ḥusayn, the Members of Their Household, and the Rest of the Ṣaḥābah The Narrations of the Ahl al-Bayt from Muʿāwiyah Some of the Incidents From His Life Regarding the Authentic Ḥadīth, “The Rebellious Party Will Kill ʿAmmār,” and Relating it to Other Texts Referencing the Ḥadīth of Abū Bakrah, “Indeed This Son of Mine is a Sayyid.” The First Chain The Second Chain The Third Chain The Fourth Chain The Fifth Chain The Sixth Chain The Seventh Chain The Eighth Chain The Ninth Chain As for the Narrations from Anas As for the Narration of Umm Salamah As for the Mursal Narration Analysis of This Ḥadīth Establishing That Ḥasan Heard From Abū Bakrah The First Narration The Second Narration The Third Narration The Fourth Narration Commenting on the Authenticity of This Ḥadīth Dealing With the Corroboratary Narrations Dealing With the Narrations That Corroborate This Ḥadīth Specifically The Narration of Jābir The Narration of Anas Regarding Those Scholars Who Have Authenticated This Narration Authors Preface Chapter One Responding to Those Aḥādīth Which Have Been Quoted in Criticism of Muʿāwiyah The Unreliable and Fabricated Narrations That Have Been Quoted in Criticism of Muʿāwiyah The First Narration If you see Muʿāwiyah on my pulpit, kill him! As for the First Chain As for the Second Chain As for the Third Chain As for the Fourth Chain As for the Fifth Chain As for the Sixth Chain As for the Seventh Chain The Second Narration May Allah curse the rider, and the leader, and the driver. The Narration of Safīnah: The Narration of Ḥasan The Narration of Barā’ ibn ʿĀzib The narration of ʿĀṣim al-Laythī The Narration of Ibn ʿUmar The Narration of Muhājir ibn Qunfudh The Third Narration There shall enter upon you, from this mountain pass, a man who will die upon other than my religion. Corroboration of This Narration Through Another Chain The Fourth Narration The first to change my Sunnah is a man from Banū Umayyah. This Narration Has Two Defects The Fifth Narration I have been commanded to kill those who are disloyal, those who are unjust, and those who defect. The First Chain The Second Chain The Third Chain The Fourth Chain The Fifth Chain The Sixth Chain The Seventh Chain The Eighth Chain The Ninth Chain The Tenth Chain The Eleventh Chain The Twelfth Chain The Thirteenth Chain The Fourteenth Chain The Fifteenth Chain The Sixteenth Chain The Sixth Narration Indeed the killer of ʿAmmār and his marauder are in the fire. Firstly, the Narration Cannot be Correctly Established Secondly, it Still Does Not Incriminate Muʿāwiyah The Aḥādīth Which are Authentic But Do Not Refer to Muʿāwiyah The First Narration The destruction of my ummah will be at the hands of youngsters from Quraysh. The Second Narration I was playing with children when Allah’s Messenger H happened to pass by (us). I hid myself behind the door. He came and patted my shoulders and said, “go and call Muʿāwiyah.” I returned and said, “he is busy in taking food.” He asked me to go again and call Muʿāwiyah to him. I went (and came back) and said that he was busy in taking food, whereupon he H said, “may Allah not fill his belly.” The Third Narration The Khilāfah will last thirty years, and then it will become a cruel monarchy. The Fourth Narration Wayḥ [an expression denoting sympathy] ʿAmmār, the rebellious party will kill him, he is calling them to Paradise and they are calling him to the Fire. The Fifth Narration There will take charge of your affairs after me men who will introduce to you that which you disapprove, and they will disapprove of you that which you are acquainted with; hence there is no obedience to those who disobey Allah, and do not present excuses before your Rabb [for your disobedience in these matters]. The First Defect The Second Defect The Third Defect The Sixth Narration Chapter Two Responding to the Narrations That Have Been Declared Weak, Which Indicate Virtue for Muʿāwiyah The First Narration O Allah, make him a guide, rightly-guided and guide (others) through him. The First Alledged Defect The Second Alledged Defect The Third Alledged Defect The Fourth Alledged Defect The Fifth Alledged Defect The Sixth Alledged Defect The Seventh Alledged Defect The Eighth Alledged Defect The Ninth Alledged Defect The Second Narration The First Alledged Defect The Second Alledged Defect Opinions of the Scholars Regarding Narrating From the People of Innovation The First Opinion The Second View The Third Opinion The Third Alledged Defect The Third Narration The First Alledged Defect The Second Alledged Defect The Third Alledged Defect The Fourth Alledged Defect Chapter Three Dealing with the Fabrications that Have been Invented about Muʿāwiyah The First Allegation Muʿāwiyah Traded in Alcohol The Second Allegation Muʿāwiyah Traded in Usury The Third Allegation Muʿāwiyah Sold Idols to the People of India The Fourth Allegation Muʿāwiyah Took False Oaths, and the Messenger H Exposed his Lies The Fifth Allegation Muʿāwiyah Killed Twenty of the Participants of Badr at Ṣiffīn The Sixth Allegation Muʿāwiyah Poisoned Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī The Seventh Allegation Muʿāwiyah Killed ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Khālid ibn al-Walīd The Eighth Allegation Muʿāwiyah’s Killing of Ḥujr Ibn ʿAdī The Ninth Allegation The Allegation of Muʿāwiyah Killing al-Ashtar Mālik Ibn al-Ḥārith al-Nakhaʿī The Tenth Allegation The Allegation That Muʿāwiyah Instituted the Cursing of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib The Eleventh Allegation The Condemnation of Muʿāwiyah by Abū Bakrah, Ḥasan al-Baṣrī and al-Aswad ibn Yazīd Chapter Four The Virtues and Merits of Muʿāwiyah General Texts Specific Texts Among His Merits is That He Was a Scribe of the Prophet H Among His Merits is That He is the Uncle of the Believers Among His Merits is That He Was the Best of Monarchs The Praise of the Earliest Muslims for Muʿāwiyah Statements of the Earliest Muslims Regarding Those Who Revile Muʿāwiyah Chapter Five The Consensus of Ahl al-Sunnah on Remaining Silent on What Occurred Between the Ṣaḥābah