Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah

Hazrat Kulayb Jurmi narrates: I was outside the mosque when I saw Hazrat Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) returning from Hazrat Muawiyah regarding the matter of the rulers. He entered the house of Hazrat Sulaiman bin Rabee’ah, and I entered with him. One man taunted him, then another man taunted him, then another man taunted him and said, “O Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both)! You have committed disbelief, you have committed shirk, and you have made an equal to Allah. Allah Almighty says in His Book this, and He says this, and He says this.” The narrator was asked, “Who were they?” He replied, “They were the great companions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).” (2) Hazrat Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) heard their words and said, “Choose from among yourselves the most knowledgeable and the greatest debater, and let him debate with me.” They chose a one-eyed man whose name was ‘Atab and who was from Banu Taghlib. He stood up and said, “Allah Almighty says, Allah Almighty says.” It was as if he was proving his point from a surah of the Qur’an. (3) Hearing his words, Hazrat Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said, “I consider you a scholar of the Qur’an, because you have presented your case with great clarity. I ask you by the One besides whom there is no deity: Do you know that the people of Syria demanded arbitration and we disliked it and refused? Then when you were wounded, suffered distress, and were deprived of the water of the Euphrates, you began to demand arbitration?” Hazrat Muawiyah told me that a thin-waisted horse was brought to him so that he could mount it and flee until someone from among you arrived. He said, “I left the people of Iraq like those who were scattering here and there in Mecca on the night of Nafr.” (4) Then Hazrat Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said, “I ask you by the One besides whom there is no deity: What kind of man was Abu Bakr?” All said, “He was a good man,” and they praised him. Then he asked, “What kind of man was Umar bin Khattab?” All said, “He was a good man,” and they praised him. Then Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said, “In your opinion, if a person goes for Hajj or Umrah and kills a deer or any of the creatures there and decides the matter himself, will his decision be valid, while Allah Almighty says (يَحْكُمُ بِهِ ذَوَا عَدْلٍ) (that two just men should judge it)? Whereas the matter in which you differ is much greater than this. When Allah Almighty has appointed two judges for the matter of a bird's [sacrifice], and two judges for the matter of a man and his wife [in dispute], then why can there not be two judges in your dispute, which is greater than these?”