Investigation of the report “May my life too be added to Mu’awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him)”:
عن عائشة، قالت: ما زال بي ما رأيت من أمر الناس في الفتنة، حتى إني لأتمنى أن يزيد الله عز وجل معاوية من عمري في عمره۔
Lady Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) said: “I kept observing the condition of the people during the period of the fitnah, so much so that I used to wish that Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, would add my life too to Mu’awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him).”
The fitnah means the one that, after the unjust martyrdom of the rightly-guided caliph Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him), became the cause of a very great disagreement among the Companions over the retribution for Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him). So much so that wars even took place among the Companions. And Mu’awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) was also a guardian and relative of Uthman (may Allah be pleased with him). He too placed the case of retribution for Uthman before Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) and did not pledge allegiance to him. And he set the condition: hand the killers of Uthman over to me, then I will pledge allegiance to you. Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) also imposed war on those who did not pledge allegiance, the details of which will be presented, if Allah wills, later in the second volume. In any case, consider here that Lady Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) is expressing pride in and envy of Mu’awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him), and how pleased she was even with his leadership. From this, a solution to many of Mirza’s objections emerges. Because most of the Engineer’s objections and difficulties regarding Mu’awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) consist of this: that he did not pledge allegiance to Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), that he himself wanted the caliphate but outwardly was using retribution for Uthman as a pretext, that he was like this and like that. But when such a great testimony in favour of Mu’awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) came in this regard, you found safety in declaring this very report fabricated and false. Because sitting in a closed room, calling any lie truth and declaring the truth a lie is not a difficult task at all; say whatever you like.
The statement of Lady Aisha Siddiqah (may Allah be pleased with her) is narrated with this chain:
حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو مُوسَى، وَهِلَالُ بْنُ بِشْرٍ، قَالَا: ثنا مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ خَالِدِ بْنِ عَثْمَةَ، أَخْبَرَنِي سُلَيْمَانُ بْنُ بِلَالٍ، أَخْبَرَنِي عَلْقَمَةُ بْنُ أَبِي عَلْقَمَةَ، عَنْ أُمِّهِ، عَنْ عَائِشَةَ….
All the narrators in this chain are thiqah (reliable) and the chain is also connected. See, very briefly, the explicit statements of the hadith scholars about the narrators:
1- Hilal bin Bishr:
Imam al-Nasa’i (may Allah have mercy on him) said: “ثقة”
Imam Ibn Hibban (may Allah have mercy on him) mentioned him in al-Thiqat and said: “مستقيم الحديث“.
Imam al-Dhahabi (may Allah have mercy on him) declared him thiqah.
Allama Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him) also called him thiqah.
2- Muhammad bin Khalid bin Athmah:
Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal (may Allah have mercy on him) said that there is no harm in his hadith.
Imam Abu Hatim al-Razi (may Allah have mercy on him) said “salih al-hadith (acceptable in hadith)”.
Imam Abu Zur’ah al-Razi (may Allah have mercy on him) said “la ba’s bihi (there is no harm in him)”, there is no harm in him.
Imam al-Dhahabi (may Allah have mercy on him) said: “saduq (truthful)”.
Imam Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him) says “صدوق يخطيء“: he is saduq (truthful) and sometimes makes mistakes.
3- Sulayman bin Bilal:
He is a narrator of Sahih al-Bukhari and Muslim.
Imam Yahya (may Allah have mercy on him) declared him thiqah.
Imam Ahmad bin Hanbal (may Allah have mercy on him) said “لا باس به، ثقة“.
Imam Ibn Sa’d (may Allah have mercy on him) called him thiqah.
Imam al-Dhahabi (may Allah have mercy on him) said “ثقة امام”
Hafiz Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him) also declared him thiqah.
4- Alqamah bin Abi Alqamah:
The two Shaykhs (al-Bukhari and Muslim) have also narrated from him.
Imam Ibn Ma’in (may Allah have mercy on him) called him thiqah.
Imam Abu Hatim al-Razi (may Allah have mercy on him) said “صالح الحديث، لا باس به“.
Imam Ibn Hibban (may Allah have mercy on him) mentioned him in “al-Thiqat”.
Imam al-Dhahabi (may Allah have mercy on him) called him thiqah.
Imam Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him) said “ثقة علامة“.
5- Marjanah, the mother of Alqamah:
Imam Abu al-Hasan al-Ijli (may Allah have mercy on him) declared her “ثقة“.
Imam Ibn Khuzaymah (may Allah have mercy on him) narrated a hadith from her in his “Al-Sahih”.
Imam Ibn Hibban (may Allah have mercy on him) mentioned her in his book “Al-Thiqat”.
Imam al-Tirmidhi (may Allah have mercy on him) declared her hadith hasan sahih (good and authentic).
Imam Ibn Abd al-Barr (may Allah have mercy on him) called her hadith sahih (authentic).
Allamah Zubair Ali Zai (may Allah have mercy on him), in his takhrij (sourcing and grading) of Mishkat al-Masabih (under hadith number 4375), says: “مرجانة ام علقمة وثقها ابن حبان و الترمذي (876) والحاكم و الذهبي، وحديثها لا ينزل عن درجة الصحة“, meaning: “Marjanah, the mother of Alqamah, was declared reliable by Imam Ibn Hibban, al-Tirmidhi, al-Hakim and al-Dhahabi, and her hadith does not fall below the level of authenticity”. That is, the hadith she narrated is sahih (authentic). Therefore, at least according to the principles of Engineer sahib, she is not majhulah (unknown) at all, since the Imams called her reliable and declared her hadiths authentic.
When all the narrators of this report are reliable, there is no kadhdhab (liar) narrator, nor any munkar al-hadith (narrator of rejected hadiths), matruk al-hadith (narrator of abandoned hadiths), or severely weak narrator, then who on earth fabricated it?
Yet despite this, the reports with sahih chains that we have presented are still declared fabricated, while whatever lies and junk Engineer sahib goes around bringing and narrating is all sahih. You saw that, on the basis of a severely weak report, this authentic statement of Sayyidah Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) was declared a fabricated historical report, but where is the evidence? And this established statement was mocked, by saying: would someone whose brother was killed ever say such a thing? Behind all this there is only one mission: to prove wrong and false whatever has been reported in favour of Hazrat Muawiyah (may Allah be pleased with him), and to accuse him of every kind of allegation and prove it true. And the claim is that we make no accusation and hold no hatred, rather we only mention a mistake. Even the Quran has mentioned mistakes of the noble Prophets (peace be upon them)! Let the followers of Mirza sahib reflect: is this the style of the Noble Quran?
Then, after commenting on the statement of Amma Ji Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her), Mirza sahib presents the statement of Ali ibn al-Ja’d merely to deceive, although the statement of Ali ibn al-Ja’d has no connection at all with this killing. Mirza sahib has mentioned it here only to create a further false impression, when no other evidence could be found. The statement of Ali ibn al-Ja’d and its satisfactory answer will be explained (Allah willing) under Mirza sahib’s video “Hazrat Muawiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) in the View of the Predecessors”, because mentioning it here would be pointless and would cause lengthiness.
So Engineer sahib has not been able to present even a single statement from the Imams in support of his claim, that anyone condemned Sayyiduna Muawiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) regarding this killing and declared this killing an unjust killing. But a statement against it is certainly reported!
The statement of Imam Abu Bakr Ibn al-Arabi about the killing of Janab Hujr ibn Adi:
Imam Abu Bakr Ibn al-Arabi (may Allah have mercy on him) says:
الأصل أن قتل الإمام بالحق، فمن ادعى أنه بالظلم فعليه الدليل. ولو كان ظلمًا محضًا لما بقي بيت إلا لعن فيه معاوية۔
“The principle is that if the Imam (the caliph) kills anyone, he kills with right only. So if someone claims that this killing was unjust, the burden of proof is on him. Had this killing been unjust, Hazrat Muawiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) would have been cursed from every house.”
That is, had this been an unjust killing, the Companions and the Tabi’in would certainly have raised some voice against him (may Allah be pleased with him), or at least would have considered this act of his bad, but nothing of the kind is established. He (may Allah have mercy on him) also wrote that it is said that Hazrat Muawiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) had Hazrat Hujr ibn Adi killed considering him a mischief-maker. And regarding what has come in this report, that Hazrat Muawiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) said to Hazrat Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) to leave our matter until we are presented before Allah, he (may Allah have mercy on him) says: O Muslims, you have more right to leave their matter until they are presented before Allah (and Allah decides with truth).
So, Mirza sahib! Among the predecessors, a statement in favour of Hazrat Muawiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) is reported, but not against him. Therefore we are the ones following in the footsteps of the predecessors, and you are following the Rawafid, yes! You merely take the name of Ahl al-Sunnah.
In any case, when none of the Companions and the Ahl al-Bayt declared this killing an unjust killing, nor made any reproach against Sayyiduna Muawiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) in this regard, nor declared him an unjust king because of it, are you possessed of more knowledge and action than them? Therefore the best course is that we too keep our tongues shut.
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