Our Evidences, and the Other Side of the Picture:
You have already seen the state of the references that Mirza sahib gave for his false claim: in order to create a negative impression of Mu’awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) and to pave the way for slander and abuse, all sorts of colours were added to this matter, and a fiction was prepared by relating false, fabricated tales. But with great cunning and sleight of hand, the positive aspect that was in favour of Mu’awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) was concealed.
Sayyiduna Mu’awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) did not simply have Hujr bin Adi killed; rather, in this matter he took the opinion of eminent Tabi’in, and after keeping all the statements before him he issued a decision. Thus Shurahbil bin Muslim, a trustworthy Tabi’i, says:
لما بعث بحجر بن عدي بن الأدبر وَأَصْحَابه من الْعرَاق إِلَى مُعَاوِيَة بن أبي سُفْيَان اسْتَشَارَ النَّاس فِي قَتلهمْ، فَمنهمْ المشير وَمِنْهُم السَّاكِت۔ فَدخل مُعَاوِيَة إِلَى منزله فَلَمَّا صلى الظّهْر قَامَ فِي النَّاس خَطِيبًا فَحَمدَ الله وَأثْنى عَلَيْهِ ثمَّ جلس على منبره۔ فَقَامَ الْمُنَادِي فَنَادَى أَيْن عَمْرو بن الْأسود الْعَنسِي؟ فَقَامَ فَحَمدَ الله وَأثْنى عَلَيْهِ ثمَّ قَالَ أَلا إِنَّا بحصن من الله حَصِين لم نؤمر بِتَرْكِهِ وقولك يَا أَمِير الْمُؤمنِينَ فِي أهل الْعرَاق أَلا وَأَنت الرَّاعِي وَنحن الرّعية أَلا وَأَنت أعلمنَا بدائهم وأقدرنا على دوائهم وَإِنَّمَا علينا أَن نقُول سَمِعْنَا وَأَطَعْنَا غُفْرَانَكَ رَبَّنَا وَإِلَيْكَ الْمَصِيرُ فَقَالَ مُعَاوِيَة أما عَمْرو بن الْأسود فقد تَبرأ إِلَيْنَا من دِمَائِهِمْ وَرمى بهَا مَا بَين عَيْني مُعَاوِيَة ثمَّ قَامَ الْمُنَادِي فَنَادَى أَيْن أَبُو مُسلم الْخَولَانِيّ فَقَامَ فَحَمدَ الله وَأثْنى عَلَيْهِ ثمَّ قَالَ أما بعد فَلَا وَالله مَا أبغضناك مُنْذُ أحببناك وَلَا عصيناك مُنْذُ أطعناك وَلَا فارقناك مُنْذُ جامعناك وَلَا نكثنا بيعتنا مُنْذُ بايعناك سُيُوفنَا على عواتقنا إِن أمرتنا أطعناك وَإِن دَعوتنَا أجبناك وَإِن سبقتنا أدركناك وَإِن سبقناك نظرناك، ثمَّ جلس۔ ثمَّ قَامَ الْمُنَادِي فَقَالَ أَيْن عبد الله بن مخمر الشرعبي فَقَامَ فَحَمدَ الله وَأثْنى عَلَيْهِ ثمَّ قَالَ وقولك يَا أَمِير الْمُؤمنِينَ فِي هَذِه الْعِصَابَة من أهل الْعرَاق إِن تعاقبهم فقد أصبت وَإِن تَعْفُو فقد أَحْسَنت ۔ فَقَامَ الْمُنَادِي فَنَادَى أَيْن عبد الله بن أسد الْقَسرِي فَقَامَ فَحَمدَ الله وَأثْنى عَلَيْهِ ثمَّ قَالَ يَا أَمِير الْمُؤمنِينَ رعيتك وولايتك وَأهل طَاعَتك إِن تعاقبهم فقد جنوا أنفسهم الْعُقُوبَة وَإِن تعفوا فَإِن الْعَفو أقرب للتقوى………
“When Hujr bin Adi bin al-Adbar and his companions were sent from Iraq to Sayyiduna Mu’awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him), Mu’awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) consulted the people about killing them. Some of the people gave advice and some remained silent. Mu’awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) went into his house, and when he had finished the Zuhr prayer, he (may Allah be pleased with him) stood up among the people to deliver a sermon and praised and glorified Allah, then he sat on his pulpit. Then a herald stood up and called out: Where is Amr bin al-Aswad al-Ansi? So Amr bin al-Aswad stood up, praised and glorified Allah, then said: Indeed we are in such a strong fortress of Allah that we have been commanded not to leave it at all (meaning obedience to the leader). And as for what you say, O Commander of the Faithful, about these people of Iraq: you are the ruler and we are the subjects, and indeed you know their fault better than we do, and you are more capable than we are of treating their ailment. And all that is incumbent upon us is that we say: “سَمِعْنَا وَأَطَعْنَا غُفْرَانَكَ رَبَّنَا وَإِلَيْكَ الْمَصِيرُ” We have heard and we have obeyed; we seek Your forgiveness, our Lord, and to You is the final return (the intended meaning is that whatever decision you make is acceptable to us). Mu’awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) then said in response: As for Amr bin al-Aswad, he has thrown this responsibility onto us and cleared himself of it.
Then the herald stood up and called out: Where is Abu Muslim al-Khawlani? So Abu Muslim al-Khawlani stood up, praised and glorified Allah, then said (addressing Sayyiduna Mu’awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him)): By Allah, since we came to love you we have not hated you, since we came under your obedience we have never disobeyed you, since we joined you we have not parted from you, and since we pledged allegiance to you we have not broken our pledge. Our swords are on our shoulders; if you command us we will carry out the command, and if you call us we will respond, if you go ahead of us we will catch up with you, and if we go ahead of you we will wait for you. Then he sat down. Then the herald stood up and called out: Where is Abdullah bin Mikhmar al-Shar’abi? So Abdullah bin Mikhmar stood up, and after praising and glorifying Allah, said: O Commander of the Faithful! As for your decision about these Iraqis in this matter, if you punish them you will certainly be correct, and if you pardon them you will be doing good. Then the caller stood up and called out: Where is Abdullah bin Asad al-Qasri? So he stood up, praised and glorified Allah, then said: O Commander of the Faithful! The rule is yours and the authority is yours, and they are people of obedience to you. If you punish them, they will have received the punishment for their own crime, and if you pardon them, then pardoning is closer to piety.”
Maulana Ghulam Mustafa Zahir Amanpuri (may Allah preserve him) declared its chain of narration hasan (good).
All its narrators are trustworthy and the chain is connected, and this one narration is sufficient to make clear the reality of all of Engineer sahib’s self-made and false stories. Pay attention to these words: “اسْتَشَارَ النَّاس فِي قَتلِهِمْ” — that Sayyiduna Mu’awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) consulted the people about killing them. And who were the people? Were there people other than the Companions and the Tabi’in? According to this incident, the first person whose opinion was taken is Amr bin al-Aswad.
Imam Ibn Hibban (may Allah have mercy on him) writes about him: “من عباد أهل الشام وزهادهم” meaning, he was a great worshipper and ascetic among the people of Sham.
Imam Ibn Abd al-Barr (may Allah have mercy on him) says:
كان من فقهاء التابعين وكبارهم…….أجمعوا على أنه من العلماء الثقات۔
“He was among the elders and jurists of the Tabi’in, (and) the hadith scholars are agreed that he was among the trustworthy scholars.”
Imam al-Dhahabi (may Allah have mercy on him) writes about him: “كان من سادة التابعين دينا وورعا” meaning, in religion and piety he is counted among the very great Tabi’in.
And he said: “وكان من عباد التابعين وأتقيائهم” meaning, he was a great worshipper among the Tabi’in and the most God-fearing person among them.
And Hafiz Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him) said: “ثقة عابد من كبار التابعين” meaning, he was thiqa (trustworthy) and a worshipper, and among the senior Tabi’in.
So when expressing his opinion, he did not say at all: “Commander of the Believers! You are about to commit an unjust killing, and if you do so, you will be committing oppression.” Rather, he said: “سَمِعْنَا وَأَطَعْنَا” meaning, whatever you say we will hear, and whatever decision you make we will accept. So if this killing was like what these Rafidah, and Mr. Engineer in agreement with them, describe, then should such a great Tabi’i have opposed it or supported it? Should he have disobeyed or obeyed?
In second place comes the name of Abu Muslim al-Khawlani (may Allah have mercy on him). Consider the statements of a few scholars about him:
Imam Abu al-Hasan al-Ijli (may Allah have mercy on him) says: “من كبار التابعين وعبادهم” meaning, he is among the senior Tabi’in and the great worshippers.
Imam Ibn Hibban (may Allah have mercy on him) said: “كان من عباد أهل الشام وزهادهم” meaning, he was a great worshipper and ascetic among the people of Sham.
Imam Ibn Abd al-Barr (may Allah have mercy on him) writes about him: “فهو معدود في كبار التابعين…..كان فاضلا ناسكا عابدا، وله كرامات وفضائل۔” meaning, he is counted among the senior Tabi’in; he was an excellent, ascetic and devout man, and he also has miracles and merits.
Imam al-Dhahabi (may Allah have mercy on him) called him: “Sayyid al-Tabi’in bil-Sham”, meaning the chief of the Tabi’in residing in Sham.
So if this was an unlawful killing, and Hujr ibn Adi was killed only because of his love for Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), or if Sayyiduna Mu’awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) was an unworthy successor and a tyrannical and unjust ruler, would the chief of the Tabi’in, Abu Muslim al-Khawlani, have made this very comment about Sayyiduna Mu’awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him)?
His statement is nothing less than a slap in the face for Mr. Engineer. But the condition is that a person must have shame and self-respect. How great is the devotion and love of such senior Tabi’in for Mu’awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him), the respect for him in their hearts, and such a spirit of obedience and compliance toward him, and how different is the insolent and utterly inappropriate attitude toward him of these people of base thinking!
In any case, Abu Muslim al-Khawlani also left the matter to Mu’awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him), so that if you kill them, that too is correct. This is what is intended by his (may Allah have mercy on him) statement: “Our swords are on our shoulders; if you give us any command, we will carry out the command.” He did not say: “Commander of the Believers! This is plainly an unjust killing; you only want to have them killed out of rivalry with Sayyiduna Ali. Therefore we will oppose you in this and will not obey.” (because obedience to the ruler is only in good matters; there is no obedience in evil).
Then those after them also supported Mu’awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) fully, and declared his killing of them correct. So what kind of unjust killing is this, in whose consultation great Tabi’in were present? They do not condemn it; on the contrary, they declare this killing correct? Therefore this makes clear that this killing was not at all like what Mr. Engineer is describing. Otherwise, at least one person would have said something that supported these tales of Mirza Sahib.
And likewise, in the narration of Mustadrak al-Hakim, it is stated that Mu’awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) sought counsel from those present in the assembly about killing Hujr ibn Adi, and all of them, with one voice, said to kill him:
عَنْ بِشْرِ بْنِ عَبْدٍ الْحَضْرَمِيِّ، قَالَ: لَمَّا بَعَثَ زِيَادٌ بِحُجْرِ بْنِ عَدِيٍّ إِلَى مُعَاوِيَةَ أَمَرَ مُعَاوِيَةُ بِحَبْسِهِ بِمَكَانٍ يُقَالُ لَهُ: مَرْجُ عَذْرَاءَ، ثُمَّ اسْتَشَارَ النَّاسَ فِيهِ قَالَ: فَجَعَلُوا يَقُولُونَ: الْقَتْلُ الْقَتْلُ. قَالَ: فَقَامَ عَبْدُ اللهِ بْنُ زَيْدِ بْنِ أَسَدٍ الْبَجَلِيُّ فَقَالَ: يَا أَمِيرَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ، أَنْتَ رَاعِينَا وَنَحْنُ رَعِيَّتُكَ، وَأَنْتَ رُكْنُنَا وَنَحْنُ عِمَادُكَ، إِنْ عَاقَبْتَ قُلْنَا: أَصَبْتَ، وَإِنْ عَفَوْتَ قُلْنَا: أَحْسَنْتَ وَالْعَفْوُ أَقْرَبُ لِلتَّقْوَى، وَكُلُّ رَاعٍ مَسْئُولٌ عَنْ رَعِيَّتِهِ، قَالَ: فَتَفَرَّقَ النَّاسُ عَنْ قَوْلِهِ۔
“Bishr ibn Abdullah al-Hadrami says: When Ziyad sent Hujr ibn Adi to Mu’awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him), Mu’awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) ordered that he be imprisoned in a place called ‘Marj Adhra’. Then he consulted the people about him, and the people began to say: Kill him, kill him. Then Abdullah ibn Zayd ibn Asad al-Bajali stood up and said: Commander of the Believers! You are our ruler and we are your subjects; you are our foundation and we are your pillars. If you punish, we will say you did right, and if you pardon, we will say you did well, and pardoning is closer to piety. And every shepherd will be asked about his flock. Then all the people differed with this statement of Abdullah ibn Zayd (that pardoning is good).”
After this, can it still be said that Mu’awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) had Hujr killed unjustly, and that this was merely because of rivalry with Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him)?
Was this Mu’awiyah’s own decision? He asked those present in the assembly for counsel, and except for a few, all of them advised killing. So is Mu’awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) still the one to be blamed? Mirza Sahib, like ignorant reciters, has made false accusations against Mu’awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him), but has he presented these facts before the public as well? This narration of Mustadrak al-Hakim is one of those thirteen narrations by citing which Mirza Sahib has deceived.
