This excerpt is taken from Dr. Hafiz Muhammad Zubair's book "Engineer Muhammad Ali Mirza: Thoughts and Ideas".
Mirza Sahib, in his writing "The True Background of the Incident of Karbala," under the third chapter, quotes a narration from Sahih Muslim which states that Hazrat Abu Sufyan (may Allah be pleased with him), after accepting Islam on the occasion of the conquest of Mecca, made three requests to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him); one was that he marry his daughter Umm Habiba (may Allah be pleased with her) to him, the second was that his son Muawiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) be appointed as the scribe of the Prophet, and the third was that he be commanded to fight the disbelievers as he had fought the Muslims. The narrator of this hadith, Abu Zumail (may Allah have mercy on him), who was a Tabi'i, says that whenever the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was asked for something, he did not refuse, and therefore he did not refuse Abu Sufyan (may Allah be pleased with him).
Reference: (The True Background of the Incident of Karbala: p. 13)
Mirza Sahib, basing on Abu Zumail’s commentary, tries to give the impression that Umm Habiba (may Allah be pleased with her) was not worthy of being among the pure wives of the Prophet, nor was Muawiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) worthy of becoming the scribe of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). This was just a matter of recommendation and the main factor was the temperament of the Prophet (peace be upon him) who did not know how to say no.
On every page of Mirza Sahib’s booklet, the header reads: "Only in the light of the Quran and authentic chain of narrators."
Since when did the understanding of a narrator become a hadith? This is called "idraj" in terminology, meaning the narrator’s addition to the hadith, which is not evidence. Not everything in Sahih Muslim is a hadith, so saying it is in Sahih Muslim is not proof. One must first see in what capacity it is narrated in Sahih Muslim, just as in Sahih Bukhari the sayings and understandings of the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them), Imams of religion, and narrators are also transmitted, which are not hadith.
Therefore, Abu Zumail’s statement that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) granted whatever was asked is not correct, as in Sahih Muslim it is narrated that when Hazrat Abu Dharr (may Allah be pleased with him) asked for a position, the Prophet (peace be upon him) refused to give it to him, even though he was among the most pious companions.
Reference: (Muslim bin al-Hajjaj, Al-Musnad al-Sahih al-Mukhtasar, Kitab al-Imarah, Bab Karahat al-Imarah bighayr Darurah, Dar Ihya al-Turath al-Arabi, Beirut, 1457/3)
This narration proves that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) did not grant any position or office just because it was requested, but decided based on capability and aptitude. Thus, the decision to appoint Hazrat Amir Muawiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) as the scribe of revelation was based on his capability and aptitude. Similarly, in Sahih Bukhari it is narrated that a woman offered herself in marriage to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), but he refused after a glance and instead married her to another companion present in the gathering in exchange for teaching the Quran as a dowry.
Reference: (Al-Bukhari, Muhammad bin Ismail, Al-Jami' al-Musnad al-Sahih al-Mukhtasar min Umur Rasul Allah wa Sunanihi wa Ayamihi, Kitab al-Nikah, Bab al-Nazar ila al-Mar'ah Qabl al-Tazwij, Dar Tawaq al-Najat, Egypt, First Edition, 1422 AH, 14/7)
So the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) knew how to refuse and he did refuse. Therefore, Umm Habiba (may Allah be pleased with her) was accepted in marriage on merit, and her beauty and noble lineage were the reasons, as in the narration of Sahih Muslim it is stated that when Hazrat Abu Sufyan (may Allah be pleased with him) proposed, he said that my daughter أحسن العرب وأجمله is among the most beautiful women of the Arabs.The second objection is that in Sahih Muslim the words used are "scribe of the Messenger" and not "scribe of revelation," so Amir Muawiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) did not write revelation but wrote letters for the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him). The answer is that Amir Muawiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) wrote both revelation and letters for the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him), as Imam Bayhaqi (may Allah have mercy on him) narrates from Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) in "Dala'il al-Nubuwwah" with his chain of narration, explicitly stating that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said:
فقال: اذهب فادع لي معاوية، وكان يكتب الوحي
"Go and bring Muawiyah (may Allah be pleased with him), and he used to write revelation."
Reference: (Al-Bayhaqi, Ahmad bin al-Husayn bin Ali, Dala'il al-Nubuwwah, Bab Ma Ja'a Fi Du'ahi Sallallahu Alayhi wa Sallam 'Ala Man Akala Bishimalihi, wa Du'ah 'Ala Man Kana Yakhtalij Bi Wajhihi wa Ghayrihima, wa Ma Zahara Fi Kulli Wahidin Minhuma Min Athar al-Nubuwwah, Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah, Beirut, First Edition, 1988, 243/6)
These words "he used to write revelation" are from Hazrat Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) and are a very strong testimony proving that Amir Muawiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) used to write revelation for the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him).
Similarly, the third objection raised by Mirza Sahib is that Amir Muawiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) accepted Islam at the conquest of Mecca, so what revelation was revealed after the conquest of Mecca that he wrote? 99.99% of the revelation had already been revealed, so what revelation did Muawiyah (may Allah be pleased with him) write?
The conquest of Mecca took place in Ramadan 8 AH and the death of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was in Rabi' al-Awwal 11 AH. There is a gap of two and a half years, and was no revelation revealed during this time? Was Islam complete two and a half years earlier? Even if we consider the Battle of Tabuk which took place after the conquest of Mecca in 9 AH, Surah At-Tawbah, which is more than one Juz', details this battle.
Reference: (Al-Suyuti, Jalal al-Din, Al-Durr al-Manthur, Dar al-Fikr, Beirut, 759/2)
Besides Surah At-Tawbah, there is Surah Al-Ma'idah which is also more than one Juz' and a large part of it was revealed after the conquest of Mecca.
Reference: (Al-Durr al-Manthur: 4/3)
Additionally, there are the verses about usury in Surah Al-Baqarah and other verses whose occasions of revelation indicate that they were among the last revealed.
Reference: (Al-Durr al-Manthur: 104/2)
So do all these together make up 0.01% of the entire Quran? Making such baseless claims to prove one’s point is a very irresponsible attitude which Mirza Sahib is afflicted with. This attitude is not scholarly but emotional, where a preconceived opinion is forced through emotions, which is not the correct approach. Neither is making noise called research, nor does giving expressions like theater performers and puppeteers prove anything.
