The Assassination of Imam An-Nasa’i and His Bayyan
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
Imam An-Nasa’I is Ahmed ibn Ali ibn Sinan ibn Bahr, and his kunya was Abu Abdur Rahman. He was born in 215 H. He began his life as a student of knowledge taking knowledge from the scholars of his era. Imam An-Nasa’I was given the title as Shaykhul Islam as he attained the level of being a Mujtahid despite the fact he was Shafa’I in his Fiqh. He used to reside in Egypt until 302 H.
Imam An-Nasa’I left many valuable books behind such As-Sunan Al-Kubara; which has various treatises included inside. His Sunnan As-Sughara is a book of Hadith sciences that cover the field of narrators. Imam Ad-Daraqutni said: Imam An-Nasa’I was more knowledgeable than all the scholars who lived in his era and his book used to be called As-Sahih.
The books are full of scholars’ praises and testimonies of this Imam’s scholarship and leadership in the Sunnah.
To mention a few more;
Ibn Adi said: Imam An-Nasa’I was an Imam from Imams of the Muslims
Ibn Yunus said: Imam An-Nasa’I was an Imam in Hadith, who was trustworthy, honest, and Haftih of Hadith.
Imam An-Nasa’I’s books still remain today as proof to Imamship of the Sunnah, a caller to it, author for it, and supporter for it; nonetheless, there is something that’s been buried in the history books regarding his death, or should I say assassination or add what Imam Ad-Daraqutni said: “His Martyrdom”.
During the last period of his life Imam An-Nasa’I traveled to Damascus and saw people there belittling the status of Ali ibn Talib[رضي الله عنه ], so he wrote a book about the virtues of Ali and this is why some people accused him of having Shia tendencies. The fanatics didn’t like that, so they said: “He left Abu Bakr and Umar out of the book.” Thus he authored (فضائل الصحابة;) The Virtues of the Prophet’s Companions, but this time he left Mu’awiyah out of that book.
Imam An-Nasa’I like every scholar of hadith and Athar had conditions for accepting narrations. In fact, some scholars like Abu Ali Al-Hafith said: Imam An-Nasa’I’s condition for accepting narrators was more stringent than those of Imam Muslim’s. This brings us to the point why he left out narrations regarding Mu’awiyah from the book. It’s simple; none of the narrations mentioning the virtues of Mu’awiyah met his criteria for acceptance. Imam An-Nasa’I authored both of those books in hopes of clarity and that people would understand the issues.
One day Imam An-Nasa’I was in the masjid and people began to say he slanders Mu’awiyah. Imam An-Nasa’I tried to defend his stance by saying,” isn’t it enough as a status for Mu’awiyah that he was a companion?! “Following those words they began to physically attack him inside the masjid, by punching him in the stomach, ribs, and stomping on his testicular area, until they threw him out of the masjid. As a result of this attack, he died a few days later in Ramallah. Some scholars differ if he died in Mecca, or in Ramallah ,and Allah knows best
Some benefits from this story
- No matter what you say, do or write people will always take a position against you.
- Attacking people inside the masjid is a sign of extremists past and present
- Scholars in the past wrote certain books explaining their beliefs and positions and today these kinds of writings have become known as “Bayyans”
- Sometimes your clarity will never be accepted
- Although Imam An-Nasa’I was known as being an Imam of the Sunnah the fanatics of Damascus discarded that and followed their desires because in their minds he was attacking and slandering Mu’awiyah.
- The details of the identities, of the fanatics, who oppress great scholars of Islam, vanish over time. This is similar to those who oppressed Imam Al-Bukhari, At-Tabari and others. All praises to Allah.
- It’s not possible to communicate with fanatics and extremists with knowledge-based information. Had they read both books written by Imam An-Nasa’I they would have seen he wasn’t a Shia or did he slander any companion of the Prophet.
- People will always accuse scholars of slandering others more virtuous than them in the Sunnah to establish that scholar or person is one of the desires. The fanatics said, “He slanders Mu’awiyah” a claim totally unfounded, and cant be proven for the fact he didn’t mention a hadith supporting Mu’awiyah’s virtue.
Compiled and prepared by
Abu Aaliyah Abdullah ibn Dwight Battle
Doha, Qatar 1439©
Refer to Bidyah wa Nihiya by Imam Ibn Kathir and At-Taj Al-Mukhalal by Al-Alamah Sadiq Hasan Khan for the bio of Imam An-Nasa’i
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Jazakumullahu khairan