Mu'awiyah is a Screen for the Sahabah

 

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

والصلاة والسلام عليك يا رسول الله

In the Name of Allah, the Rahman, the Merciful

While on one hand we are sadly observing a growing trend of people defending and glorifying the evil tyrant Yazid bin Mu’awiyah—a trend that is ultimately a manifestation of the Nasibi thought—on the other hand there is a growing trend of people, especially those who identify as Sunni or who appear in a Sunni garb, of demonizing and cursing the Companion Mu’awiyah bin Abi Sufyan, may Allah be pleased with him. Salman Nadawi, Engineer Mirza of Jhelum, the custodians of Dargah Gharib Nawaz in Ajmer, Abdullah Harari and his followers known as the Ahbash and some others openly curse or villify Mu’awiyah, radi Allahu anhu. Let us read what the pious Salaf said about Mu’awiyah, which is the Sunni madhhab on this issue. Abdullah bin al-Mubarak said:

معاوية عندنا محنة فمن رأيناه ينظر إلى معاوية شزرا اتهمناه على القوم أعني على أصحاب محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم

Mu’awiyah is a trial for us. Whoever we see looking at Mu’awiyah askance, we accuse him of being against the people, I mean against the Companions of Muhammad, sall Allahu alaihi wasallam.

Both Abu Tawbah al-Halabi and Rabi’ bin Nafi’ said:

معاوية ستر لأصحاب النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم فإذا كشف الرجل الستر اجترأ على ما وراءه

Mu’awiyah is a veil for the Companions of the Prophet, sall Allahu alaihi wasallam, so if a man uncovers the veil, he will dare to do what is behind it

Waki’ bin al-Jarrah said:

معاوية بمنزلة حلقة الباب من حركه اتهمناه على من فوقه

Mu’awiyah is like a door ring. When someone moves it, we accuse him of (going against) whoever is above him (Tarikh Dimashq, v.59, pp.209-210)

What these quotations reveal is that the one who is villifying Mu’awiyah bin Abi Sufyan ultimately intends on violating the sanctity of the rest of the Sahabah, radi Allahu anhum. They cunningly start with Mu’awiyah, but their true motive is to impugn the other, more senior Companions of the Holy Prophet, sall Allahu alaihi wasallam. Hence we see that these devilish callers like Salman Nadawi, Mirza of Jhelum, Abdullah al-Harari and the Ahbash, Hasan Ahmad of Amroha, etc., attempt to gain the confidence of the ignorant masses by starting off with only criticizing Mu’awiyah, but then they inevitably unleash their vile tongues against other Sahabah, including Talhah, az-Zubair, Umm al-Mu’minin A’ishah and Uthman bin Affan, radi Allahu anhum.

Know that this enmity toward Mu’awiyah bin Abi Sufyan, radi Allahu anhuma, is not at all motivated by love and devotion to Amir ul-Mu’minin Ali bin Abi Talib, radi Allahu anhu. Mawla Ali’s own sons, al-Hasanain, radi Allahu anhuma, made peace and reconciliation with Mu’awiyah. The madhhab of Ahl-us-Sunnati wal-Jama’ah is to love and respect all the Sahabah. We believe everyone of them was upon goodness, beloved to Allah, and have been promised salvation, so we say:

ہر صحابی نبی جنتی جنتی

Every Companion of the Prophet is in Paradise

To hold even a single Companion of the Prophet in contempt makes one a Rafidi heretic. As for the conflicts that occurred among the Sahabah, we do not indulge in them or make them the basis to judge and criticize them. That is the way of the heretical Rafidah. We believe in what Allah said:

مُحَمَّدٌ رَّسُوۡلُ اللّٰہِ ؕ وَالَّذِیۡنَ مَعَہٗۤ اَشِدَّآءُ عَلَی الۡکُفَّارِ رُحَمَآءُ بَیۡنَہُمۡ

Muhammad is the Apostle of Allah, and those who are with him are severe against the Unbelievers, merciful among themselves

(48:29)

وَالسّٰبِقُوۡنَ الۡاَوَّلُوۡنَ مِنَ الۡمُہٰجِرِیۡنَ وَالۡاَنۡصَارِ وَالَّذِیۡنَ اتَّبَعُوۡہُمۡ بِاِحۡسَانٍ ۙ رَّضِیَ اللّٰہُ عَنۡہُمۡ وَرَضُوۡا عَنۡہُ وَاَعَدَّ لَہُمۡ جَنّٰتٍ تَجۡرِیۡ تَحۡتَہَا الۡاَنۡہٰرُ خٰلِدِیۡنَ فِیۡہَاۤ اَبَدًا ؕ ذٰلِکَ الۡفَوۡزُ الۡعَظِیۡمُ

The first and foremost among the Emigrants and the Helpers and those who followed them in goodness. Allah is pleased with them and they are pleased with Him. He has prepared for them gardens beneath which rivers flow, wherein they will abide forever. That is the supreme attainment

(9:100)

In our time, the ones who removed the veil which is Mu’awiyah so as to impugn the rest of the Sahabah who are covered by that veil are the so-called “Islamists” like Mawdudi and Qutb. These two criticized sayyiduna Uthman, radi Allahu anhu, because they were promoting the same ideology and methodology that led to rebellion against the third rightly-guided Caliph and thereafter his martyrdom. Mu’awiyah was also the first King of the Muslims. The so-called “Islamists” consider monarchy an evil. They, therefore, felt compelled to criticize Mu’awiyah harshly. The writings of these so-called “Islamists” influenced donkeys like Mirza of Jhelum to come out openly against Mu’awiyah, radi Allahu anhu. This misguided sense of radical egalitarianism is what motivated the original Khawarij to oppose Mu’awiyah—they even made an assassination attempt on him. As for others who villify and curse Mu’awiyah while concealing themselves in the Sunni garb, they are either secretly allied and working with the Rafidah Shi’ah or are merely performing Taqiyah—meaning they are hidden Shi’ites. In that they are no different than the Munafiqin—the Hypocrites who pretend to be Muslim but inwardly conceal disbelief in Allah and His Apostle in their blackened hearts.