The Answering-Ansar team states in their article entitled ‘Mu'awiya’:
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Quoting Answering-Ansar: |
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Learned Sunni Scholar Abu Zahra criticized Al-Nawawi for dishonesty
The learned Sunni scholar Abu Zahra in his 'Tarikh ul Islam' Volume 1 page 38 records:
When Mu'awiya was proceeding to Hajj he saw Sa'd, grabbed him by the hand and sat him next to his pulpit. Thereafter he proceeded to curse Ali, Sa'd got angry stating you have sat me next to you and began to indulge in the awful act! |
To begin with, the work of Muĥammad Abū Zahra (d. 1394) quoted by the Answering-Ansar team is actually ‘Tārīkh al-Madhāhib al-Islāmiyya,’ not “Tarikh ul Islam.”
Nevertheless, the interesting thing to note in the abovementioned quote cited by Answering-Ansar is that Abū Zahra quotes a Shī`ī Ithnā’ `Asharī work, Tashyīd al-Maţā`in li Kashf al-Đaghā’in [“The Conformation of Criticisms to Unveil the Grudges”]—ignorantly transliterated by the Answering-Ansar team as “Tashdeed al Mathan.”
Tashyīd al-Maţā`in was written in reply to the chapter of Tuĥfa-i Ithnā’ `Ashariyya of the Sunnī scholar `Abd al-`Azīz al-Dihlawī (d. 1239), in which the latter refuted the Shī`ī criticisms of the Companions of the Prophet (saws).
Āyat Allāh Āqā Buzurg al-Ţihrānī (d. 1389) states about it:
والتشييد هذا رد على خصوص الباب العاشر من التحفة الذي هو في دفع المطاعن
“This al-Tashyīd is a separate refutation of the tenth chapter of al-Tuĥfa, which focuses on refuting the criticisms.”
· al-Dharī`a ilá Taşānīf al-Shī`a, of Āqā Buzurg al-Ţihrānī (d. 1389), volume 4, page 192 [Beirut]
So, according to Answering-Ansar, Abū Zahra criticizes a scholar who he believes to be from his own school of thought and accuses him of dishonesty with no proof whatsoever, cryingly states “we plead justice,” and then goes on to cite an anti-Sunnī work to quote a Sunnī scholar with phrases like “scholar of Ahl'ul Sunnah” to support his position?
An unbiased individual could not help but question the veracity of this quote.
The fact of the matter is that this quote is a lie and no where can one find Abū Zahra to have said these quoted words—from calling al-Nawawī dishonest to citing Tashyīd al-Maţā`in—and it is, actually, a fabrication of the Answering-Ansar team.
Another Open Challenge to Answering-Ansar
Let us, however, give the benefit of doubt to the Answering-Ansar team, again, as their readers have much trust invested in them, and find them to be trustworthy polemicists.
The only request is:
Can the Answering-Ansar team provide scanned images of the pages of Abū Zahra’s original work that have the cited quote verbatim in them?
A period of two months is given to Answering-Ansar. Starting from the 1st of January, 2010. [Time Expired]
Let the readers be witness of how credible is Answering-Ansar.
[The Answering-Ansar team has failed the challenge and was unsuccessful in providing any evidence for Abū Zahra’s criticism of al-Nawawī or reliance on the anti-Sunnī texts in doing so. There should be no doubt now that the quote cited by Answering-Ansar does not exist and it is no more than a fabrication by the Answering-Ansar team to mislead readers.]
It is only Allah (swt) who gives success, and blessings and peace be on the Seal of the Prophets, his Pure Progeny and his Noble Companions
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Works Cited
Shī`ī texts:
1. al-Dharī`a ilá Taşānīf al-Shī`a
Āqā Buzurg al-Ţihrānī (d. 1389)
Dar al-Adwa
Beirut, Lebanon
