Mu'awiyah is the Veil (Screen, Covering, Guard) For the Sahaabah

Ibn Katheer brings the following statement of al-Rabee' bin Naafi' al-Halabi (d. 241H) in al-Bidaayah wal-Nihaayah (8/139):

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

Mu'aawiyah is the veil (covering) for the Companions of Muhammad (sallallaahu alayhi wasallam). So when a man removes the covering he will be transgress against what lies beyond it (meaning the Companions).

And Ibn Katheer also brings in the same place, the statement of Abdullah bin al-Mubaarak (d. 181H):

معاوية عندنا محنة ، فمن رأيناه ينظر إليه شزراً اتهمناه على القوم

Mu'aawiyah is a test (trial) for us. Whomever we see looking at him suspiciously then we suspect him in relation to those people (the Companions).

What we learn from these statements is that Mu'aawiyah (radiyallaahu anhu) has been made a fitnah (trial) and mihnah (test, examination). A person's attitude towards the Sahaabah and his intentions towards them is known from his intentions and attitude towards Mu'aawiyah (radiyallaahu anhu). For this reason the Salaf, when they saw a man being suspicious of Mu'aawiyah (radiyallaahu anhu), then they suspected him of harbouring ill-will and malice towards the Sahaabah as a whole. The Raafidah use the revilement of Mu'aawiyah as the waseelah (means) claim the obligation of reviling the Sahaabah as a whole. For when revilement of Mu'awiyah is justified, then it opens the door for revilement of Umar and Uthmaan (radiyallaahu anhumaa), and then through that revilement of the rest of the Companions.

This poison was carried by numerous 20th century misguided, ignoramus callers such as Sayyid Qutb, Abu A'laa Mawdudi and Taqi al-Din al-Nabahani. This is because they were all affected by Marxist, Communist ideas in their proposed methodologies of da'wah, which were simply regurgitations of Communist revolutions and party-politics, disguised with Islamic terminology. Through this poison, they began to evaluate the actions of the some of the Companions, such as Uthmaan (radiyallaahu anhu) and Mu'aawiyah (radiyallaahu anhu) and as a result, some of them denied Mu'aawiyah was a Companions, others reviled him and negated his Islaam.

Taqi al-Din al-Nabahani's Attitude Towards Mu'awiyah

This Raafidee poison is found also in the writings of Taqi al-Din al-Nabahani. Take a look at the following two excerpts from two of his books:

• From Nidham al-Hukm Fil-Isllaam (view pdf extract)
• From Al-Shakhsiyyah al-Islaamiyyah (view pdf extract)

We see him undermining the status of Mu'aawiyah (radiyallaahu anhu) as as companion on p. 57 of al-Shakhsiyyah al-Islaamiyyah:

For example, it has been said that Mu'aawiyah bin Abi Sufyaan saw the Messenger and met with him and everyone who saw the Messenger and met with him is a Companion. So the result is that Mu'aawiyah is a Companion, and this result is erroneous. For not everyone who saw the Messenger and met with him is a Companion, otherwise Abu Lahab would have been a Companion.

And between pages 89-91 of Nidhaam al-Hukm, Taqi al-Din al-Nabahani attacks Mu'aawiyah (radiyallaahu anhu) in the matter of rule (view extract).

This is the general position of the Tahriri cultists perhaps with their knowledge that Mu'aawiyah was also the scribe of the Messenger (sallallaahu alayhi wasallam) who wrote down the revelation of the Qur'an, and perhaps they do not realise that by casting aspersions upon Mu'aawiyah, they are casting aspersions upon the Qur'aan itself. May Allaah guide these people away from the Marxist, Communist ideology they are really operating upon, yet disguising it as the "Islamic Revolution" and then collaborating and working with the Shi'ah to help them fulfil their objectives.

Note

Hizb ut-Tahrir have a strict policy of deflecting criticism from themselves because they rely upon gaining the trust of the masses. Hence, where legitimate criticisms are made against them on the basis of what is found in the books of their founder or their own writings, they will conjure up defences. And where the public has been so well informed that no defence is possible, they will quietly drop the issues from their publications. Thus, on the issue of Mu'aawiyah (radiyallaahu anhu), they have filtered some of the materials from al-Nabahani's books and have altered their position. This is only inasmuch it protects from them from criticism, because they rely upon amassing the public together, preparing them for their envisaged revolution, and thus the public must have the utmost trust in them.