Part 72

Even if you cut me in half with a saw I will never give up my madh-hab." When he left after they had failed to defeat him, the spies of the 'Ubaydi Fatimid state followed him with their swords unsheathed so that the people who saw him would be afraid, but even under such pressure he still continued to guide and advise people, and say to them without any fear, "Adhere to the faith, for there is nothing between you and Allah except Islam, and if you leave it you will be doomed."497 He feared for the common people because of the fitnah 498 of Banu 'Ubayd and said, "By Allah, I do not fear sin for them, because their Lord is most kind, but I fear that they may doubt that Banu 'Ubayd are unbelievers and thus enter the Fire."499 Another of those who became famous for defending Islam and establishing proof against the preachers of the Fatimid state was Abu 'Uthman Sa'eed ibn al-Haddad (302 AH), the spokesman of Ahl as-Sunnah and the Tbn Hanbal of the Maghreb'. As-Sulami commented, "He was a scholar of the law, righteous, eloquent, a devoted worshipper, unique in his time in debating and refuting other sects."500 Al-Khushani explained, "He refuted the innovators who went against the Sunnah, taking a famous stance, making a good effort and achieving great things on behalf of the Muslims, until the people of Qayrawan likened him to Ahmad ibn Hanbal."501 AlMaliki said of him, "He took issue with the unbelievers and apostates Abu 'Ubayd-Allah the Shiite and his brother Abul- 'Abbas and Abu 'Ubayd, concerning the faith, in which he highlighted their disbelief and heresy and their disbelief in the divine attributes."502 The Fatimid state in the Maghreb tried to force people to follow their madh-hab by means of debates and establishing proof sometimes, and by issuing death threats at other times. The people were terrified as a result and went to Abu 'Uthman Sa'eed to ask him to use taqiyah (dissimulation), but he refused, saying, "I have passed the age of ninety and I do not need to live anymore. I have no option but to argue in defence of the faith." He did so earnestly, and he was the one on whom people relied, after Allah; in debating with the Shiites.503 Among the most famous of these debates were the following: a) The first of these debates, as mentioned by the author of al-Ma'dlim, centred on which Companion, Abu Bakr or 'Ali (may Allah be pleased with them both), was superior. After the meeting between Ibn al-Haddad and Abu 'Ubayd-Allah the Shiite, Abu 'Abdullah the Shiite asked Ibn al-Haddad, "Do you give precedence to anyone else over the five 'companions of the cloak'?" By the 'companions of the cloak' he meant Muhammad (SAAW),'Ali, Fatimah, al-Hasan and al-Husayn (may Allah be pleased with them), and what he meant by anyone else was Abu Bakr ('). Abu 'Uthman asked, "Who is better: five, the sixth of whom was Jibreel, or two, the third of whom was Allah?"504 — and the Shiite was rendered speechless. b) The loyalty of 'Ali (RA)). In this debate, 'Ubayd-Allah the Shiite wanted to prove that the word mawld (protector) in the hadith, "Whoever's mawla I am, 'Ali is also his mawla,"505 meant that people should be slaves to 'Ali. He said to Ibn al-Haddad, "Why shouldn't the people be slaves to us?" Ibn al-Haddad replied, "He did not mean 'mawla' in the sense of slavery, rather he meant 'mawla' in the sense of closeness and protection," and he quoted the words of Allah: It is not for any human being to whom Allah has given the Book, the knowledge [and understanding of the laws of religion] and (Messenger (SAAW) would to say to the people: Be my worshippers rather than Allah's. On the contrary [he would say]: Be you learned people of religion [who practise what they know and also preach to others], because you teach the Book and you study it. Nor would he order you to take angels and Messengers as lords [gods]. Would he order you to disbelieve after you have submitted to Allah's Will?)' (Quran 3: 79-80) What Allah did not grant to the Messenger (SAAW). He would not grant to anyone other than a Messenger (SAAW). 'Ali was not a messenger he was a Companion of the (Messenger (SAAW) .506 These few quotations are just a small part of the debates that took place between the two sides. Armed resistance The scholars of the Maghreb did not stop at the point of passive resistance and debates; some of them also took up arms and went out to fight them. Jablah ibn Hammood as-Sadafi left his home in Rabat and went to Qayrawan, and when he was asked about it he said, "We used to guard against an enemy who was separated from us by the sea, but now the enemy is in our homeland and he is an even worse enemy." He added, "Jihad against these people is better than Jihad against polytheists,"507 and he quoted as evidence the words of Allah (§g): O you who believe!