A false allegation levelled at Shias is they abuse at those personalities that they deem the opponents of the Ahlubayt (as). This is incorrect. Swearing is not conduct becoming of the Shia and the immaculate Imams have taught us about good manners and steering clear from coarse language.
Shaykh Asif Muhsani has recorded two narrations in his collection of reliable narrations.
عِدَّةٌ مِنْ أَصْحَابِنَا عَنْ أَحْمَدَ بْنِ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ خَالِدٍ عَنِ ابْنِ فَضَّالٍ عَنْ ثَعْلَبَةَ بْنِ مَيْمُونٍ عَنْ مُعَاوِيَةَ بْنِ عَمَّارٍ عَنْ أَبِي عَبْدِ الله (عَلَيهِ السَّلام) فِي قَوْلِ الله عَزَّ وَجَلَّ وَقُولُوا لِلنَّاسِ حُسْناً قَالَ قُولُوا لِلنَّاسِ حُسْناً وَلا تَقُولُوا إِلا خَيْراً حَتَّى تَعْلَمُوا مَا هُوَ.
Mu’awiyah ibn ‘Ammar from Abu ‘Abd Allah (as) who has said the following: “About the words of Allah, the Majestic, the Glorious, ‘. . . speak righteous words to people. . . .’ (2:83), the Imam said it means, ‘Do not say anything about a people except good until you actually learn all about it.
عن ابن أبي عمير، عن إسحاق بن عمار قال: قال الصادق عليه السلام: يا إسحاق صانع المنافق بلسانك وأخلص ودك للمؤمن، فإن جالسك يهودي فأحسن مجالسته.
Ishaq bin ‘Ammar said :
As-Sadiq (as) said : Oh Ishaq. Be good to a Hypocrite through your tongue and be pure in your love with a Believer. Even if a Jew comes to you. Sit with him in a good manner.
What our opponents have confused themselves with is the fact that we do curse those that we deem the enemies of the Ahlubayt (as) pursuant to the teachings of Allah (swt) and his Messenger (s) but this is not the same as directing abuse at the said individuals. When it comes to abuse then the Ahlul Sunnah should be reminded that its origins trace back to the era of their revered Caliph Muwaiyah who during his tenure institutionalised the ritual abuse of the Imam of Guidance and soul of Messenger of Allah (s) Maula Ali ibn Abi Talib (as).
Ibn Kathir records in Al Bidaya Wal Nihaya, Volume 11 page 712:
“When Marwan was a governor of Mu’awiya in Madina, he would curse Ali every Friday from the pulpit (Minbar). Hasan bin Ali then said to him: “Allah then cursed your father by the tongue of His messenger when you were in his ‘Sulub’ (loins) and has said that the curse of Allah be upon Hakam and his progeny.”
We read in Tarikh ul Khulafa, page 152 (English):
“Umayr ibn Ishaq said: Marwan was the amir over us, and he would abuse Ali every Jumah from the mimbar, whilst al Hasan would listen and offer no reply.”
Imam Dhahabi in Tarikh al Islam Volume 5, pages 231 – 232 also attested to the fact that:
“Marwan b. Hakam used to curse Hadrat Ali (as) in the Sermon (Khutba) of Friday.”
We can see how during the Umayyad rule the abuse of Imam Ali (as) from the mosque pulpits became so ritualised that even the Mosque of Rasulullah (s) was not left immune from this shameless practice. It was so established that Imam Hasan (as) even placed it before Muwaiyah as a condition, namely that the public abuse of Imam Ali (as) be halted when terms of settlement were being negotiated between the two opposing factions. The maligning and Bara of Imam Ali (as) became an established custom during the Umayyad reign. Abu Amr Abd al-Rahman ibn Amr al-Awzai (died in 157 hijri) was a renowned Sunni scholar. Imam Dhahabi records in Siyar a`lam al-nubala volume 7 page 130 the following interesting admission:
أبو فروة ، يزيد بن محمد الرهاوي : سمعت أبي يقول : قلت لعيسى بن يونس : أيهما أفضل : الأوزاعي أو سفيان ؟ فقال : وأين أنت من سفيان ؟ قلتُ : يا أبا عمرو : ذهبت بك العراقية ، الأوزاعي ، فقهه ، وفضله ، وعلمه ! فغضب ، وقال : أتراني از ثر على الحق شيئاً . سمعت الأوزاعي يقول : ما أخذنا العطاء حتى شهدنا على علي بالنفاق ، وتبرأنا م منه ، وأخذ علينا بذلك
"Sadiq bin Abdullah said that he heard Al-Awzai say we don't receive stipends unless we refer to Ali as a hypocrite and distanced ourselves from him"
We can see from this testimony as to how the Umayyad State machinery had overseen the indoctrination of its Ulema into believing that Imam Ali (as) was persona non grata, who needed to be reviled. They sought to enable this through making the public disavowal of Imam Ali ibn Ali Talib (as) ("وتبرأنا م منه") that was such an established practice that it's scholars had to ascribe to this as a caveat to their receiving state salaries. If the Sunni Ulema's abusing Imam Ali (as) at the time and deeming him a hypocrite had no impact on their faith, why are us poor Shias deemed infidels when we curse Muwaiyah who was, afterall, responsible for ordering the practice of cursing the 4th rightly guided Khalifa of Rasulullah (s) throughout his empire?
