The Original Rafidhism

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

Ustadz Fakhr ad-Din Uwaysi al-Madani wrote about the original Rafidhism: The first swahabi to be systemically hated and cursed was Sayyidina ‘Ali ibn Abu Thalib (k.w.).  According to Imam Abu al-Fadhl ‘Abd ar-Rahman ibn Abu Bakr ibn Muhammad Jalal ad-Din as-Suyuthi (q.s.) and other historians, Sayyidina ‘Ali (k.w.) was “cursed from 70,000 manabir throughout Umayyad rule”. 

Sayyidatina Umm Salamah Hind bint Suhayl (r.a.) complained, one day, to the people, “Why do you allow the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.) to be cursed amongst you?” 

The people replied, “No, how is that possible?” 

She replied, “I heard the Prophet (s.a.w.) say, ‘Whoever curses ‘Ali curses me.’” 

This went on for decades, until the pious Umayyad caliph, Imam Abu Hafsw ‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-‘Aziz (r.a.), stopped this ugly practice when he was made ruler.  It continued still after his assassination by his family, but at a much lesser degree. 

The Abbasid caliph, al-Mutawakkil, who was a Mu’tazilah, also used to mock Sayyidina ‘Ali (k.w.) publicly, and razed the maqam of Sayyidina al-Husayn ibn ‘Ali (r.a.) to the ground, and made it into a barren field, forbidding its visitation by the lovers of the Ahl al-Bayt.  He also killed a renowned ‘alim who was the teacher of his children, when he asked him mockingly, “Who do you love more?  My two sons or Hasan and Husayn?” 

And the great ‘alim replied, “Even the servant of Hasan and Husayn is more beloved to me than your sons.”