Ibn Kathir has said...

Ibn Kathir has said, “I have seen one of his books wherein he compiled the traditions relevant to the Ghadeer incident, and it was in two huge volumes, in addition to another book in which he compiles the incidents relevant to the tradition of the roasted bird.” ^8 Ibn Hajar, too, has discussed him in his book Lisan al-Mizan , saying, “He is the great Imam and the highly respected interpreter of the Qur'an; he is trustworthy, truthful, and there is a good deal of Shi`ism in him and support (for Ahlul Bayt, as) which is not detrimental (to his reliability).”[^9] When Imam al-Nasa'i, the great traditionist and one of the authors of Al-Sihah al-Sittah (the six books of traditions which the Sunnis regard as sahih , authentic), wrote a book dealing with the merits of the Commander of the Faithful Ali, he was asked about Mu`awiyah's “merits,” whereupon he answered: “I do not know of any except that the Messenger of Allah said to him once: `May Allah never satisfy your stomach.'“ He was, therefore, beaten on his genitals till he lost consciousness.

His body was carried to some place to die of such beating. Ibn Kathir tells us the following in his Tarikh where he describes the violent confrontations that took place in Baghdad in 363 A.H./954 A.D. between the Shi`as and “Ahlul Sunnah wal Jama`a” on the anniversary of Ashura: A group from Ahlul Sunnah seated a woman on an animal to play the role of Ayesha and brought some of their men to play Talha and al-Zubayr.

They expressed their objective thus: “We want to fight the followers of Ali.” A large number of people were killed.[^10]