On the strength of this ḥadith and others like it, those who allow themselves some latitude in cursing Yazīd ibn Muʿāwiyah have argued their case. That opinion is reported from Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal and was championed by al-Khallāl, Abū Bakr ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, the judge Abū Yaʿlā and his son Abū al-Ḥusayn; Abū al-Faraj Ibn al-Jawzī likewise defended it in a separate treatise.
Others forbade such cursing and produced works of their own, fearing that it might become a pretext for cursing his father or any of the Companions. They maintained that the misconduct attributed to him stemmed from erroneous interpretation and mistaken judgment. They also said: “In spite of that he remained an impious ruler (imām fāsiq). According to the sounder of the two scholarly views, a ruler is not removed merely for impiety, nor is it permissible to revolt against him, for such rebellion provokes fitnah and widespread bloodshed, [the spilling of sanctified blood, the plundering of property, the perpetration of indecencies with women and others, and so forth—each of which brings corruption many times greater than his personal sinfulness] (1), as events have shown from that time until today.”
As for what some people claim—that when news reached Yazīd of what had befallen the people of Madinah at al-Ḥarra at the hands of Muslim ibn ʿUqbah and his army he rejoiced greatly—they say he considered himself the rightful ruler, that the people had broken their allegiance and installed another leader, and that he therefore had the right to fight them until they returned to obedience and the united community. He had in fact warned them of this through al-Nuʿmān ibn Bashīr and Muslim ibn ʿUqbah, as mentioned earlier.
In the authentic ḥadith it is stated:
“Whoever comes to you while you are united and seeks to divide you, kill him—whoever he may be.” (2)
They also cite verses he is said to have recited, borrowing the poetry of Ibn al-Zibaʿrā on the day of Uḥud:
Would that my elders slain at Badr had witnessed
Khazraj’s panic beneath the thrusting spears!
When the camels knelt at their resting-places
and slaughter raged among ʿAbd al-Ashhal,
We killed twice the number of their nobles,
redressing the tilt of Badr so it stood level. (3)
Some of the Rāfiḍah added to this:
“The sons of Hāshim only toyed with kingship—
no angel came, no revelation descended.”
If Yazīd ibn Muʿāwiyah actually uttered such words, then may the curse of Allah and those who curse fall upon him; and if he did not, then may Allah curse whoever forged them to vilify him. We shall soon relate the biography of Yazīd ibn Muʿāwiyah, what has been reported about him, what has been said of him, and the deeds, vices, and disgraceful statements he was involved in during the coming year, [for he was not granted respite after the incident of al-Ḥarra and the killing of al-Ḥusayn