with them—because of the virtues Allah bestowed upon those two, by which they surpassed both Uthmān and Alī. In His Book, Allah has forbidden division and disunity and commanded us to hold fast to His rope. This is therefore a matter in which the believer must exercise care and hold fast to the rope of Allah, for the Sunnah rests upon knowledge, justice, and adherence to the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.

When the Rāfidites began reviling “the Companions,” the scholars began calling for the punishment of anyone who reviled the Companions. Then the Rāfidites declared the Companions unbelievers and made statements about them; elsewhere, we have explained the ruling that applies to them for these statements. At that time, no one was discussing “Yazīd ibn Muʿāwiya,” nor was discussion of him a matter of religion. Later, certain developments occurred, and some people began openly cursing Yazīd ibn Muʿāwiya. Their purpose may have been to use this as a way to curse others. Most adherents of the Sunnah disapproved of cursing any specific individual. Some people who professed adherence to the Sunnah heard of this and came to believe that Yazīd was among the foremost righteous men and leaders of right guidance.

Those who went to extremes concerning him came to occupy two opposite poles. One side says that he was an unbeliever and a heretic, and that he killed the son of the daughter of Allah’s Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and killed the Ansār and their sons at al-Harra to avenge members of his family who had been killed as unbelievers, such as his maternal grandfather, Utba ibn Rabīʿa, his maternal uncle, al-Walīd, and others. They also relate various accounts of his notoriety for drinking wine and openly committing acts of indecency.