As for the permissibility of supplicating both for a man and against him, this issue is discussed in detail in connection with funeral rites. The funeral prayer is offered for deceased Muslims, righteous and sinful alike, even if a sinful person is also cursed individually or as one of a class. Nevertheless, the first position is more balanced and just. This was the answer I gave Būlāy, the Mongol commander, when they came to Damascus during the great upheaval. I had discussions with him and others, and among his questions he asked me:

“What do you say about Yazīd?”

I replied: “We neither revile him nor love him. He was not a righteous man whom we should love, and we do not single out any Muslim for reviling.”

He said: “Do you not curse him, then? Was he not an oppressor? Did he not kill al-Husayn?”

I replied: “When oppressors such as al-Hajjāj ibn Yūsuf and others like him are mentioned, we say what Allah says in the Quran:

‘Unquestionably, the curse of Allah is upon the wrongdoers.’

“We do not like to curse anyone individually. Some scholars have cursed him, and this is a position that allows scope for independent judgment. Nevertheless, the position I have stated is preferable to us and better. As for anyone who killed ‘al-Husayn’, helped to kill him, or approved of it, upon him is the curse of Allah, the angels, and all mankind. Allah accepts neither sarf nor ʿadl from him.”

He said: “Do you not love the Prophet’s household, then?”

I replied: “Loving them is, in our view, a binding obligation for which one is rewarded. For it is established in Sahīh Muslim, on the authority of Zayd ibn Arqam, who said: ‘The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, addressed us at a pool called Khumm, between Mecca and Medina. He said: “O people, I am leaving among you two weighty things: the Book of Allah.” He spoke of the Book of Allah and urged us to adhere to it. Then he said: “And my family