the Alids(1)—[a dispute](2). He then said: ‘By Allah, I shall surely rub my own nose and theirs in the dust and raise(3) the clans of Taym and Adi above them.’ He mentioned the Companions in his sermon, and [this innovation](4) continued down to the present day.”

[The response, from several angles, to the Rāfidī’s claim that al-Mansūr introduced the mention of the Rightly Guided Caliphs into Friday sermons]

In reply, it may be said:

The response(5) may be given from several angles. The first is that the caliphs were mentioned from the pulpit during the reign of Umar ibn Abd al-Azīz. Indeed, it has even been reported that this occurred during the time of Umar ibn al-Khattāb—may Allah be pleased with him. The report concerning Dabbah ibn Mihsan(6) is among the best-known reports. Al-Talamankī narrated from Maymūn ibn Mihrān, who said:

Whenever Abū Mūsā al-Asharī—may Allah be pleased with him—delivered the Friday sermon in Basra, of which he was governor, he would invoke blessings upon the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—and then mention Umar ibn al-Khattāb and supplicate for him. Dabbah ibn Mihsan al-Anazī would then stand and say(7): “What about(8) mentioning his companion before him, who was superior to him?(9)”—meaning Abū Bakr; may Allah be pleased with them both. He would then sit down. After he had done this several times, Abū Mūsā provoked him into an argument(10), and Abū Mūsā wrote to Umar—may Allah be pleased with him—that Dabbah