Muāwiya likewise had a measure of companionship with and connection to the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace. When some people began declaring him an unbeliever or a sinner and regarding it as lawful to curse him (1) and the like, the scholars needed to mention his connection to the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—so that the rights of those connected to the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—would be duly observed according to their respective ranks.
Even if a man exercised his judgment regarding this matter and erred, he would still be better than someone who exercised his judgment in hating them and erred (2); for treating people well and pardoning them takes precedence over mistreating them and seeking vengeance. As stated in the hadith:
“Ward off prescribed punishments in cases of doubt.” (3)
Indeed, it is better for the ruler to err in granting a pardon than to err in imposing punishment.
Likewise, charity is given to a person whose circumstances are unknown and who claims to be poor, just as “the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—gave to two men who asked him (4). Seeing that they were sturdy, he said, ‘If you wish, I shall give you some, but neither a wealthy person nor an able-bodied person capable of earning a living has any share in it.’” (5) 2/6.
This is because
(1) B only: “to curse him.”
(2) A: “It would have been better than for him to exercise his judgment in hating them and err”; B: “It would have been better for him than to exercise his judgment in hating them and err.”
(3) Al-Suyūtī cited this hadith in *al-Jāmi al-Kabīr*, attributing it as follows: “Abū Muslim al-Kajjī, from Umar ibn Abd al-Azīz, as a mursal report.” He also cited another hadith: “Avert prescribed punishments in cases of doubt, and overlook the lapses of honorable people, except where one of Allah’s prescribed punishments is concerned.” He then gave the following citation: “In a juzʾ of his (meaning Ibn Adī in *al-Kāmil*, as he clarified in *al-Jāmi al-Saghīr), among the hadiths of the people of Egypt and al-Jazīra, from Ibn Abbās. Musaddad also narrated it in his *Musnad* from Ibn Masūd as a mawqūf report.” In *Daīf al-Jāmi al-Saghīr*, 1/117, al-Albānī agreed that it was mawqūf and graded it weak.
(4) W: “…two men some money.”
(5) The hadith narrated by Ubayd Allāh ibn Adī ibn al-Khiyār from two men is found in: *Sunan Abī Dāwūd*, 2/159 (Book of Zakat, chapter “Those Who May Receive Charity and the Standard of Wealth”); *Sunan al-Nasāī*, 5/75 (Book of Zakat, chapter “A Strong, Earning Person Asking for Charity”); and *al-Musnad* (al-Halabī ed.), 4/224 and 5/362. Shaykh Ahmad Abd al-Rahmān al-Bannā—may Allah have mercy on him—said in *Bulūgh al-Amānī min Asrār al-Fath al-Rabbānī*, 9/93, Cairo, 1357: “Ubayd Allāh ibn Adī ibn al-Khiyār—with the letter kh vowelled i—was born during the Prophet’s lifetime, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. Al-Ijlī said: ‘He was trustworthy and one of the senior Successors.’” Al-Albānī graded the hadith authentic in *Sahīh al-Jāmi al-Saghīr*.