معاوية بن أبي سفيان

From the servant of Allāh, ‘Alī Amīr al-mu’minīn to Mu‘āwiyah son of Abū Sufyān :

When Uthman expelled Abu Dharr from Madinah to Damascus, he (i.e. Abu Dharr) used to narrate to us, beginning with the praise to Allah and testifying the Oneness of Allah and Muhmmad’s Prophethood, invoking divine blessings upon the Prophet, peace be upon him and his progeny. Then he would say: "We were in the era of ignorance before the Book was revealed to us, and the Prophet, peace be upon him and his progeny, was sent among us; yet we were faithful in promise, truthful in speech, kind to neighbours, hospitable to guests, comforting the poor (hating the arrogant). And when Allah, Most High, sent to us His messenger, peace be upon him and his progeny, and revealed His Book, our behaviour were pleasing to Allah and His messenger, and the people of Islam were worthier to practice them; and to safeguard them. So, they remained with these attributes for as long as Allah willed. Now, the rulers have introduced evil acts of which we did not know; discarding the Tradition of the Prophet and introducing the innovations. A truthful person is held a liar, generosity is displayed without fear of Allah and a trustworthy from among the righteous people is deprived. O Allah! If you have destined good for me, then take me away into Your proximity, without having changed." He used to repeat these words openly. Then Habib ibn Maslamah came to Mu’awiyah ibn Abi Sufyan and said: "Surely, Abu Dharr is arousing people against you by saying such and such things." So Mu’awiyah wrote to Uthman about it and Uthman replied: "Send him back to me." When Abu Dharr arrived in Madinah, Uthman exiled him to al-Rabdhah.

Darrar b. Damra al-Nahshali visited Mu`awiya b. Abi Sufyan. He said to him: Describe `Ali to me. He said: Rather, excuse me. So, he said: No, rather, describe him to me. So, Darrar said to him: May Allah have mercy on `Ali. By Allah, when he was with us, he was like one of us. He would come close to us when we came to him. He would answer us when we would ask him. He would bring us near when we visited him. He never locked his door from us, nor did he place a barrier between us and him. By Allah, when he was close to us and near us, we could not speak to him because of his aura, nor could we precede him [in discussion] due to his greatness. When he smiled, it was like a [glistening] row of pearls. So, Mu`awiya said: Tell me more about his description. So, Darrar said: May Allah have mercy on `Ali. By Allah, he prolonged his sleeplessness and he relaxed little. He would recite the Book of Allah throughout the night and at the peripheries of the day. He was gracious for Allah and would seek His proximity through His lessons. He would not shut his curtains, and he would not hide full moons from us. He would not recline in our presence, and he would not make coarseness rougher. When you would see him, he would be in his prayer-niche. Even when the night would loosen its slumber and when the stars would set, he would be clutching his beard restlessly and weeping grievously, saying: “O world! You have presented yourself to me. Is it me that you desire? Go far, far away! I have no need for you. I have divorced you thrice, so you cannot return to me.” Then, he would say: “Oh, how distant is the journey, how few are our supplies, and how harsh is the path!” He said: So, Mu`awiya wept, and said: That is enough for you, Darrar. By Allah, that is how `Ali was. May Allah have mercy on Aba’l Hasan.

One day Amirul Mu’mineen, peace be upon him, addressed the people and praised Allah, and lauded His glory, and invoked His blessings upon the Prophet, peace be upon him and his progeny. Then he said: "O people, listen to what I have to say and assimilate my speech! Snobbery and vanity is a kind of tyranny and self-conceit is a type of arrogance! And Satan is an ever-present enemy, promising you delusion. Be it clear to you that a Muslim is a brother to his fellow Muslim. So do not defame each other and do not betray each other! Surely, the laws of Religion (Islam) are all one, and its ways all head for one goal. He who follows it reaches, and he who abandons it falls, and he who forsakes it is destroyed. When a Muslim is entrusted with something, he never acts dishonestly; and when he promises, he does not break it and when he speaks, he never lies. We are the inmates of mercy; our speech is truth, our acts just. And from us is the last of the Prophets and from among us are the leaders of Islam and the custodians of the Holy Book. We call you unto Allah and His Prophet and to confront His enemies, to struggle strenuously in His affairs and to seek His pleasure. And we invite you to establishing the daily prayers, giving alms, performing the pilgrimage to the sacred House, fasting during the month of Ramadhan and to hasten payment from the surplus of the spoils of war to its rightful owner. Be it known that it is most surprising to see Mu’awiyah, son of Abu Sufyan al-Umawi and Amru ibn al-Aas al-Sahmi, inciting people to avenge for the blood of their cousin (i.e. Uthman ibn Affan). While I say, with Allah as my witness, that I never acted against the messenger of Allah, peace be upon him and his progeny, and I never disobeyed him in any matter. I protected him with my soul in situations when the valiants turned on their heels, and writhed with fear. I did it with the might bestowed upon me by Allah and all praise is for Him. And the Prophet (peace be upon him and his progeny) departed from this world, with his head on my laps, and I arranged to wash him with my hands while the noble angels helped me to turn him sideways. And I swear by the name of Allah, falsehood became manifest against truth in the dispute which arose among the Ummah after its Prophet’s death - except that which Allah Wills." He said: Then Ammar ibn Yasir, may Allah be pleased with him, stood up and said: "But Amirul Mu’mineen has clearly intimated to you that the Ummah will not remain steadfast for him." Then people dispersed with their eyes opened.

Write: In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. The sermon of the Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his family) in Masjid al-Khayf: 'May God brighten the face of a servant who hears my words, retains them, and conveys them to those who did not hear them. O people, let the one who is present convey to the one who is absent. Perhaps a bearer of knowledge is not understanding, and perhaps he conveys it to one who understands better than he does. Three things the heart of a Muslim will never harbor ill against: sincerity in action for God, sincere counsel to the leaders of the Muslims, and adherence to their congregation, for their supplication encompasses those behind them. Believers are brothers, their blood is equal, and they are united against others. The protection given by the lowest among them is binding on all.'" Sufyan wrote it down and read it back to Ja'far, then he mounted again. As we walked along the road, Sufyan stopped and said, "Wait, let me review this hadith." I said to him, "By God, Abu Abdillah has bound something to your neck that will never leave you." He asked, "And what is that?" I said, "Three things: 1. **Sincerity in action for God**—we understand that. 2. **Sincere counsel to the leaders of the Muslims**—who are these leaders that we must advise? Is it Mu'awiya b. Abi Sufyan, Yazid b. Mu'awiya, Marwan b. al-Hakam, and all those whose testimony we do not accept and behind whom we do not pray? 3. **Adherence to their congregation**—which congregation? Is it the Murji'ah, who claim that even if one does not pray, fast, purify himself from impurity, demolishes the Kaaba, and commits incest with his mother, he still has the faith of Jibril and Mikail? Or is it the Qadariyya, who say that God's will does not prevail but that of Iblis does? Or is it the Haruriyya, who dissociate from Ali b. Abi Talib and accuse him of disbelief? Or the Jahmiyya, who claim that faith is merely the knowledge of God and nothing more?" Sufyan exclaimed, "Woe to you! Then who do they say the true leader is?" I replied, "They say, by God, that Ali b. Abi Talib is the Imam whose counsel is obligatory upon us, and that adherence to the congregation means his household." At that, Sufyan took the paper, tore it up, and said, "Do not tell anyone about this!"

When Shaddad ibn Aws called upon Muawiyah ibn Abu Sufyan, he honoured and welcomed him, did not reprimand him for his past lapses and gave him good promises of reward. Then one day he invited Shaddad at a public assembly and said: "O Shaddad, stand before people and speak about ‘Ali and revile his so that I know the measure of your love for me." Shaddad said: "I beg to be excused, for ‘Ali has already gone to his Maker and has been rewarded for his deeds. And you have been sufficiently relieved of your worry about him. Now, the affairs are under your full control because of your generosity, so do not seek from people things which do not behove your magnanimity." Muawiyah said: "You shall indeed rise to speak, otherwise (our) suspicion about you is established." Then Shaddad stood up and said: "Praise be to Allah Who made His obedience obligatory upon His servants and placed His Pleasure with the people of Taqwa, who preferred His pleasure over the pleasure of those He created; upon that path have the predecessors gone and upon that path shall the followers go. O People, the next world is indeed a true promise, a Day on which the Omnipotent King shall judge; and this world has a limited tenure, where every pious and impious eats his share. He who listens and obeys the truth, fears no judgement against him and he who listens and disobeys, expects no judgement in his favour. Surely, when Allah intends good for His servants, He gives them the righteous people to govern them and the learned jurists to decide among them; and places wealth in the hands of the generous among them. And when intends evil for them, He causes the fools to rule over them and the ignorant to decide among them and places wealth in the hands of the misers and niggardly among them. And for the rulers, the most befitting thing is to have the righteous companies around them. O Muawiyah, whoever displeases you for the truth, he is your good advisor and whoever seeks your pleasure by ways which are untrue, he deceives you. I have indeed, given you a good advice in whatever I have said already and I will not deceive you by saying to the contrary." Muawiyah said: "Sit down O, Shaddad." So, he sat down. Then Muawiyah said: "I ordered for you enough wealth to make you self-sufficient. Am I not among those generous who Allah has blessed with abundance, for the sake of the welfare of His creation?" Shaddad said: "If the wealth you possess belongs to you, to the exclusion of what belongs to the Muslims and (if) you earned and spent it in legitimate ways, after having amassed it so that it may not be squandered, then, of course, yes. And if the wealth you have, belongs to you jointly with the Muslims and you deprived them from having access to it; amassing it in abundance and then spending it excessively, then Allah, Most High, says: ’Verily, the extravagants are the brothers of the Devils’ (Al-Isra’, 17:27)." (Upon hearing this) Muawiyah said: "I believe you have gone mad, O Shaddad! (Then turning to his people, he said), "Give him what we have set aside for him, so that he may reach his people before he gets totally demented." Shaddad rose on his feet saying: "Someone else, other than me, has lost his sanity to his desires." He then left, without taking anything from Muawiyah.

"O Ibn Abbas, you people wish to restrict Imamat (to yourselves) the way you have been privileged with Prophethood? By Allah, these two will never go together. Your argument about the Caliphate has put people in doubt. You say: ’We are Ahlul Bayt of the Prophet, peace be upon him and his progeny, then why should the succession to the Prophethood be outside us?’ This creates suspicion, for it has a semblance of truth, and a touch of justice. But things are not the way you imagine. The Caliphate has to rotate in various tribes of Quraish according to the general will of the public and the consultation of the selected ones. And we do not find people saying: ’We wish we were ruled by Banu Hashim, for if they did, we would have been better off here and hereinfter.’ And if you had stayed away from it yesterday the way you claim, you would have fought for it today. And By Allah, if you had acquired the rulership, O Banu Hashim, then the ill wind of A’d and the thunderbolt of Thamood would not have been worse killer of men than you." So Ibn Abbas replied (May Allah bless him with mercy): "O Mu’awiya, when you said that we base our argument on the Prophethood to prove our eligibility for Caliphate, then, by Allah, it is of course as you say. For if the Prophethood does not provide eligibility to the succession (Caliphate), what else does? And when you say that Caliphate and Prophethood do not combine for anyone, then what would say about the verse in which Allah, Most High, Says: ’Do they envy the people for the bounty that Allah has given them by His Grace. Yet We gave the family of Ibrahim the Book, and the Wisdom and We gave them a mighty sovereignty.’ (al-Nisa, 4:54) So, the Book is the Prophethood, the Wisdom is the Sunnah, the Traditions of the Prophet, and the sovereignty is the Caliphate. And we are the descendants of Ibrahim, and that is why the order remains applicable for us till the Day of Judgement. As for your claim that our arguments are dubious, then that is not true. Our arguments are brighter than the sun, and more luminous than the moon. The Book of Allah is with us, and the Traditions of the Prophet, peace be upon him and his progeny, are within us. And you know that very well, but pride makes you turn away; and you hold your head in haughtiness because we killed your brother, your grandfather, your maternal uncle and your father’s brother. Well, do not shed tears over the rotten bones, and upon the souls which are perished in hell-fire; and do not be vengeful for the blood spilled in the way of polytheism, made lawful by unbelief, and is debased by the religion (Islam). And as for the people who refused to give us preference and turned away from granting us their consensus, be it clear that what they have lost from us is greater than what we have lost from them! In every matter, the truth is established and the untruth is dispelled when the result is obtained. And as for your pride in this transitory kingdom to which you have ascended by trickery, (remember that even) Pharaoh had such kingdom before you, and Allah destroyed him. O Banu Umayya, what you hold under rule for a day, we may hold it for two days after you; and what you have for a month, we may have it for two months, and if for a year, then we may hold it for two years. And when you said that if we were the authority, our rule would have been a worse killer of men than the ill wind of A’d and the thunderbolt of Thamood, that statement has been belied by Allah, the Most High, in the Qur’an: ’And We did not send you but as a mercy to all beings.’ (al-Anbiya, 21:107) As we are the nearest inmates of the Prophet’s household, our mercy over the creatures of Allah is evident; and the torment of your kingdom over the people is there for everyone to see. And after you have gone, the kingdom will be in the hands of your son and your brothers - and that will be a worse killer of people than the fatal wind. Then Allah will avenge through His devotees, and the final success is for the pious."