384 “Uthman Ton ‘Affan .& Dhun-Noorayn Mu’awiyah ibn Abi Sufyan ibn Harb al-Umawi ‘The biographers state that this noble Sahabi had many good qualities, of which we will mention a few: Praise for Mu’awiyah in the Holy Qur’an ‘Mu’awiyah took part in the campaign of Hunayn, and Allah are CEI Dh atl Bas EES SBP ip BENS oo 85 “Then Allah did send down His Sakeenah (calmness, tranquillity and reassurance) on the Messenger (Muhammad 38), and on the believers, and sent down forces (angels) which you saw not, and punished the disbelievers, Such is the recompense of disbelievers"” (At-Tawbah 9:26) ‘Mu’awiyah 4 was one of those who were present at the Battle of Hunayn, so he was one of the believers upon whom Allah sent down his Sakeenah, along with the Prophet #4." Praise from the Sunnah ‘The Prophet # prayed for Mu’éwiyah 4s, such as when he said: wily Gage ous ties abn “O Allah, make him a guide?! and guided , and guide others through him." ‘And he 3g said: Marit Kleifat Mu'éoiyah fi Tarek at-Tabar, by Khalid al-Ghayth, p. 23 le, a guide for people, or one who directs others to do good je, guided in himself Sahece Sunan alTirmidhi, by al-Albnt, 3/236 (8842)Who were the governors of ‘Uthman 385 eae 40 Alli, teach Mu'dwiya literacy and numeracy, and protect him from punishment 111 53 Skelly os Eye wed) ‘And the Messenger of Allah #% said: “The first army of my ummal that will campaign by sea, Paradise will be their due.”@) Umm Hardin said: I said: O ‘Messenger of Alla, will [be among them? He said : “You will be among them.” Then the Prophets said: “The first army of ‘my ummah to attack the city of Caesar! will be forgiven.” I~ meaning Uni Hari - said: Will I be among them, O ‘Messenger of Allah? He said: “No al al-Muhallab® said: This hadeeth is praising Mu‘awiyah, ‘because he was the first one to lead a campaign by sea! Scholars’ praise for Mu’awiyah 2 Praise from ‘Abd-Allah ibn “Abbas Jt was said to Ibn ‘Abbas: Can you speak to the ameer al- mu'mineen Mu’awiyah, because he prays Witr with only one (01 Madi al-Zarn ‘in, 7/249. Its isn is hasan (2278). (© Fath al-Bari, 6/121 11 the city of Caesar: ie, Constantinople (9) ql Bukhdri, no. 2924 [61 gl Mfuhallab sbn Ahmad al-Andalusi the author of Shark Saheeh a-Bubhar, dl 435 AH. 191 Fath a-Béri, 6/120386 ‘Uthman Ibn ‘Affain Dhun-Noorayn rak’ah? He said: He is a fageeh."] There is not enough room to mention all the fiqit issues that were narrated from Mu’ awiyah 4, but there follow a few of them: Te was narrated that he prayed Witr with one rak’ah. Jt was narrated that he prayed for rain (istisga’) by virtue of someone who appeared to be righteous.) © Half a si’ of wheat is sufficient as zakét al-fitr.") It is mustahabo to perfume the body when wanting to enter ihrém,“ © Itis permissible to buy and sell the houses of Makkah.!*! © A husband and wife may be separated because of impotence. © A divorce uttered by a man who is drunk counts as such, ‘Muslim should not be killed in retaliation (gists) for a A killer may be detained until the son of his victim reaches maturity (and can decide what should be done). Praise from ‘Abd-Allah ibn al-Mubarak for Mu’awiyah “Abd-Allah ibn al-Mubérak said: Mu’awiyah is a test for us (ie, we test people by how they think of Mu’awiyah). Whoever regards him in a disrespectful manner we would accuse of being against the Salibalt.”! Praise from Ahmad ibn Hanbal Imam Ahmad was asked: What do you say - may Allah have © op. eit, 7/130 ©) al-Mugiati by Ton Qudimah, 3/346 ©) Zad ab-Ma‘ad, 2/19 © aleMugini, 5/7 op. cit, 6/365 °°) Mareiyét Khilfat Mu'eoiyah fi Tareethat-Tabar, by Khalid al-Ghayth, p. 28 "op. cit, p. 29Who were the govemors of ‘Uthman 387 ‘mercy on you - about one who says: I do not say that Mu’awiyah is the scribe who wrote down the Revelation and I do not say that hhe was the maternal uncle of the believers, because he seized power by the sword?!) Abu ‘Abd-Allah said: This is a reprehensible view; the people who hold such a view should be shunned and the people should be warned against them.”! Praise from al-Qadi Ibn al-’Arabi for Mu’awiyah 2 Ibn al’Arabi spoke of attributes that were combined in Mv‘wiyah #, among which he mentioned: Protecting the Muslim ummah in general, guarding the border posts, strengthening the army, prevailing over the enemy, and dealing with people justly and kindly." Muhibb al-Deen al-Khateeb commented on this text by noting: Mu’wiyah’s care and concern to protect the ummah from its enemies was so great that he sent word to the king of Byzantium, threatening him, when he was in the midst of fighting with ‘Ali at Siffeen, when he heard that the King of Byzantium was approaching the border with a huge army.!#] ‘Concerning that Ibn Katheer said: The king of Byzantium had great hopes of attacking and defeating Mu’awiyah after having instilled fear in him and humiliating him, arid routing his troops. When the king of Byzantium saw that Mu’awiyah was preoccupied with fighting ‘Ali, he approached some cities (on the border) with a huge army, filled with hope of victory. But Mu’éwiyah wrote to him saying: By Allah, if you do not stop and go back to your own land, O cursed one, I shall reconcile with my cousin and we will unite against you, and I shall certainly expel you from all of your land; I shall keep pursuing you, and the earth, vast as itis, will be straitened for you (cf. At Tawbah 9:25). At that, the king of Byzantium was afraid, and he sent word seeking a peace treaty. 0 iia I gl-Sunmah by al-Khallél, ed, by ‘Atiyah al-Zahrani, 2/434 ©) -“Acodsim mnin a-Quesing, p. 210 © Mariya Khilft Mu eoiah,p. 31 © ql Bidiyah wa’n-Nihdyal, 8/119388 “Uthman Ibn “Aifé & Dhun-Noorayn Praise from Ibn Taymiyah for Mu’awiyah Ibn Taymiyah said concerning him: It is proven in mutawitir reports that Mu’awiyah was appointed to a position of authority by the Prophet 2% as he appointed others, and he fought in jiliad with him. The Prophet 2% regarded him as honest and trustworthy; he used to write down the Revelation for him and he never had any doubts concerning his writing down of the Revelation. He was appointed as a governor by ‘Umar ibn al- Khattab , who was one of the best judges of character. Allah caused truth to be uttered on his lips and to fill his heart and he never accused him of anything with regard to his governorship"! Praise from Ibn Katheer Ibn Katheer said concerning him: All the Muslims unanimously agreed to swear allegiance to him in 41 AH, and he remained in charge throughout this period until the year in which he died. Throughout this period jihad was ongoing in the lands of the enemies, and the word of Alléh remained supreme, and booty was coming to him from the ends of the earth; the ‘Muslims were at ease, enjoying ast, tolerance and goodwill. He also said: He was forbearing™! , dignified, a leader, prominent among people, noble, just, and a man of chivalry.! He also said: He was a man of good conduct, forgiving, tolerant and overlooking the mistakes of others, may Allah have mercy on him. His narration of hadeeth Mv’ awiyah eis regarded as one of those who had the honour of narrating hadeeth from the Messenger of Allah #, the reason 1 hea, 4/472; a Bidyal wa'n-Nixiyah, 8/122; Siyar Am an-Nubal’,3/ 129 © Ibn Ab/L-Dunya and Abu Bakr iba Abi ‘Aasim wrote books about the forbearance of Mu'awiyah 1 tidal we n-Nihiyah, 8/118 © op.cit, 8/126Who were the governors of ‘Uthman 389 being that he stayed close to the Messenger of Alléh x after the conquest of Makkah, because he was his brother-in-law and his scribe. Mu’awiyah narrated one hundred and sixty three (163) ahadeeth from the Messenger of Allah 28, four of which were narrated by both al-Bukhari and Muslim; al-Bukhéri alone narrated a further four and Muslim five”! Mu’awiyah’s conduct towards the people during his governorship was among the best of any governor, which made the people love him. It is proven in al-Saheeh that the Prophet 2% said: sales sls “The best of your lenders - or rulers - are those whom you love and who love you, and you pray for them and they pray for you ; the worst of your rulers are those wohom you hate and who hate ‘you, and you curse thent and they curse you.” Iwill conclude my discussion of Mu’awiyah by noting what was said about him by al-Qadi Abu Bakr ibn al~ Arabi: ‘Umar made him the governor of all the provinces of Syria and ‘Uthman approved of his governorship. Indeed, Abu Bakr al-Siddeeq appointed him because he was the heir of his brother Yazeed, and Yazeed had appointed him to succeed him. ‘Umar then approved of his position because he had been a governor during Abu Bakr’s reign, as Yazeed had passed the position on to Mu’awiyah, and “Uthman approved of and confirmed ‘Umar’s decision. Look at this series of approvals and how strong itis. It was proven that the Messenger of Allah 2 appointed him as a scribe, so he had a track record of working for the Islamic state that no one else, before or after him, had. He was appointed by the Messenger of 1 Mareiyt Khilfat Mu ewiyah fi Taree at Taber, p. 33 I Muslim, Kita al-imarat, no. 65 (1855) ©) alAcosim min al Qasim, p. $3390 “Uthman Tbn ‘Affan 4 Dhun-Noorayn Alléh 3 and by the three caliphs who came after him, and al- Hasan ibn ‘Ali, the grandson of the Messenger of Allah 2, madea peace deal with him and approved of his becoming caliph." ‘Abd-Allah ibn ‘Aamir ibn Kurayz His full name was ‘Abd-Allah ibn ‘Aamir ibn Kurayz ibn Rabee'ah ibn ‘Abd Shams ibn ‘Abd Manaf ibn Qusay al-Qurashi al’Abshami”! He was born at the time of the Messenger of Allah 2% in 4 AH.?! When the Messenger 2% performed ‘Umrah in 7 AH to make up for the ‘Umwah that he had not been able to complete previously, he entered Makkah and ‘Abd-Allah ibn ‘Aamir was brought to him. Ibn Hajar said: He smacked his lips and yawned, and the Messenger of Allah s& spat into his mouth and said: “Is this the son of the Sulami woman?” They said: Yes. He said: “He looks like us.” He spat into his mouth and sought refuge with Allah for him, and the child swallowed the saliva of the Prophet 38, He said: He will bea finder of water, and he did not dig in any land but water appeared to him." ‘Abd-Allah ibn ‘Aamir was not appointed to any administrative or military post until he became governor of Basra in 29 AH/649 CE. He was the nephew (son of maternal uncle) of the caliph ‘Uthman ibn ‘Affan +, because the mother of “Uthman was Awa bint Kurayz ibn Rabee’ah, and the mother of ‘Abd-Alléh ibn ‘Aamir was from Banu Sulaym.!! When he was appointed governor of Basra, he was twenty- four or twenty-five years old.°! He remained governor of Basra ‘until the caliph ‘Uthmédn #: was killed, when he gathered a huge "Y -Madinah en-Nubwoiyual Fajr aslo wa'l-Asr al-Rashid, 2/216 © al Bidiyalwa'n-Nihiya, 8/91 "1 Tahudecal-Tatiee, 5/272 © Siyer ‘iim an-Nubele’, 3/19; Tahtheeb al-Tadheeb, 5/273; Asad al-Ghibal, 3/ 283, no. 3081. ' ALTabagt, 5/31; Tahdheeb al-Tahdheeb, 5/272 19 at-Bidiyah wa'a-Niviyal, 8/91