THE STORY OF MU'AWIYA BUN ABU SUFYAN (r.t.a) (Episode 5)

 Muslims Till Death:

ASSALAAMU ALAYKUM WARAHMATULLAH WABARAKAATUHU . LET'S START TONIGHT'S EDUCATION. OUR TOPIC IS 👇.                                                                            *THE STORY OF MU'AWIYA BUN  ABU SUFYAN (r.t.a) (Episode 5)*                                                                                                                
Wednesday 26th February 2025. 29 Sha'aban 1446 AH

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Rather than the absolute government practiced by Caliph Ali, Mu'awiya's statecraft was likely inspired by his father, who utilized his wealth to establish political alliances. The caliph generally preferred bribing his opponents over direct confrontation.

Mu'awiya ruled by "making agreements with those who held power in the provinces, by building up the power of those who were prepared to co-operate with him and by attaching as many important and influential figures to his cause as possible".
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Challenges to central authority in general and to Mu'awiya's rule in particular were most acute in Iraq, where divisions were rife between the ashrāf upstarts and the early Muslim elite, the latter of which was further divided between Ali's partisans and the Kharijites. Mu'awiya's ascent signaled the rise of the Kufan ashrāf represented by Ali's erstwhile backers al-Ash'ath ibn Qays and Jarir ibn Abd Allah, at the expense of Ali's old guard represented by Hujr ibn Adi and Ibrahim, the son of Ali's leading aide Malik al-Ashtar. Mu'awiya's initial choice to govern Kufa in 661 was al-Mughira ibn Shu'ba, who possessed considerable administrative and military experience in Iraq and was highly familiar with the region's inhabitants and issues.
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Under his nearly decade-long administration, al-Mughira maintained peace in the city, overlooked transgressions that did not threaten his rule, allowed the Kufans to keep possession of the lucrative Sasanian crown lands in the Jibal district and, unlike under past administrations, consistently and timely paid the garrison's stipends. In Basra, Mu'awiya reappointed his Abd Shams kinsman Abd Allah ibn Amir, who had served the office under Uthman. During Mu'awiya's reign, Ibn Amir recommenced expeditions into Sistan, reaching as far as Kabul.
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He was unable to maintain order in Basra, where there was growing resentment toward the distant campaigns. Consequently, Mu'awiya replaced Ibn Amir with Ziyad ibn Abihi in 664 or 665. The latter had been the longest of Ali's loyalists to withhold recognition of Mu'awiya's caliphate and had barricaded himself in the Istakhr fortress in Fars. Busr had threatened to execute three of Ziyad's young sons in Basra to force his surrender, but Ziyad was ultimately persuaded by al-Mughira, his mentor, to submit to Mu'awiya's authority in 663. In a controversial step that secured the loyalty of the fatherless Ziyad, whom the caliph viewed as the most capable candidate to govern Basra, Mu'awiya adopted him as his paternal half-brother to the protests of his own son Yazid, Ibn Amir and his Umayyad kinsmen in the Hejaz.
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Sasanian-style silver dirham minted in Mu'awiya's name in Pahlavi script from the Fasa mint of Darabjird, c. 674. Following al-Mughira's death in 670, Mu'awiya attached Kufa and its dependencies to Ziyad's Basran governorship, making him the caliph's virtual viceroy over the eastern half of the Caliphate. Ziyad tackled Iraq's core economic problem of overpopulation in the garrison cities and the consequent scarcity of resources by reducing the number of troops on the payrolls and dispatching 50,000 Iraqi soldiers and their families to settle Khurasan.

This also consolidated the previously weak and unstable Arab position in the Caliphate's easternmost province and enabled conquests toward Transoxiana.
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As part of his reorganization efforts in Kufa, Ziyad confiscated its garrison's crown lands, which thenceforth became the possession of the caliph.  Opposition to the confiscations raised by Hujr ibn Adi, whose pro-Alid advocacy had been tolerated by al-Mughira, was violently suppressed by Ziyad. Hujr and his retinue were sent to Mu'awiya for punishment and were executed on the caliph's orders, marking the first political execution in Islamic history and serving as a harbinger for future pro-Alid uprisings in Kufa.
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After Ziyad's death in 673, Mu'awiya gradually replaced him in all of his offices with his son Ubayd Allah. In effect, by relying on al-Mughira, Ziyad and his sons, Mu'awiya franchised the administration of Iraq and the eastern Caliphate to members of the elite Thaqif clan, which had long-established ties to the Quraysh and were instrumental in the conquest of Iraq. In Egypt Amr governed as a virtual partner rather than a subordinate of Mu'awiya until his death in 664, and was permitted to retain the surplus revenues of the province. The caliph ordered the resumption of Egyptian grain and oil shipments to Medina, ending the hiatus caused by the First Fitna.
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After Amr's death, Mu'awiya's brother Utba and an early companion of Prophet, Uqba ibn Amir, successively served as governor before Mu'awiya appointed Maslama ibn Mukhallad al-Ansari in 667. Maslama remained governor for the duration of Mu'awiya's reign,significantly expanding Fustat and its mosque and boosting the city's importance in 674 by relocating Egypt's main shipyard to the nearby Roda Island from Alexandria due to the latter's vulnerability to Byzantine naval raids. The Arab presence in Egypt was mostly limited to the central garrison at Fustat and the smaller garrison at Alexandria.
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The influx of Syrian troops brought by Amr in 658 and the Basran troops sent by Ziyad in 673 swelled Fustat's 15,000-strong garrison to 40,000 during Mu'awiya's reign. Utba increased the Alexandria garrison to 12,000 men and built a governor's residence in the city, whose Greek Christian population was generally hostile to Arab rule. When Utba's deputy in Alexandria complained that his troops were unable to control the city, Mu'awiya deployed a further 15,000 soldiers from Syria and Medina.
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The troops in Egypt were far less rebellious than their Iraqi counterparts, though elements in the Fustat garrison occasionally raised opposition to Mu'awiya's policies, culminating during Maslama's term with the widespread protest at Mu'awiya's seizure and allotment of crown lands in Fayyum to his son Yazid, which compelled the caliph to reverse his order. Although revenge for Uthman's assassination had been the basis upon which Mu'awiya claimed the right to the caliphate, he neither emulated Uthman's empowerment of the Umayyads nor used them to assert his own power.
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End of Today's Education. Subhaanaka Allaahumma wabihamdika asha-hadu an laa ilaaha illaa Anta astagfiruka wa atuubu ilaika. Suggestions and problems are welcome. *We shall continue on this story in sha Allah* . May  HE strengthen and make us steadfast in faith. May HE accept our ibaadat and grant us the Good in this World and the Hereafter. May Allah Azza wa jalla forgive and  grant us Jannah...AMIN