Documents of the Right Word

of Egypt, for four years during hadrat ’Umar’s caliphate, and for
another four years in the time of hadrat ’Uthmân. When Amr
passed away in the year forty-three, hadrat Mu’âwiya appointed
Amr’s son Abdullah as the governor for his place. Two years later
he dismissed him and appointed Mu’âwiya bin Hadîdj as the
governor. In the year 50, he dismissed Mu’âwiya bin Hadîdj and
for his place appointed Maslama, one of his men and at the same
time a Sahâbî, as the governor of Egypt and Afrikiyya. Hadrat
Mu’âwiya bin Hadîdj passed away in the seventy-third year (of the
Hegira).
33- “Mu’âwiya sent a troop under Busr bin Ertâd’s command
onto the Harameyn (the blessed cities of Mekka and Medîna and
their territories) and had women and innocent children put to the
sword. In this event, Abbâs’ grandsons, Abd-ur-Rahmân, who was
five years old, and Qusam, six years old, were martyred. These
children were slain before the eyes of their mother Âisha.
Terrorized by this horrendous murder, the helpless mother, Âisha,
went mad and rambled around with naked head and feet till the
end of her life,” he alleges, and says that he has acquired this
information from the books Al-kâmil and Al-Beyân wa-t-tabyîn.
The books he puts forward to corroborate his allegation betray
his own shame. Al-Beyân wa-t-tabyîn was written by a Mu’tazilî
hostile to the Ahl as-sunna. The abridged version of Tezkira-i-
Qurtubî gives a true account of this matter on its hundred and
thirty-first page, as follows: “After hadrat Mu’âwiya was elected
Khalîfa by the unanimous vote of the arbitrators, he sent Busr bin
Ertâd Âmirî with a three thousand strong army to Hidjâz in order
to exact obedience from its people. His first stop was in Medîna. In
those days hadrat Khâlid Abâ Ayyûb al-Ansârî was the governor
of Medîna appointed by hadrat Alî. This governor secretly left for
Kûfâ to take his place with hadrat Alî. Busr mounted the minber
and said, ‘What have you done to the Khalîfa, [that is, hadrat
‘Uthmân], to whom I paid homage here at one time? I would put
all of you to the sword if Mu’âwiya had not forbidden me to.’
People of Medîna, led by hadrat Jâbir, paid homage. Then Busr
exacted obedience from Meccans, too. Busr’s stating that he was
commanded by hadrat Mu’âwiya ‘not to kill anyone’ shows that he
did not kill anybody in Mekka or Medîna. Then he went to
Yemen. Ubeydullah bin Abbâs, who was the governor of Yemen
at that time, fled to Kûfa, hadrat Alî’s dwelling place. According to
scholars, upon Ubeydullah’s flight, Busr slew his two sons. Hadrat
Alî sent a two thousand strong force under Hârisa-t-abni
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