al-'Iqd al-farid 3/126...

al-'Iqd al-farid 3/126, printed Egypt 1331, and Ibn Kathir 8/132 with a slight change of description, al-Bayan wa at-tabyin 2/182. was so vexed at being given a smaller sum that he returned from there to Damascus and went straight to Mu'awiyah and said in reproach: "What was your reason for offering me less than others? Why were you so parsimonious to me?" Mu'awiyah said: "Yes, I bought their religion from them, and that is why I gave them that sum.

But I left you to yourself because I know you are a true supporter of 'Uthman." The mean Hattat retorted: "Buy my religion from me, too."199 So Mu'awiyah ordered to pay him the remainder.200 Among those who fell into the golden snare of Mu'awiyah and worked for the newly established Umayyad government, were al-Mughayrah ibn Shu'bah and 'Amr ibn al-'As. Mu'awiyah appointed al-Mughayrah who was one of the most notorious crafty Arabs, as governor of Kufah, and 'Amr ibn al-'As as governor of Egypt.

He agreed also to leave him the governorship of that large and rich province for life and grant him the whole taxes of it. Meanwhile there was left another clever and crafty man who had escaped the clutches of Mu'awiyah and showed no liking to him. He could be a potential danger for the newly risen Umayyads, and thus Mu'awiyah could not disregard him.

This man was Ziyad who must be brought under Mu'awiyah's banner by every possible means, to benefit from his cunning and craftiness in the interest of his rule. Therefore, without bothering about religion and its injunctions and without fearing the alteration of divine verdicts, he tried to find a solution. In all aspects of his life what were predominant were worldly matters, deceits and transient joys of the world, and so in this course, too, no alternative remained for him but worldly methods.

Ziyad ibn Abihi had been the son of a slave named 'Ubayd who had married a notorious prostitute named Sumayyah. Thus from a family viewpoint, Ziyad had no worth in the Arab society. His father was regarded as a low creature according to the Arab custom and tradition. He was a slave lacking Arab blood. Therefore he was scorned for having a slave father and for his own non-Arab blood.

This was naturally intolerably painful for Ziyad who was gradually gaining a position for himself, and he longed to be delivered from these fetters. Mu'awiyah was aware of all these conditions. So he resorted to a plan from which there was no escape for Ziyad.