Allah wiped off dissension ( fitnah ) through him...

Allah wiped off dissension ( fitnah ) through him, made him in charge of His servants, and conquered new territories at his hands. He is now dead and this is his shroud with which we shall wrap him and put him in the grave and leave him to his deeds. He shall remain in barzakh till the Day of Judgement.

Whosoever among you wishes to attend his funeral should come [at noon].” A messenger had earlier been sent to Yazid to inform him of Mu’awiyah’s critical condition.[^13] [Upon receiving the news,] he said: A carrier with a letter came trotting, Casting fear in the heart, frightening. So we said: Woe unto you! What is the news? As if uprooted were its every foundation. One whose soul remains in apprehension, Almost brings about that which he does fear.

I found the mansion gate closed when I came near, Ramlah’s voice wrecked my heart and it was rent apart.[^14] Yazid’s letter to Walid Yazid assumed power in the beginning of Rajab in the year 60 H.

The governor of Madinah at the time was Walid bin ‘Utbah bin Abi Sufyan[^15], while ‘Amru bin Sa’id bin al-‘Ass was the governer of Makkah.[^16] Nu’man bin Bashir al-Ansari[^17] was the governer of Kufah[^18] and the governer of Basrah was ‘Ubaidullah bin Ziyad.[^19] Yazid’s most pressing concern was to take allegiance from those four people who had refused to answer Mu’awiyah’s call for pledging allegiance to Yazid as his heir apparent, and get rid of their opposition.

So he wrote to Walid: “In the name of Allah, the Beneficient, the Merciful. From Yazid -the commander of the faithful- to Walid bin ‘Utbah… Indeed, Mu’awiyah was a servant among the servants of Allah. He honoured him and made him His successor. He bestowed on him authority and established him. He lived based on what had been decreed for him and died when his term came to the end. May Allah have mercy on him!

He lived a praiseworthy life and died as a good and pious person.” In another letter to Walid, which was as small as a rat’s ear, he says: “Take allegiance from al-Husayn, ‘Abdullah bin ‘Umar and ‘Abdullah bin al-Zubair with as much severity as you can, and spare them not until they pledge their oath. That is all.”[^20],[^21] When the news of Mu’awiyah’s death[^22] reached Walid, he was very shocked and could not bear the news.