At this time...

At this time, 'Amr ibn al-'As and al-Mughayrah ibn Shu'bah arrived and sat down at her door. But Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas drove them away with pebbles, saying: "Do you intend to include yourselves in the council at 'A'ishah's house for choosing the caliph and thus claim to be equal to us?" Now that these four names are mentioned, introducing them here would not be out of place. al-Miqdad al-Miqdad ibn al-Aswad al-Kindi was the son of 'Amr ibn Tha'labah.

Owing to a murder which had occurred in his family in pagan times, he fled to Hadhramaut, and made a pact with the Kindah tribe. Later on, owing to his 116. al-Bukhari 4/69 to 70, printed Bombay 1270, and Tabaqat of Ibn Sa'd 3/337. al-'Iqd al-farid 4/275 to 277. For his biography, refer to al-Isti'ab 3/453, and al-Isabah 3/433-434. quarrel with Abu Shimr who wounded him in the leg with his sword, al- Miqdad fled to Mecca, and made a pact with al-Aswad ibn 'Abd Yaghuth to become his adopted son.

Thenceforth, he came to be known as al-Miqdad ibn al-Aswad al-Kindi. When divine verdict descended that the Muslims should be given a name related to their fathers, he was renamed al-Miqdad ibn 'Amr. He died in the year 33 after the Hijrah.118 'Amr ibn al-'As Abu 'Abd Allah or Abu Muhammad, 'Amr ibn al-'As was of the Banu Sahm of Quraysh, and his mother was Nabighah, daughter of Harmalah who was a war captive and was put up for sale in the market of 'Ukkaz.

al-Fakah, son of al- Mughayrah, bought her and she was transferred later to 'Abd Allah ibn Jad'an, and then to al-'As ibn Wa'il from whom 'Amr was born (His mother, Nabighah, had been a notorious prostitute in pagan times). Quraysh sent 'Amr ibn al-'As to Abyssinia to change the attitude of an- Najashi (Negus) towards Ja'far ibn Abi Talib and other Muslims who had accompanied him in the emigration to Abyssinia, and bring them back to Mecca, but Negus turned them away.

'Amr ibn al-'As embraced Islam in the 8th year after the Hijrah, six months before the capture of Mecca. In 'Umar's caliphate, Egypt was conquered by him, and he was appointed its governor by the caliph and he held that post until the fourth year of 'Uthman's caliphate. Then he was dismissed by 'Uthman with the result that he joined 'Uthman's opponents and embarked on a propaganda and instigation against him until 'Uthman was killed.

Then 'Amr joined Mu'awiyah and on the pretext of avenging 'Uthman's blood, fought 'Ali.