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(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. It was also through
his cunning that the shattered army of Mu'awiyah
in the battle of Siffin placed copies of the Holy
Qur'an atop of spears, and a battle which was
on the point to putting an end to Mu'wiyah, proved
inconclusive.
When 'Ali's army nominated Abu Musa al-Ash'ari
for arbitration, Mu'awiyah chose 'Amr ibn al-'As
on his part, and eventually 'Amr ibn al-'As deceived
Abu Musa, making him remove 'Ali from the caliphate,
and himself named Mu'awiyah as the caliph. As
a reward for this service and as a condition set
by 'Amr ibn al-'As Mu'awiyah offered him the life-long
governorship of Egypt.
After killing Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr, 'Amr ibn
al-'As continued to hold that post until or after
the year 43 of the Hijrah and was also buried
there upon his death (Refer to al Isti'ab al-Isabah,
Usd al-ghabah and Tabaqat).
Al-Mughayrah
ibn Shu'bah
Al-Mughayrah, son of Shu'bah ibn Abi 'Amir ibn
Mas'ud ath-Thaqafi embraced Islam in the time
of the battle of al-Khandaq, and then after emigrating
to Medina took part in the battle of Hudaybiyah.
The Prophet sent him together with Abu Sufyan
to smash the idols of Thaqif in at-Ta'if. His
eyes were damaged in the battle of al-Yarmuk.
He was appointed by
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