wickedest and
most infidel of all people!" I asked: "How
and who?" He said: "It was a private session
with Mu'awiyah I said to him: O Amir al-Mu'minin,
You have attained your wish. Now it would be fitting
if in your old age you act justly and treat others
kindly: If you favour your kith and kin of Banu Hashim
and observe your bonds of kinship with them, you will
leave a good name behind. I swear to God that today
they have nothing left to frighten you with (meaning
that they are remote from assuming the position of
caliph)."
Mu'awiyah answered: "What you say is quite remote.
Abu Bakr became caliph and acted justly, and bore
so much trouble. By God, when he died, his name, too,
died with him unless someone may one-day call: 'Abu
Bakr!' Then 'Umar assumed the rule, and endeavored
much and suffered many pains for ten years. But a
few days after his death, nothing of him remained
except an occasional word of someone, saying: ''Umar!'
Then our brother 'Uthman became caliph, a man whose
lineage nobody could rival, and he acted as he did,
and was treated as we know. But by God, as soon as
he was killed, his name, too, died, and his deeds
were forgotten!
But you see that this Hashimi man's (The Prophet)
name is spoken loudly and respectfully five times
a day in the whole of the Islamic realm (referring
to the Muslim prayer and the call for it). What deed,
do you think, will leave a memory and what good name
can last long? By God! I shall never rest until I
bury that name!"(382)(383)
Mu'awiyah's breast was burning with a flame of rancor
and envy at the popular name of the Prophet who had
destroyed his brother, uncle and grandfather and other
relatives of his in the battle of Badr. He longed
to bury that name. To attain that goal he had two
plans: His first scheme could be summoned up in this
sentence: "Not even one member of Banu Hashim
should remain alive." This is not only our understanding
of it. Imam 'Ali himself says explicitly: "I
swear to God that Mu'awiyah desires that not even
one of the Banu Hashim should survive. He wishes to
extinguish the light of God in this way, but God will
not allow this light to be extinguished even if infidels
are not pleased with His wish."(384)
The second plan of Mu'awiyah was to dispatch their
names
