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  Chapters
1. A word from the Persian translator
2. Preface: aim of the survey and discussion
3. The lineage of Mu'awiyah: Abu Sufyan and Hind
4. The Umayyads in pagan times
  5   Abu Sufyan in the battle of Badr
6. Abu Sufyan in the battle of Uhud
7. Hind in the battle of Uhud
8 Abu Sufyan as leader in the battle of al-Khandaq
9. Feeling of weakness and proposal of peace
11. Mecca is captured
  12.   Abu Sufyan and his position in the Islamic community
  13   Abu Sufyan in the time of the first two caliphs
  14   Abu Sufyan in the time of 'Uthman
  15   Mu'awiyah in the time of the Prophet
  16   Mu'awiyah in the time of the caliphs
  17   Mu'awiyah and 'Uthman
  18   Abu Dharr facing Mu'awiyah
  19   A fable in the history of Islam
  20   Quranic Memorizers and Interpreters of Kufah in ash-Sham
  21   Mu'awiyah after 'Uthman
  22   Siffin, the battlefield scene of right over wrong
  23   The trickery of Mu'awiyah
  24   Abu Musa and 'Amr ibn al-'As
  25   ash-Shami plunderes
  26   Jariyah ibn Qudamah, a man of the Alawite front
  27   Two opposing politics
  28   Mu'awiyah in the time of Imam al-Hasan al-Mujtaba
  29   Motives for peace
  30   Cautious treatment of enemies
  31   Crafty Arabs in the trap laid by Mu'awiyah
  32   Heavy taxes
  33   The Shi'ah in torture and molestation
  34   Governing becomes hereditary and imperial
  35   Allegiance to Yazid in Basra
  36   Allegiance to Yazid in ash-Sham
  37   Allegiance to Yazid in Medina
  38   Allegiance to Yazid demands victims
  39   Ceremonies of allegiance to Yazid
  40   What caused the friendship between 'A'ishah and the Umayyads
41 Gifts of Mu'awiyah
  42   the influence of 'A'ishah in the rule of the Umayyads
  43   'A'ishah and Mu'awiyah in reciprocal contention
  44   Death of Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr
  45   'Abd ar-Rahman ibn Abi Bakr is poisoned
  46   'A'ishah is penitent about the battle of al-Jamal
  47   'A'ishah generosity
  48   Her family bigotry
  49   'A'ishah as an eminent orator
  50   'A'ishah as a well -dressed woman
  51   'A'ishah's monopoly of verdicts
  52   Anecdotes in the life of 'A'ishah
  53   TA brief glance at the life of Mu'awiyah
  54   Traditional making
  55   Freed persons and the caliphate
  56   A cover for inferiority complexes
  57   The fate of the noble persons who did not co-operate with Mu'awiyah
  58   Imam 'Ali is cursed on Islamic pulpits
  59   A group of people refuses to curse
  60   The ultimate goal of Mu'awiyah
  61   A tradition from 'A'ishah
  62   Conclusion and purpose
  63   Addendum
       

 

 

THE ROLE OF AISHAH IN THE HISTORY OF ISLAM
In the name of God, the almighty
Abu Sufyan in the time of two caliphs

pilgrimage, he was informed that Abu Sufyan was building a house, and the stones he had heaped for it on the water-course had exposed the city to the danger of a torrent. 'Umar accompanied the complainants to Abu Sufyan's house and ordered he himself to carry the stones back to where they belonged. Then he raised his arms heavenward and said: "0 God! I praise you for enabling me to issue a command to Abu Sufyan, chief of the Quraysh in the middle of the city of Mecca, and making him obey me!"
Historians have written: One day 'Umar, as caliph, was passing along one of the streets of Mecca, and noticed that it was filthy. He ordered the people to clean the front part of their houses. A few days later again he found the streets dirty. He picked up his whip in anger, and hit Abu Sufyan on the head. The incident of the whipping of Abu Sufyan, chief of the Quraysh, was reported to his wife, Hind. This heiress of pagan times, remembering the time of material power and magnificence, said: "O 'Umar! By God, if you were to whip him in former times, the city of Mecca would have trembled under your feet!" 'Umar answered: "You are right. But for the sake of Islam God has given dignity to one group and has abased another."(64)
We saw how Islam had given eminence to one group and abjectness to Abu Sufyan. Consequently in his heart much rancor and hostility were nested towards Islam and the Muslims; a rancor which revealed itself in his words from time to time.
'Abd Allah Ibn az-Zubayr says: "I was present with my father in the battle of al-Yarmuk but I was too small to fight. During the battle I noticed a group on a hill not participating in the combat. I went towards them and saw Abu Sufyan and some Quraysh chiefs assembled here. They were the men who had embraced Islam after the capture of Mecca. When I reached them they were in the middle of their conversation. As they looked upon me as a child, they did not think I would understand their words. So they continued their talk and spoke as openly as possible. The moment the Muslims happened to make a slight retreat giving the Romans a slight advantage, this group shouted gladly: "Oh! Long live the Romans!" But as
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