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hands. Now you
should let your children inherit it" 'Uthman rebuked
him for this remark and was very displeased.(70)
Another narration says: In his old age and when he had
lost his eyesight Abu Sufyan went to 'Uthman's presence
and after settling down, he said: "Is there no
stranger present who might report our words to others?"
'Uthman said: "No, no one." Abu Sufyan said:
"This matter of caliphate is a worldly one, and
this government is of the same kind as that of pagan
times. Therefore, it is up to you to make our tribe
of Banu Umayyah the administrators of the wide realm
of Islam."(71)(72)
It was in the same period that Abu Sufyan one day passing
by the tomb of Hamzah, the martyr of Islam, started
kicking the tomb, and said: "Abu 'Amarah, the thing
for which we drew our swords yesterday, has fallen into
the hands of our children today, and they are playing
with it now."(73)
Thus we see that Abu Sufyan secured his evil wishes
with the caliphate of 'Uthman, such wishes for the fulfillment
of which he had made so much effort, and for which many
leaders of the Quraysh had been killed, without producing
any success, owing to the valor of the Muslims. But
now in 'Uthman's time and after his death, the rule
of the Umayyads fulfilled all those wishes.
Abu Sufyan died in 'Uthman's time in one of the years
between 31 and 34 of the Hijrah, and according to various
reports he was between 80 and 90 years of age. But his
wife, Hind, had died before him during 'Umar's caliphate.(74)
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