The period in which Mu'awiyah ruled as compared with other eras and centuries in the life of Islam, has possessed a special distinction from the viewpoint of an overall interpolation brought about in the basic principles of Islam. For, the Umayyad government used all its massive power for the fabrication of traditions and forging of narrations, and started the large factory of tradition-making with the aid of its hirelings including some companions of the Prophet and its own agents.
The number of false traditions produced in this period is so great that they almost cover every subject of the all-inclusive religion of Islam and have found their way into the Islamic books, including official Islam, and the Islamic school of the caliphs and the powerful. This has left a deep and lasting influence on the intellectual and ideological as well as practical aspect of the school of Islam to the extent of replacing the basic pillars of thought in this school with the passage of time.
For this reason we are obliged to adopt an analytical method of survey in studying this period and its distinguished rulers and personalities in order to pave the way for the correct evaluation of the traditions fabricated in this period, and perhaps be able to discern the collaborative role of 'A'ishah in the production of these interpolations.
We begin the discussion with an investigation about Mu'awiyah; his lineage and a brief account of the life history of his family. Then the discussion is drawn to the period of his rule and caliphate and many other matters which are connected with it. It is then that we will be able to distinguish the bond which exists between 'A'ishah, Mu'awiyah and other rulers of the time. Finally we will make a careful survey of the life of 'A'ishah which ends in this same period...