Abū Mūsā al-Ashʿarī, and a number of others.
Those who transmitted from him include al-Shaʿbī, Simāk ibn Ḥarb, and Ḥuṣayn ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān (1). He lived in Kūfah.
Al-Shaʿbī related: “ʿIyāḍ ibn ʿAmr passed by on the day of ʿĪd and said, ‘Why do I not see them performing taqlīs? It is a sunnah (2)!’”
Hushaym explained: “Taqlīs is striking the duff, the frame drum (3).”
Simāk reported: “I heard him say, ‘I was present at al-Yarmūk; we pursued and killed them for four parasangs, and I saw Abū ʿUbaydah enter a race on an Arab horse (4).’”
- Muʿāwiyah ibn Yazīd ibn Muʿāwiyah ibn Abī Sufyān, Abū Laylā — the caliph.
He was given allegiance by virtue of a covenant made by his father. He was a young man, devout, and better than his father. His mother was the daughter of Abū Hāshim ibn ʿUtbah ibn Rabīʿah.
He ruled for forty days; some say three months, while others maintain that his tenure lasted only twenty days.
He died at the age of twenty-three; another report says twenty-one, and yet another seventeen.
Marwān led the funeral prayer over him, and he was buried beside his father’s grave. He left no offspring, and he refused to designate anyone as his successor to the caliphate. May Allah have mercy on him.
(1) The material placed between brackets is taken from Asad al-Ghaba and al-Isaba.
(2) Related by Ibn Majah (no. 1302), Book of the Establishment of Prayer, Chapter on “What has been reported concerning taqlis on the day of ‘Id,” through the chain of transmission Sharik › Mughira › ‘Amir, who said: ‘Iyad al-Ash‘ari attended an ‘Id celebration in al-Anbar and remarked, “Why do I not see you practicing taqlis as it used to be done in the presence of the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him?” Al-Busiri comments in his Zawaid: all the transmitters are trustworthy.
(3) Abu al-Jarah explains: “Taqlis is the public reception of rulers upon their arrival in a city, accompanied by various forms of entertainment… An example is the report about ‘Umar, may Allah be pleased with him: when he entered Syria he was met by performers of taqlis carrying swords and sprigs of basil.”
(4) A fuller version of the report is given in Ibn ‘Asakir, vol. 13, p. 405a.
(*) See also: al-Ma‘arif, p. 352; Ibn ‘Asakir, Tarikh Dimashq, vol. 16, p. 395b; al-Dhahabi, Tarikh al-Islam, vol. 3, p. 83; al-Dhahabi, al-‘Ibar, vol. 1, p. 69; Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya wa-l-Nihaya, vol. 8, p. 237; Ibn Taghri Birdi, al-Nujum al-Zahira, vol. 1, p. 163; al-Suyuti, Tarikh al-Khulafa, p. 211.