This ḥadīth has also been transmitted through another chain in a marfūʿ form (1).

The Virtues of Muʿāwiyah ibn Abī Sufyān (may Allah be pleased with him) (2)

Muʿāwiyah ibn Abī Sufyān—whose personal name is Ṣakhr ibn Ḥarb ibn Umayyah ibn ʿAbd Shams ibn ʿAbd Manāf ibn Quṣayy and whose kunya is Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān—was a Qurayshite of the Banū Umayyah, the “maternal uncle of the believers,” and one of the scribes of revelation to the Lord of the Worlds.

He, his father, and his mother—Hind bint ʿUtbah ibn Rabīʿah ibn ʿAbd Shams—embraced Islam on the Day of the Conquest. Muʿāwiyah is reported to have said, “I accepted Islam on the day of the ʿUmrat al-Qaḍiyyah (3), yet I concealed my faith from my father until the Day of the Conquest (4).”

His father was among the chieftains of Quraysh in the pre-Islamic era; after the Battle of Badr, the leadership of Quraysh devolved upon him, and he directed their wars. He was an obeyed leader and a man of great wealth. When he entered Islam he said, “Messenger of Allah, command me so that I may fight the disbelievers just as I used to fight the Muslims.” The Prophet ﷺ replied, “Yes.” He then said, “And appoint Muʿāwiyah to serve as a scribe before you,” and the Prophet ﷺ answered, “Yes.”

Thereafter he asked the Messenger of Allah ﷺ to marry his other (5) daughter, ʿAzza (6) bint Abī Sufyān, seeking the help of her sister, Umm Ḥabībah. The marriage did not take place, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ clarified that such a union was not lawful for him. We have discussed this ḥadīth in several other places (7) and have even dedicated a separate monograph to it—praise and thanks belong to Allah.

The point here is that Muʿāwiyah was among those who wrote down revelation for the Messenger of Allah ﷺ alongside the other scribes of revelation (may Allah be pleased with them).

When Syria was conquered, ʿUmar appointed him governor of Damascus after his brother Yazīd ibn Abī Sufyān; ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān confirmed him in that post and added further territories to his domain. He was the one who built the Green Dome in Damascus and resided there for forty years, as al-Ḥāfiẓ Ibn ʿAsākir relates.

When ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib assumed the caliphate, many of his commanders who had taken part in the killing of ʿUthmān advised him to dismiss Muʿāwiyah from Syria and appoint Sahl ibn Ḥunayf in his place. He dismissed him, yet the dismissal did not take effect, and a group of Syrians rallied around Muʿāwiyah. He refused to give Syria up to ʿAlī and declared, “I will not pledge allegiance to him until he hands over the murderers of ʿUthmān, for he was killed unjustly,” citing the words of Allah Most High: “And whoever is killed unjustly—We have certainly granted his heir authority…” [al-Isrāʾ 17:33].