The Khārijites retorted, “May Allah have mercy on our brothers by the river; they understood you, people of Kūfa, far better than you understand yourselves!” Battle then broke out, and the Kufans defeated the Khārijites and put them to flight.
Afterwards Muʿāwiyah wished to appoint ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ as governor over Kūfa, but al-Mughīrah ibn Shuʿbah said to him, “Will you give Kūfa to the son while the father is in Egypt, and so leave yourself between the lion’s jaws? (1)” His words dissuaded Muʿāwiyah, who instead made al-Mughīrah governor of Kūfa.
Later ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ met with Muʿāwiyah and said, “Will you put al-Mughīrah in charge of the land tax (kharāj)? Why not entrust that revenue to someone else?” Muʿāwiyah therefore removed al-Mughīrah from the kharāj and left him only in charge of the prayers. When al-Mughīrah complained to ʿAmr about this, ʿAmr replied, “Were you not the one who advised the Commander of the Faithful about ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmr?” “Indeed I was,” he said. “Well, this balances that,” ʿAmr answered.
In the same year Ḥumrān ibn Abān rose up in Basra, seized the city, and took control of it. Muʿāwiyah dispatched an army to kill him and those with him, but Abū Bakrah al-Thaqafī came to Muʿāwiyah and pleaded for clemency. Muʿāwiyah pardoned them, released them, and appointed Busr (2) ibn Abī Arṭāt as governor of Basra. Busr then set upon the sons of Ziyād, determined to kill them, for Muʿāwiyah had written to their father summoning him and he had delayed in coming. Busr wrote to Ziyād, “If you do not hasten to the Commander of the Faithful, I will kill your sons.” Abū Bakrah thereupon wrote to Muʿāwiyah concerning the matter, [and he secured a guarantee of safety for them] (3).
Muʿāwiyah said to Abū Bakrah, “Do you have any counsel to give us?” He replied, “Yes, O Commander of the Faithful. I counsel you to look after yourself and your subjects and to act righteously. You have taken on something immense—the vice-regency of Allah over His creation. So fear Allah. You have a fixed term that you cannot exceed, and behind you is a relentless pursuer. The appointed time will soon arrive and the pursuer will overtake, whereupon you will stand before the One who will question you about what you were doing—and He knows it better than you do. It will be an accounting and a standing for judgment, so do not prefer anything to the good pleasure of Allah.”
Toward the end of that same year Muʿāwiyah appointed Basra to ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿĀmir. Muʿāwiyah had wanted to assign it to ʿUtbah ibn Abī Sufyān, but Ibn ʿĀmir said, “I have property and deposits there; if you do not give me the post, I shall be ruined.” Muʿāwiyah therefore appointed him [and granted his request in that matter] (4).
Abū Maʿshar said, “The man who led the people in the pilgrimage that year was ʿUtbah ibn Abī Sufyān.” Al-Wāqidī, however, said, “Rather, it was ʿAnbasah ibn Abī Sufyān who led them.” Allah knows best.
Among the notable figures who died this year was Rafāʿah ibn Rāfiʿ (5) ibn Mālik ibn al-ʿAjlān, who was present at the Second Pledge of ʿAqabah, at Badr, and at all the battles that followed.