Ibn al-Jawzī records that she died in this very year, while Ibn Abī Khaythamah says, “She passed away at the end of ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb’s caliphate; Allah knows best.”
[Then came the year 55 AH]
In it, Muʿāwiyah dismissed ʿAbd Allah (1) ibn Ghaylān from Basrah and appointed ʿUbayd Allah ibn Ziyād in his place. The reason for the dismissal was that, while Ibn Ghaylān was addressing the people, a man from the tribe of Ḍabbah pelted him with stones. Ibn Ghaylān ordered that the man’s hand be cut off.
The man’s clansmen came to Ibn Ghaylān and said, “If the Commander of the Faithful learns that you have cut off our companion’s hand for this act, he will treat you and your tribe as he treated Ḥujr ibn ʿAdiyy. Write us a statement saying that you amputated his hand because of a shubhah (doubtful circumstance).” He wrote it for them, and they held on to it for a time.
They then went to Muʿāwiyah and said, “Your governor has cut off our companion’s hand on the basis of a shubhah; exact qiṣāṣ (legal retribution) for us from him.” Muʿāwiyah replied, “No retribution is taken from my governors, but there is the diyah (blood-money).” He therefore paid them the compensation (2) from the public treasury and removed Ibn Ghaylān from office.
He said to the people, “Choose whomever you wish.” They proposed several men, but he said, “No; rather, I shall appoint my nephew ʿUbayd Allah ibn Ziyād over you,” and he installed him. Ibn Ziyād, in turn, appointed Aslam ibn Zurʿah over Khurāsān, yet he mounted no campaigns and opened no new territories.
Ibn Ziyād arrived in Basrah and appointed Zurārah ibn Awfā as its judge, then dismissed him and appointed Ibn Udhaynah al-ʿAbdī. He placed ʿAbd Allah ibn Ḥuṣn (3) in charge of the police.
That year the pilgrimage was led by Marwān ibn al-Ḥakam, the deputy governor of Madinah.
In the same year Muʿāwiyah dismissed ʿAbd Allah ibn Khālid ibn Asīd from Kūfah and appointed al-Ḍaḥḥāk ibn Qays al-Fihrī in his stead.
[Notable deaths in this year]
Al-Arqam ibn Abī al-Arqam (4)—ʿAbd Manāf ibn Asad ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿUmar ibn Makhzūm. He embraced Islam early—some say he was the seventh of seven—and his house served as a refuge for the Muslims; the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and those who believed with him used to gather there.