in his governorship throughout ‘Umar’s caliphate. ‘Umar and his subjects praised him and his conduct toward them, supported him and loved him for the forbearance and justice they had witnessed in him. Indeed, none of them complained about him or alleged that he had wronged them.

Yazīd ibn Mu‘āwiyah was not one of the Companions of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him; he was born during ‘Uthmān’s caliphate. He was named Yazīd after his uncle, who was one of the Companions.

Mu‘āwiyah, his brother Yazīd, Suhayl ibn ‘Amr, al-Hārith ibn Hishām and others who embraced Islam at the conquest of Mecca participated with the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, in the expedition of Hunayn. They were included in the words of Allah Most High:

“Then Allah sent down His tranquillity upon His Messenger and upon the believers and sent down soldiers whom you did not see and punished those who disbelieved. And that is the recompense of the disbelievers.”

They were among the believers upon whom Allah sent down His tranquillity alongside the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him. They also participated in the expedition of al-Tā’if, when they besieged al-Tā’if and he bombarded it with a catapult. They also faced the Christians in Syria, and Allah revealed Sūrat Barā’ah during that expedition.

This was the Expedition of Hardship, in which ‘Uthmān ibn ‘Affān, may Allah be pleased with him, equipped the Army of Hardship with a thousand camels in the cause of Allah Most High. When these proved insufficient, he completed the provision with fifty more camels. The Prophet said:

“Nothing ‘Uthmān does after today will harm him.”

This was the last of the Prophet’s military expeditions, peace and blessings be upon him, and no fighting took place during it. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, personally took part in more than twenty military expeditions, and did not