It may be said to him:

First, an aggressor may be acting on an interpretation, believing that he is in the right; he may be acting deliberately, knowing that he is an aggressor; or his aggression may be a compound (1) of specious reasoning and desire (2), as is most often the case. In any event, this does not undermine the position of Ahl al-Sunnah. They do not maintain that Muāwiya—or even those superior to him—was free of sin, let alone free of error in exercising reasoned judgment.

Rather, they say:

“Sins have means by which their punishment may be averted, including repentance, seeking forgiveness, good deeds that erase sins, expiatory afflictions, and other such things.” This applies to the Companions and to others as well.

This is illustrated by the well-known (3) account of al-Miswar ibn Makhrama, who was among the finest of the younger Companions. When he came to Muāwiya and met with him privately, Muāwiya asked him to tell him (4) everything he held against him (5). Al-Miswar then mentioned everything he held against him (6).

Muāwiya said, “Despite all this, Miswar, do you have sins?”

He replied, “Yes.”

Muāwiya asked, “Do you hope that Allah will forgive them?”

He replied, “Yes.”

Muāwiya said:

“Then why should you have greater hope in Allah’s mercy than I do (7)? Despite all this, by Allah, whenever I have been given a choice between Allah and anyone else, I have chosen Allah over all others. By Allah, what I undertake (8) of jihad, enforcing the prescribed penalties, commanding what is right, and forbidding what is wrong is better than your deeds, and I