5. What was mentioned about Mu'iwiyah fabricating a letter in the

name of Qays ibn Sa'd. This is a lie. It could not possibly have come from Mu'iwiyah because the Arabs used to regard lying as one of the worst of attributes, something that noble men would refrain from. We see this in the story of Abu Sufyin when he was still a polytheist; Bukhari narrated that when Heraclius asked him about the Messenger of Allah (g), Abu Sufyk said: "By Allah, were it not that I would feel too embarrassed that they should narrate that I told a lie, I would have This is how Governors at the time of 'Ali ibn Abi Tilib lying was regarded by the Arabs; among the Muslims, it was seen as even worse. Though one can argue that this was deceit and war is deceit, deceit does not mean lying, as is well known. Mu'iwiyah (&) was too smart to do that.79