pressure on him, so he kept him with him. Thus leaders do not waste brilliant leadership at times of turmoil.86 Appointment of Mdpmmad ibn Abi Bakr as governor of Egypt As we have seen, some people interfered to cause trouble between 'Ali (&) and Qays ibn Sa'd, hoping that he would remove him. In the end, some of 'Ali's consultants insisted that he dismiss Qays because they believed the rumours about him. 'Ali (&) wrote to him and said: "I want you to be near me, so appoint someone to be in charge in your absence and come."87 This letter effectively dismissed Qays from his post as governor of Egypt, and 'Ali appointed al-Ashtar an-N&haZi to replace him," according to most reports. 'Ali (&) met with al-Ashtar before he travelled to Egypt and told him about Egypt and its people.

He said: "Egypt has no one but you; go, may Allah have mercy on yon, and if I do not give you instructions, it is because I trust your judgement. Seek the help of Allah for whatever wonies you, and mix strictness with gentleness; be gentle when that is more effective, and be strict when shicmess is the only way."8y ~ 1 - ~ s h t a r went to Egypt, accompanied by a group of his companions. When he reached the coast of the Red Sea, he died before he could enter Egypt, and it was said that he had been given a drink of poisoned honey that killed him. Some of the people who paid the land tax were accused of poisoning him at the instigation of ~u'2wi~ah?' but the accusations made against MuZ2wiyah of killing al-Ashtar an-Nakha'i cannot be proven by any Governors at the time of 'Ali ibn Abi Trilib sound report. Ihn ~ a t h e e r ~ ' and Ibn ~haldoon~' both thought it very unlikely, and Dr.

Yahya al-Yaya agreed with them.93 I am also inclined to favour this view. Al-Ashtar died before he could start his work in Egypt; nevertheless the sources speak of him as one of 'Ali's governors in Egypt. After he died, Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr was appointed as governor of ~ g y ~ t . ~ ~ He had previously lived in Egypt at the time of 'Uthmgn (&), and the reports indicate that Muhammad ibn Ahi Bakr reached Egypt before the previous governor, Qays ibn Sa'd, left. A discussion took place between Qays ibn Sa'd and Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr, in which Qays offered some advice to Muhammad, especially with regard to the people who were angry about the murder of 'Uthm2u (&) and who had not sworn allegiance to 'Ali (&) after he died. Qays said: "0 Ahu al-QLim, you have come from Amir al-Mu'miueen, and his dismissal of me should not prevent me from giving sincere advice to you and to him, as I have good experience about this matter (Egypt and its people).

Leave these people and those who joined them alone - meaning those who had not sworn allegiance to 'Ali (&) or to anyone else. Leave them as they are, then if they come to you, accept them, and if they stay away from you, do not pursue them. Treat people according to their status, and if you can visit the sick and attend funerals, then do so, for that will not undermine your position."95 Muhammad brought with him a message from 'Ali (A). He read it to the people of Egypt and addressed them?' Akii alMu'mineen 'Ali wrote a letter to Muhammad ibn Ahi Bakr, which came to him when he was appointed govemor of Egypt. It was not limited to matters of governorship; it also called Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr as-Siddeeq to Allah (%).

Among other things, this letter said: "Remember, 0 Muhammad, that even if you are in need of your share of this world, you are in greater need of your share of the 'Ali ibn Abi Tilib hereafter. If you have two matters to deal with, one which has to do with the hereafter and the other which has to do with this world, then start with that which has to do with the hereafter. Your desire to do good should be great, and you should always base it on the right intention, for Allah gives to a person according to his intention. If he loves good deeds and the people who do them, but he does not do them, he will inshallah be like one who has done them, because when the Messenger of Allah (8) came hack from Tabook, he said: 'In Madinah, there are men and you have not covered any distance or crossed any valley but they were with you, but they were held back by sickness.' They had the intentioa9' Moreover, remember 0 Muhammad [ibn Abi Bakr] that I have appointed you in charge of my greatest troops, the people of Egypt, and I have put you in charge of the people's affairs. You are right to fear for yourself concerning this responsibility and to worry about your religious commitment, every minute of the day.

If you can, strive hard not to anger your Lord in order to please His creation. Be harsh with the wrongdoer, and be gentle with the righteous; bring the righteous close to you and make them your inner circle and brothers. ~as-sal&n."~~ After Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr started his governorship, the first month passed peacefully, but things began to change after that. Muhammad did not follow the advice of Qays ibn Sa'd, and he began to bother those people who had not sworn allegiance to 'Ali (&). He wrote to them and called them to swear allegiance, but they did not respond. He sent men who destroyed their houses, confiscated their wealth and imprisoned some of their children, so the people started to fight him.99 Then Mu'gwiyah prepared an army led by 'Amr ibn al- 'As, and he attacked Egypt and formed an alliance with those whom Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr was fighting.

The number of fighters reached ten thousand, among whom were Maslamah ihn Mukhallad and Mu'iwiyah ibn ~ u d a ~ j . ' ~ ~ Fierce battles took place between them and Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr. In the end, he was killed, and Governors at the time of 'Ali ibn Abi Trilib Mu'iwiyah's troops took over in Egypt. Thus Egypt was lost by 'Ali ibn Abi Tilib (&) in 38 AH."' Abu Makhnaf, the RZdi Sbia, is the only one who narrated a detailed report about this. It distorted a lot of the historical facts, but it was quoted by ay-~abari'~' and a number of historians, as follows: Al-Ya'qoobi mentioned that 'Amr ibn al-'.& fought M+ammad ibn Abi Bakr, and that Mu'iwiyah ibn Hudayj caught him and killed him, then be put him inside the carcass of a donkey and burned him.lo3 ~ l - ~ a s ' o o d i ' ~ ~ and Ibn ~ i b b i ? m ' ~ ~ referred to the slaying of Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr, but they did not mention any details.'06 Ibn al-~theer"~ narrated the report of Abu Makhnafthat was quoted by at-Tabari, after omitting from it the letter of Mu'iwiyah to Muhammad ibn Ahi Bakr and the text of the correspondence between 'Ali (&) and Ibn Abi Bakr.

He also omitted the response of Ibn Abi Bakr to Mut5wiyah and 'Amr ibn al- 'AS, which was mentioned in the report of Abu Makhnaf that was quoted by at-Tabari. An-Nuwayri mentioned something similar to that wblch was mentioned by Ibn al-~theer,"~ and ibn Katheer included something like what was mentioned by these two. Ibn Khaldoon referred to the reports of Abu ~ a k h n a f , " ~ and ibn Tagharribardi summarised them."' All of these reports came via Abu Makhnaf and played a role in distorting the Islamic history of that era. They were then quoted by contemporary writers, who failed to examine them and contributed to circulating them. Thus many of these lies became entrenched in the minds of some educated people and became an essential part of a series of misconceptions that spread among the people. Nevertheless, the fact that Mu'iwiyah ibn Hudayj killed Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr is proven through a sound report which was narrated by Abu 'Awwinah from 'Abdur-Ramin ibn