Aban narrates from Sulaym: Sulaym said: “Ziyad ibn Sumayyah had a writer who was a Shia and was my friend. He made me read a letter that Muawiyah had written to Ziyad in reply to Ziyad’s letter to him.
{“After that, the letter that you have written to me and asked about Arab – whom should you give high respect and whom should you humiliate and whom should you bring nearer and whom you should send far, whom from them should you remain fearless and who should be aware of.
Oh my brother, I know Arab more than anyone else. You keep an eye on this family of Yemen. In public give them high respect but in private humiliate them, because that is what I do with them. I make them sit near and show them that they are, in my eyes, more reputable than others and in private my favours and gifts to others are more than them because they (whom I humiliate in private) along with this man (Ali (a.s)) fight against me.
Keep an eye on Rabi’ah Ibn Nidhar (a tribe). Respect their leaders and humiliate the ordinary ones because the ordinary people follow the leading ones and the sadaaf (descendants of the Holy Prophet).
And keep an eye on the tribe of Mudhir and create some dispute among the others because in there are those people who are strong revolutionary, able and very proud. When you do that and create some dispute among the others then you will be safe with some people. Do not be happy with what they say until they put what they say into action and do not make assumptions until you are definite about what they say.
And keep an eye on the Mawali (non Arab) and those Ajam who have accepted Islam and choose the style of Umar Ibn Khattab in dealing with them because in that is humiliation and degradation for them. And let Arab marry their women but their women should not marry Arab. Let Arab be their inheritors but they should not be inheritors of Arab. Reduce their subsistence and benefits and make them go in front in wars and let them maintain the roads, cut the trees and do not let them be the Imam of Arab in congregational prayers and do not let anyone of them be in the front row of prayer when Arab are present, unless the row is not completed by Arab. Do not appoint anyone of them as a Governor on the boarder of Muslims and do not appoint anyone as a Governor in any city. No one from them should be a Governor for making rules and decisions for Muslims because this was the style and habit of Umar. May Allah, from the Ummah of Muhammad (S.A.W), and particularly from Bani-Umayyah reward him, reward him greatly.
On my life, if he and his companion had not done what they did, and had the strength of both of them and their steadfastness in the Deen of Allah not done this, then we and the people of Ummah would have been slaves of Bani Hashim, and these people would have one after another inherited caliphate like Ahle Kisra (Iran) and Kaysar (Rome) inherited. But Allah, through these two, took away the caliphate from Bani Hashim and made it reach Bani Taym ibn Murra and from there it reached Bani Adi ibn Ka’ab when in Quraysh there was no tribe who was more disreputable and disgraceful than these two tribes. So these two bribed us with caliphate although we were more entitled to it than these two and their descendants because we had wealth and reputation and we were closer to the Holy Prophet (S.A.W) in relation than these two. After that before us our companion Uthman, on advice and willingness of people, acquired caliphate when until three days consultation continued among 6 people. Before that those who wanted it acquired it without consultation. When our companion Uthman the oppressed got killed, we acquired caliphate through him because when an oppressed one gets killed, Allah has given his trustee the power.
By my life my brother, if Umar had started that the compensation for a non- Arab should be half of that of an Arab, than this would be nearest to Taqwa (piety). If I had a way and had a hope that people in general would accept then I would definitely do it but I am very near to the time of war and am scared of separation of people from me. For you it is enough that they are dishonoured and humiliated by Umar’s style.
When my letter reaches you disrespect and humiliate Ajam and keep them away, do not ask for help from anyone of them and do not fulfil any wishes of anyone of them.
By God, surely you are the son of Abu Sufyan and are born from him. For Ubayd, there is no need for ancestors after Adam. You informed me, and oh my brother you are, in my eyes, a very truthful person, that you read a letter that Umar had written to Abu Musa Ashari in Basra. At that time you were his writer and he was the Governor in Basra. At that time you were a person with no respect in his eyes and you felt very humiliated and thought you are slave of SAQIF (a tribe). Had you definitely known, like you surely know today, that you are a son of Abu Sufyan, then you would have felt honourable and would have refused to be a writer of those who are of a lower degree in Asharin. You know and I also definitely know that Abu Sufyan’s grandfather Umayyah ibn Abde Shamsh went for a business in Shaam with Abu Sufyan. He passed through Safuriyyah (a place) and bought a slave from there whose son was Abdullah Abu Sufyan followed the footsteps of Umayyah ibn Abde Shamsh.
Ibn Abi Mu’eet has informed me that you told him that you read a letter that Umar had written to Abu Musa Ashari and sent him a rope which was five spans long and told him to measure with this rope all those who were in his presence who were residents of Basra and were also from either Mawali or from those Ajam who had brought Islam, and kill them. So Abu Musa took your advice and you stopped him and said that he should talk to Umar.
He wrote again to Umar and you wanted to do what was in favour of slaves so you did and on that day you were thinking that you also were a slave and you were a son of Ubayd. You kept talking to Umar until you made him change his decision and you scared him by saying that there would be a dispute among people and so he changed his decision. You told him (“How can you be satisfied when you have kept enmity with the people of this house (i.e. Ahlulbayt). If they all go to Ali (a.s.) and Ali (a.s.), with them stood against you, your rule will be finished”). So he stopped.
O my brother, I do not know any child bom in the family of Abu Sufyan who can be unfortunate for him when you made Umar change his decision and stop him. He has informed me that you made Umar change his mind and stop him from killing by saying: ‘”You had heard Ali ibn Abi Talib saying: “Surely. Surely, you will all be hit by Ajam in the matter of Deen in the end, just like in the beginning you hit them”). Ali ibn Abi Talib also said: [“Allah will fill your hands with Ajam after which they will become so hard on you that they will not run away and they will hit you on your neck and overpower your army”]. At that time Umar told you: {“Yes I have heard it from the Holy Prophet (S.A.W) and this is what has made me write a letter to your companion concerning their killing. I have already made a decision to write this to all my Governors in all cities.”} So you said to Umar: (“O Amirul Mumineen do not do that because you are not safe from the possibility that they call Ali to help them and they are many in number and you are also aware of the strength and bravery of Ali and his family and you are also aware of his enmity towards you and your companion”.) So you made him change his decision. So you have informed me that you did not make him change his mind but as a favour and you have not changed in your matter due to cowardice.
You have also informed me that you had also informed Ali about this during the time of Uthman’s rule and he told you: {“The bearer of black standard who will come from the direction of Khurasaan will be Ajam and they are the ones who will overpower the reign of Bani Umayyah and will kill them under every stone and grass.”}
O brother had you not made Umar change his mind then this manner would have continued and Allah would have finished them altogether and cut their roots and after that all caliphs would have made it a tradition until not even a hair or nail of theirs would have remained and no one would have remained to blow into fire because they are a trouble for Deen.
I have no count of the traditions that Umar started in this Ummah which are contrary to the traditions of the Holy Prophet (S.A.W) and people have acted upon it end accepted it. This one also would have been from one of them. One of them is that Umar changed the Makam (i.e. Makame Ibrahim) from where the Holy Prophet (S.A.W) had placed it and he also changed the Saa and Mudd of the Holy Prophet (S.A.W) and increased it. His stopping a junub from Tayyamum and a lot more that he introduced which are more than a thousand. The biggest and my most favourite, the one that gives peace to my eyes is that he took away caliphate from Bani Hashim, although they are more deserving of it, and are its mines because caliphate is not appropriate for anyone except them. The earth cannot have a system without them.
When you read this letter keep the contents confidential and tear it up.”}
He said: “When Ziyad read the letter he threw it on the floor, turned to me and said (“It is a pity on me what I got out from and what l have entered into. By God, I was from Shia of Ale Muhammad (a.s) and was from his group I got out from there and entered into the Shia of Shaytan and his group and entered into his Shia who writes me a letter like this. Definitely, By God, my example is like Shaytan who refused to prostrate in front of Adam due to pride, kufr and jealousy.”)
Sulaym said: “I did not let it be tomorrow until I wrote down his letter. When night befell Ziyad asked for the letter and tore it and said (“Never, Never, should anyone know about what this letter contains”). He did not know I had written it down.”