“…but you do not make any sense to me!”
Mu’aawiyyah addressed the mischief makers in the Khilaafah of ‘Uthmaan:
“Your leaders are a shield for you, so do not abandon your shield. Your rulers today treat you with patience and take care of you. By Allaah! You should stop (with your fitnah against ‘Uthmaan) or else Allaah will punish you with rulers who will mistreat you, then you will not be praised for your patience, then you will be their partners in sin for the injustice that you will have brought upon the people, during your life and after your death.”
One of the mischief makers replied to Mu’aawiyyah: “As for what you have said about Quraysh, they were never the most numerous or strongest of the Arabs during the Jaahiliyyah, such that you could scare us with them. As for what you have said about a shield, if the shielf is breached, then we could get hurt.”
Mu’aawiyyah said: “I know you now. I know what has led you to this attitude is a lack of maturity. You are the spokesman of the people but you do not make any sense to me. I am trying to remind you of the greatness of al-Islaam and you remind me of the Jaahiliyyah?! I am exhorting you and you claim that the shield that is protecting you can be breached?! Even if it is breached, it is not the fault of the shield!”
[Taareekh at-Tabaree 5/324]
