The dismissal of al-Mughirah bin Shu'bah (may Allah be pleased with him) from his governorship

Muhammad bin Abi Musa al-Thaqafi narrates from his father that Sayyiduna al-Mughirah bin Shu'bah (may Allah be pleased with him) passed away in Kufah in the month of Sha'ban in the year 50 AH, during the caliphate of Sayyiduna Mu'awiyah (may Allah be pleased with him). At that time he was seventy years old.

It is narrated from Abd al-Aziz bin Abi Bakrah that he said: We were sitting by the small door of the mosque which is called the Gate of Aylan: Abu Bakrah, his brother Nafi' and Shibl bin Ma'bad were (there). Meanwhile al-Mughirah bin Shu'bah came walking in the shade of the mosque, and in those days the mosque was built of reeds. He reached Abu Bakrah and greeted him. Abu Bakrah asked him: O Amir! What brought you out of the governor's residence? He said: (I have come) to talk with you people. Abu Bakrah said to him: That is not fitting for you; the Amir should sit in his house and summon whomever he wishes to talk with. He said: O Abu Bakrah, there is no harm in what I am doing. Then he entered through the small door until he reached the door of the house of Umm Jamil, a woman of Banu Qays. The narrator says: Between the house of Abu Abdullah (Nafi') and the house of the woman there was a lane, and he went in to her. Abu Bakrah said: I cannot bear this. So he sent for a slave of his and said to him: Climb up to my upper room and look through the window. He went and looked, and soon came back and said: I found the two of them under one blanket. He said to the people: Get up and come with me. So they got up. Abu Bakrah looked first and said "Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un (We belong to Allah and to Him we return)." Then he said to his brother: Look. He looked. He asked: What did you see? He said: Outright adultery. Then he said: O Shibl, look. He looked. He asked: What did you see? He said: I saw outright adultery. He said: Shall I call Allah to witness against you? They said: Yes. Then he went back to his family and wrote to the Commander of the Believers, Sayyiduna Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him), about what he had seen. A grave matter had come to him, for it concerned a Companion of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and without delay he sent Abu Musa al-Ash'ari as governor of Basrah. Abu Musa sent word to al-Mughirah: Stay for three days in which you are your own master; when the fourth day comes, set out, you and Abu Bakrah and his witnesses. Glad tidings for you if a lie has been told against you, and woe to you if the truth has been told about you. So the party, namely Abu Bakrah, his witnesses and al-Mughirah bin Shu'bah, set out until they reached the Commander of the Believers in Madinah. He said: O Abu Bakrah! Present what you have. He said: I testify that I saw outright adultery. Then they brought forward his brother Abu Abdullah, and he testified: I saw outright adultery. Then they brought forward Shibl bin Ma'bad al-Bajali; he questioned him and he said: I testify that I saw outright adultery. Then they brought forward Ziyad, and he asked: What did you see? He said: I saw the two of them under one blanket and heard heavy breathing, and I do not know what was beyond that. At this Sayyiduna Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said "Allahu Akbar" and was glad that al-Mughirah had been saved, and he had the others flogged, except Ziyad. The narrator says: The Commander of the Believers, Sayyiduna Umar bin al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him), had appointed Utbah bin Ghazwan as governor of Basrah; he arrived there in the year 16 AH, and his death was in the year 19 AH. Utbah disliked this responsibility and used to pray to Allah to free him from it. Then he fell from his mount on the road and died (may Allah have mercy on him). Then the matter of al-Mughirah happened as it happened.