The historian Husain M. Jafri () considers this practice a propaganda measure, while the Islamicist Wilferd Madelung suggests that the rule of Mu'awiya was largely legitimized by his revenge for the assassination of Uthman, for which Mu'awiya publicly blamed Ali after the latter dismissed the former as the governor of Syria. In a tradition cited by the Sunni historians al-Baladhuri () and Ibn Asakir (), the Umayyad Marwan explains to the apolitical Ali ibn al-Husayn that his grandfather Ali ibn Abi Talib was the most temperate () among early Muslims to Uthman.
Historian Husain M. Jafri considers this practice a propaganda measure, while Islamicist Wilferd Madelung argues that Mu'awiya's rule was legitimized by revenge for Uthman's assassination and Ali's dismissal from Syria. According to Sunni historians al-Baladhuri and Ibn Asakir, Umayyad Marwan explains to apolitical Ali ibn al-Husayn that his grandfather Ali ibin Abi Talib was the most temperate () among early Muslims concerning Uthman.