[1] His clan were the traditional protectors of the shrine of al-Lat, one of many Arabian polytheistic deities worshiped in the pre-Islamic period.
[1] Umar's successor, Caliph Uthman (r. 644–656), kept al-Mughira as governor for another year until replacing him with Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas.
[1] When Ali and Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan, the governor of Syria who had taken up the cause of avenging the death of his Umayyad kinsman Uthman, decided to settle the Battle of Siffin by arbitration in 657, al-Mughira, without invitation by either side, attended the talks at Adhruh.
[1] According to the orientalist Henri Lammens, al-Mughira's "shocking morals", lack of attachment to the Alids (kinsmen and partisans of Ali), non-involvement in the "jealousies of the Quraysh [sic], as well as the narrow-mindedness of the Ansar" (another faction of the Muslim elite), and membership of the "intelligent and enterprising tribe of Thaqif [sic]", all gained the attention of Mu'awiya, who reappointed him governor of Kufa in 661.
[1] The latter were composed of Ali's erstwhile supporters who defected from him as a result of the arbitration with Mu'awiya, assassinated him and continued to rebel against the authorities in Iraq.
[1] Moreover, by "combination of mildness and astuteness, and by knowing when to shut his eyes, al-Mughira succeeded in avoiding desperate measures" against the politically turbulent factions of Iraq and was able to maintain his governorship.
[1] Al-Baladhuri mentions in his Genealogies of the Nobles (Arabic: أنساب الأشراف; Ansab al-Ashraf), that Mughira ibn Shu'ba used to say, "Allah, curse so-and-so (meaning 'Ali) for he disobeyed what is in Your Book and abandoned the sunnah of Your Prophet, divided unity, shed blood and was slain as an oppressor.