The Redemption of Umayyad Memory by the ʿAbbāsids

El-Hibri proposes that a moralizing undercurrent governs much of the representation of the Umayyads, especially the portrayal of Mu'awiya, and that a certain genre of competitive dialogues served to communicate a variety of political a moral purposes, some to the advantage of the Umayyads but most to confirm the centrality of the 'Abbasid argument and position at the expense of the 'Alid right to the succession and leadership of the Hashimite family.