Re: Ali a.s or mavia
i think shiaas first need to overcome the misconception that any sunni wud favor Muawiyah (ra) over Ali (ra)....
Umar (ra) had Ali (ra) as one of his chief advisors and Muawiyah (ra) wud find place at the end of the majlis, near the shoes, as Umar (ra) seated sahabas according to rank in his majlis....
this pretty much depicts very clearly how sunnis see both the personalities that r being discussed here....
the matter that was on hand was the murder of a khalifa....
and they were the very same arabs that wud fight centuries over camel or a horse....
so u can imagine the extent that they wud go to over this issue....
and if u assume it to be just a struggle for the gain of power, even then i think its pretty clear that it was never a was of religious supremacy....
no one then, or now, ever thought that anyone else at that time was superior to Ali (ra) on the merits of devotion to religion....
so to make this issue a part of religion is indeed strange....