 muawiyah was one of the imams. when he did not consider what he saw of the speech to be a certainty but rather it was a matter of suspicion and assumption he did not rule on it or make it obligatory. if he had made it obligatory he would have punished him.
ومعاوية أحد الأئمة، فلما لم يقع عنده ما رأى من الكلام موقع يقين، وإنما حل محل ظن وحسبان، لم يقض به ولم يوجبه، ولو أوجبه لحد عليه.