The King of the Romans, during the reign of Mu'awiyah, wrote to him to choose the strongest man he had to wrestle the strongest man they had. The King of the Romans said: "This is a custom between the kings of the Romans and the kings of the Arabs since a long time ago. The competition used to revolve around the tallest Arab man and the tallest Roman man, then the strongest Arab man with the strongest Roman man." Mu'awiyah consulted Amr ibn al-As, who advised him regarding height to choose Qays ibn Sa'd ibn 'Ubadah, and regarding strength, to choose one of two men: either Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr or Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah. Mu'awiyah chose Muhammad because he was closer to him and more reassuring to him, similar to the competitions held today in the Olympic Games. Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah refused to pledge allegiance to Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr and told him: "I will not pledge allegiance to you until the country unites for you and the people agree on you." So, he treated him poorly, confined him, and harmed him, forcing him to flee from Mecca with some of his companions. A sect called the Kaysaniyyah emerged, led by Al-Mukhtar ibn Abi 'Ubayd al-Thaqafi. He and his sect claimed that Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah was the Imam and the Mahdi. However, he changed the meaning of the word Mahdi to another meaning that has persisted to this day, which is that this Mahdi has not died, but rather