Umar, the second of the Rashidun caliphs (meaning “rightly guided,”) did not approve Damascus Governor Muawiyah bin Abi Sufyan's request for permission to conquer Cyprus. Before writing a reply to his governor, the caliph asked Amr ibn al-As about the expeditions and ships used in the Mediterranean and did not find seafaring safe. His letter read, “I will not allow a single Muslim to travel on those ships.”