Ajay Kumar at 19:26, 28 September 2023

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{{For|the son of companion and first cousin of the Islamic prophet Muhammad|Abu Sufyan ibn al-Harith}}
{{Short description|Quraysh tribal leader and merchant (c. 567—653)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Abu Sufyan ibn Harb {{lang|ar|أبو سفيان إبن حرب}}
| image =
| caption =
| birth_date = {{circa|567 CE}}
| birth_name = Sakhr ibn Harb ibn Umayya
| birth_place = [[Mecca]], [[Hijaz]], [[Arabia]] {{small|(present-day [[KSA]])}}
| death_date = {{Circa}} {{Death date and age|653|567|df=yes}}
| death_place = [[Medina]], Hijaz, [[Rashidun Caliphate]] {{small|(present-day KSA)}}
| resting_place = [[Al-Baqi Cemetery]], Medina
| spouse = {{bulleted
|[[Hind bint Utbah|Hind bint Utba]]
|[[Safiyyah bint Abi al-As]]
|Zaynab bint Nawfal}}
 ''[[#Family|(among others)]]''
| children = '''''Sons'':'''{{bulleted|Hanzala|[[Yazid ibn Abi Sufyan|Yazid]]|[[Mu'awiya I]]|Amr|[[Utba ibn Abi Sufyan|Utba]]|Anbasa|Muhammad}} '''''Daughters'':'''{{bulleted|[[Umm Habiba]]|Juwayriyya|Maymuna}}
| relatives = {{bulleted|[[Muhammad]]|[[Umm Jamil]]}}
| father = [[Harb ibn Umayya]]
| occupation = Major leader of the [[Quraysh]] tribe
| era = 624–630
| module = {{infobox military person|embed=yes
| battles = *Against Muslims [[Battle of Uhud]] (625) [[Battle of the Trench]] (627) 
*For Muslims [[Battle of Hunayn]] (630) [[Battle of the Yarmuk]] (636)
}}
}}
'''Sakhr ibn Harb ibn Umayya''' ({{lang-ar|صخر إبن حرب إبن أمية|translit=Ṣakhr ibn Ḥarb ibn Umayya}}; {{circa|567—653}}), commonly known by his ''[[Kunya (Arabic)|kunya]]'' '''Abu Sufyan''' ({{lang-ar|أبو سفيان|Abū Sufyān}}), was a prominent opponent turned companion and father-in-law of the Islamic prophet [[Muhammad]]. He was the father of the first [[Umayyad]] caliph [[Mu'awiya I]] ({{reign|661|680}}) and namesake of the Sufyanid line of Umayyad caliphs which ruled from 661 to 684. He was a first-cousin-once-removed of the third Rashidun caliph [[Uthman]]; Abu Sufyan's uncle [[Abu al-As ibn Umayya]] was the grandfather of Uthman. Abu Sufyan was also a third-cousin of Prophet Muhammad; both men being great-great-grandsons of [[Abd Manaf ibn Qusai]]. One of his daughters, [[Umm Habibah|Ramla]], was married to Muhammad, but this occurred before Abu Sufyan's own conversion and without his consent.

Abu Sufyan was a leader and merchant from the [[Quraysh]] tribe of [[Mecca]]. During his early career, he often led trade caravans to [[Syria (region)|Syria]]. He had been among the main leaders of Meccan opposition to [[Muhammad]], the [[prophets and messengers in Islam|prophet of Islam]] and member of the Quraysh, commanding the Meccans at the battles of [[Battle of Uhud|Uhud]] and [[Battle of the Trench|the Trench]] in 625 and 627 [[Common era|CE]]. However, when Muhammad [[conquest of Mecca|entered Mecca]] in 630, he was among the first to submit and was given a stake in the nascent Muslim state, playing a role at the [[Battle of Hunayn]] and the subsequent destruction of the polytheistic sanctuary of [[al-Lat]] in [[Ta'if]]. After Muhammad's death, he may have been appointed as the governor of [[Najran]] by Caliph [[Abu Bakr]] ({{reign|632|634}}) for an unspecified period. Abu Sufyan later played a supporting role in the Muslim army at the [[Battle of Yarmouk]] against the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantines]] in Syria. His sons [[Yazid ibn Abi Sufyan|Yazid]] and later Mu'awiya were given command roles in that province and the latter went on to establish the Umayyad Caliphate in 661.

==Life==
===Early life===
Abu Sufyan's given name was Sakhr and he was born around {{Circa|567}} to his father [[Harb ibn Umayya]], a leader of the [[Quraysh]] tribe of Mecca,<ref name="Watt151">Watt 1960, p. 151.</ref> and mother Safiyya bint Hazn ibn Bujayr.{{citation needed|date=February 2020}} The family belonged to the [[Banu Abd Shams]] clan of the Quraysh,<ref name="Watt151"/> the brother clan of the [[Banu Hashim]], to which the [[Islam]]ic prophet [[Muhammad]] belonged. Abu Sufyan was among the leaders of the Qurayshi opposition to Muhammad in the years preceding the [[Hegira|Hijrah]] (emigration of Muhammad and his followers from Mecca to [[Medina]] in 622). A prominent financier and merchant, Abu Sufyan engaged in trade in [[Syria (region)|Syria]], often heading Meccan caravans to the region.<ref name="Watt151"/> He owned land in the vicinity of [[Damascus]].<ref name="Madelung45">Madelung 1997, p. 45.</ref><ref>Donner 1981, p. 96.</ref>

===Opposition to Islam===
In 624, a caravan Abu Sufyan was leading back to Mecca from Syria faced an assault by Muhammad, prompting him to send for aid.<ref name="Watt151"/> In response, a 1,000-strong Meccan army led by [[Abu Jahl]] was dispatched.<ref name="Watt151"/> In the ensuing confrontation, Abu Sufyan, "by skillful and vigorous leadership eluded the Muslims", according to the historian [[W. Montgomery Watt]].<ref name="Watt151"/> However, under Abu Jahl's command, the Meccans pursued a direct confrontation with the Muslims, which resulted in the rout of the Quraysh at the [[Battle of Badr]]. One of Abu Sufyan's sons, Hanzala, was killed at Badr and another son, Amr, was taken captive, but released.<ref name="Watt151"/> Among the other Meccan casualties were Abu Jahl himself and [[Utbah ibn Rabi'ah]], who was one of Abu Sufyan's fathers-in-law. In the aftermath of Badr, Abu Sufyan was charged with avenging Meccan losses, the command he held likely being hereditary. Subsequently, Abu Sufyan inflicted significant losses on the Muslims at the [[Battle of Uhud]] in 625, but the Quraysh were generally unsatisfied with the battle's results.<ref name="Watt151"/> Two years later, he led the attempted siege of Medina, but was defeated by the Muslim defenders at the [[Battle of the Trench]], and his morale may have taken a blow at this failure.<ref name="Watt151"/> The command of the Meccan forces were transferred to his Qurayshi rivals, [[Safwan ibn Umayya]], [[Ikrimah ibn Abi Jahl|Ikrima ibn Abi Jahl]] and [[Suhayl ibn Amr]].<ref name="Watt151"/>

===Conversion to Islam===
Though Abu Sufyan did not participate in the truce [[Treaty of Hudaybiyya|negotiations at Hudaybiyya]] in 628, he held peace talks with Muhammad in Medina when allies of the Quraysh apparently broke the truce.<ref name="Watt151"/> Information about the results of these talks is unclear, but Watt surmises that Abu Sufyan and Muhammad entered into an understanding of sorts.<ref name="Watt151"/> When Muhammad [[conquest of Mecca|conquered Mecca]] in 630, Abu Sufyan played a key role in the city's surrender, being among the first Qurayshi leaders to submit and guaranteeing protection for his partisans.<ref name="Watt151"/> He fought alongside the Muslims at the [[Battle of Hunayn]] against the [[Banu Thaqif]] of [[Ta'if]], traditional rivals of Mecca, and the latter's tribal backers from the [[Hawazin]] confederation.<ref name="Watt151"/> During this battle, which ended in a decisive Muslim victory, he lost an eye, and was rewarded a relatively high percentage of the spoils to reconcile his heart.<ref>Rizwi Faizer, ed., ''The Life of Muhammad: Al-Waqidi’s Kitab al-Maghazi'' (Abingdon: Routledge, 2011), p. 463.</ref><ref>A. Guillaume, trans., ''The Life of Muhammad: A Translation of Ibn Ishaq’s Sirat Rasul Allah'' (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1955), p. 594. (The section is titled “Division of the Spoils of Hawazin and Gifts to Gain Men’s Hearts”).</ref><ref>Ismail K. Poonawala, trans., ''The History of Al-Tabari: Volume IX: The Last Years of the Prophet'' (State University of New York, 1990), p. 31: The Messenger of God gave [gifts] to those "whose hearts were to be reconciled [al-muu'allafa qulubuhum]", who were certain men of eminence, in order to conciliate them and to win over their hearts. He gave a hundred camels each to the following: Abu Sufyan ibn Harb, his son Mu'awiyah ..." </ref> Because of his past trade relations with Ta'if, where he also owned property and had kinsmen, Abu Sufyan played a leading role in the dismantlement of the pagan sanctuary of [[al-Lat]] in the city.<ref name="Watt151"/>

==Later life and death==
Abu Sufyan was appointed the governor of [[Najran]], in southern Arabia, either by Muhammad or more likely, by the first caliph, [[Abu Bakr]] ({{reign|632|634}}).<ref name="Watt151"/> He initially opposed the latter's succession of Muhammad as leader of the nascent Muslim state.<ref name="Watt151"/> Abu Sufyan, seeing no hope that a member of the Banu Abd Shams could attain the role, aimed to keep the leadership in the hands of his next closest kinsmen, the Banu Hashim, specifically [[Ali|Ali ibn Abi Talib]], a cousin, son-in-law and early supporter of Muhammad.<ref name="Madelung40">Madelung 1997, p. 40.</ref> According to the historian [[Wilferd Madelung]], Abu Sufyan, by dint of his chieftainship of the Banu Abd Shams and the generosity he had received from Muhammad, was duty-bound by a tribal code of honor to offer Ali such support, as doing otherwise "would have been shameful".<ref name="Madelung40"/> Ali, however, refused his support, citing Abu Sufyan's late conversion to Islam and the potential backlash from the Muslim community should he accept his backing.<ref>Madelung 1997, pp. 40–41.</ref> Western historians generally dismiss this episode as propaganda by the Muslim traditional sources, which were hostile to the [[Umayyad dynasty|Umayyads]],<ref>Madelung 1997, p. 41.</ref> the branch of the Banu Abd Shams to which Abu Sufyan belonged and which ultimately became the ruling family of the [[Caliphate]] in 661 until 750.

Abu Bakr ordered the [[Muslim conquest of the Levant]], in which he gave the Banu Abd Shams a stake, despite their early opposition to him, which he sought to allay.<ref name="Madelung45"/> Abu Sufyan's son [[Yazid ibn Abi Sufyan|Yazid]] was ultimately appointed to a leading command role in the conquest. Abu Sufyan was present at the [[Battle of Yarmouk]], which resulted in a decisive Muslim victory against the Byzantines in Syria. His advanced age at the time renders it unlikely that he actively participated in the battle.<ref name="Watt151"/> According to an account cited by [[Sayf ibn Umar]], he observed the battle alongside unspecified Arab [[sheikh]]s (chieftains), and accounts cited by [[al-Tabari]] further note that he "exhorted" the Muslim troops.<ref>Donner 1981, p. 362.</ref> His son Yazid held a command role in the battle and later died in a plague in [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]] in 639.<ref name="Watt151"/> Another of his sons, [[Muawiyah I|Mu'awiya]], was appointed the governor of Syria by Caliph [[Umar|Umar ibn al-Khattab]] ({{reign|634|644}}). Umar's successor, [[Uthman|Uthman ibn Affan]] ({{reign|644|656}}), shared descent with Abu Sufyan from [[Umayya ibn Abd Shams]] and was known to show special favor to his kinsmen. To that end, he symbolically honored Abu Sufyan, along with [[al-Hakam ibn Abi al-As]] and [[al-Walid ibn Uqba]] of the Umayyad line of the Banu Abd Shams, and [[al-Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib]] of the Banu Hashim, by allowing them to sit on his throne in Medina.<ref>Madelung 1997, p. 109.</ref> Abu Sufyan died in 653 at the age of 88.<ref name="Watt151"/>

==Family==
[[File:Sufyanid dynasty genealogy.png|thumb|right|350px|Family tree of the Sufyanid ruling family of the Umayyad Caliphate. The Sufyanids were the descendants of Abu Sufyan]]

===Wives and children===
# [[Safiyyah bint Abi al-As|Ṣāfiya bint Abi al-As]].
## [[Umm Habiba|Ramla (Umm Ḥabība)]]. She first married [[Ubayd-Allah ibn Jahsh]], by whom she had one daughter, [[Habibah binte Ubayd-Allah|Ḥabība bint Ubayd Allah]]. After Ubayd Allah's death, she married Muhammad.
## Umayma. She first married Huwaytib ibn Abd al-Uzza, by whom she had one son called Abu Sufyan.<ref name="Saad8">Muhammad ibn Saad, ''Kitab al-Tabaqat al-Kabir'' vol. 8. Translated by Bewley, A. (1995). ''The Women of Madina''. London: Ta-Ha Publishers.</ref>{{rp|169}}
# Zaynab bint Nawfal of the [[Kinana]].<ref>Ibn Hajar. ''Al-Isaba'' vol. 6 p. 658 #9271.</ref>
##[[Yazid ibn Abi Sufyan|Yazīd]].
# [[Hind bint Utba]].
## Hanzala (killed in the Battle of Badr). Hind refers to Hanzala as her "firstborn".<ref name="Ishaq">Muhammad ibn Ishaq. ''Sirat Rasul Allah''. Translated by Guillaume, A. (1955). ''The Life of Muhammad''. Oxford: Oxford University Press.</ref>{{rp|313,337,385}}
## [[Mu'awiya I]].
## [[Utba ibn Abi Sufyan|Utba]]. He is said to have been born "in the time of the Prophet," i.e., after 610.<ref>Ibn Hajar. ''Al-Isaba'' vol. 5 p. 60 #6248.</ref> He had a son named [[al-Walid ibn Utba ibn Abi Sufyan|al-Walīd]].
## Juwayriya. Her first husband was al-Sayib ibn Abi Hubaysh. Her second husband was Abd al-Rahman ibn al-Harith.<ref name="Saad8"/>{{rp|169}}
## Umm Hakam. She married Abd Allah ibn Uthman al-Thaqafi, by whom she had one son, [[Abd al-Rahman ibn Umm al-Hakam al-Thaqafi|Abd al-Rahman]].<ref name="Saad8"/><ref>{{Cite web|title=Hadith - Book of Divorce - Sahih al-Bukhari - Sunnah.com - Sayings and Teachings of Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه و سلم)|url=https://sunnah.com/bukhari/68/36|access-date=2020-11-25|website=sunnah.com}}</ref>
# Safiya bint Abi Amr ibn Umayya.
## Amr (taken captive in the Battle of Badr and later released).<ref name="Ishaq"/>{{rp|313}}
## Hind. She married al-Harith ibn Nawfal, by whom she had six children: Abd Allah, Muhammad al-Akbar, Rabi'a, Abd al-Rahman, Ramla and Umm al-Zubayr.<ref name="Saad8"/>{{rp|169}}
## Sakhra. She married Sayyid ibn al-Akhnas and is said to have had children by him.<ref name="Saad8"/>{{rp|169}}
# Lubaba bint Abi al-As.
## Maymuna (Amina). She married Abi Murrah bin [[Urwah ibn Mas'ud|Urwa bin Mas'ud al-Thaqafi]], and bore him a son, Dawud <ref name="Ishaq"/>{{rp|589}} and a daughter, [[Layla bint Abi Murrah al-Thaqafi|Layla]], who married [[Husayn ibn Ali|al-Husayn bin Ali]] and bore al-Husayn his eldest son, [[Ali al-Akbar ibn Husayn|Ali al-Akbar]] who was martyred in Karbala. Maymuna's second husband was [[al-Mughira ibn Shu'ba]].<ref name="Saad8"/>{{rp|169}}
# Atiqa bint Abi Udhayhir<ref name="Ishaq"/>{{rp|189}} of the Daws tribe.<ref name="Tabari18">Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari. ''Tarikh al-Rusul wa'l-Muluk''. Translated by Morony, M. G. (1987). ''Volume 18: Between Civil Wars: The Caliphate of Mu'awiyah''. Albany: State University of New York Press.</ref>{{rp|220}}
## Anbasa.<ref name="Tabari18"/>{{rp|220}}
Other children: Ḥārith,<ref>Nasa'i vol. 2 #1814.</ref> Al-Faraa,<ref name="Ishaq"/>{{rp|214}} Azzah.<ref>Muslim 8:3413.</ref>

==See also==
*[[Sahabah]]
*[[List of expeditions of Muhammad]]

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==Bibliography==
*{{cite book |last1=Donner |first1=Fred M. |author-link=Fred M. Donner |title=The Early Islamic Conquests |date=1981 |publisher=Princeton University Press |location=Princeton |isbn=9781400847877 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l5__AwAAQBAJ}}
*{{cite book |last1=Madelung |first1=Wilferd |author-link=Wilferd Madelung |title=The Succession to Muhammad: A Study of the Early Caliphate |date=1997 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=0-521-56181-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2QKBUwBUWWkC}}
*{{EI2 |article=Abū Sufyān |last=Watt |first=W. Montgomery |authorlink=W. Montgomery Watt |volume=1 |page=151}}

{{Muhammad footer}}
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[[Category:565 births]]
[[Category:653 deaths]]
[[Category:7th-century merchants]]
[[Category:Banu Umayya]]
[[Category:People of the Muslim conquest of the Levant]]
[[Category:Companions of the Prophet]]
[[Category:Medieval businesspeople]]

Abu Sufyan ibn Harb - Revision history

Ajay Kumar at 19:26, 28 September 2023