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'Mu‘āwīyah ibn Abī Sufyān' ()‎ (602-680) was a companion of the Prophet Muhammad s.a.w and later the Umayyad caliph in Damascus. He engaged in a civil war against the fourth Rightly Guided caliph, Ali (Muhammad's son-in-law) and met with considerable military success, including the seizure of Egypt. He assumed the caliphate after Ali's assassination in 661 and reigned until 680.
Because he opposed Ali, whom the Shia Muslims believe was Muhammad's true successor (see Succession to Muhammad), he has been hated and reviled by generations of Shi'a.

Contents

Early life

Governor of Syria

Conflict with Ali

Rule

Legacy

Sunni view of Muawiyah

Shi'a view of Muāwiyah

references

See also

References

External links

Neutral view

Criticizing Mu'awiyah

Praising Mu'awiyah

Early life

Muawiyah ibn Abi-Sufyan was born (c. 600) into a powerful clan, (Banu Abd Shams), of the Quraysh tribe. The Quraysh controlled the city of Mecca, in what is now western Saudi Arabia, and the Banu Abd-Shams were among the most influential of its citizens. Muawiyah's father Abu Sufyan ibn Harb and mother Hind bint Utbah are famous individuals in their own right.
Many of the Abd-Shams opposed Muhammad when he was preaching his new faith in Mecca, and joined in the armed battles that followed the emigration of Muhammad and his followers to Medina.
In 630 CE, Muhammad and his followers conquered Mecca, and most of the Meccans, including the Abd-Shams, formally submitted to Muhammad and accepted Islam.
According to some historians Muāwiyya accepted Islam in defiance of his relatives. The Shi'a dispute this and charge that Muawiyah did not convert until after the conquest of Mecca made it politically expedient to do so.
Muhammad welcomed his former opponents, enrolled them in his army and gave them important posts in the expanding Islamic empire. After the Prophet Muhammad's passing in 632, he served in the Islamic army sent against the Byzantine forces in present-day Syria. He held a high rank in the Muslim Army under his brother Yazid, who was appointed governor of the newly conquered province.

Governor of Syria

In 640, Muawiyah was appointed Governor of Syria by Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab and gradually gained mastery over the other areas of Syria, instilling remarkable personal loyalty among his troops and the people of the region. By 647, Muawiyah had built a Syrian army strong enough to repel a Roman attack and, in subsequent years, to take the offensive against the Romans in campaigns that resulted in the capture of Cyprus (649) and Rhodes (654) and a devastating defeat of the Roman navy off the coast of Lycia (655). At the same time, Muawiyah periodically dispatched land expeditions into Anatolia.
All these campaigns came to a halt with the accession of Ali to the caliphate, when a new and decisive phase of Muawiyah's career began.

Conflict with Ali

As a kinsman of the slain caliph Uthman ibn Affan, Muawiyah bore the duty of revenge. Because Ali was unable to apprehend and punish Uthman's murderers due to the rebel infiltration of the Muslim ranks, Muawiyah refused to acknowledge his caliphate. However, he did ''not'' participate in the Rebellion of Aisha (the prophet's widow), Talha and Zubayr ibn al-Awwam who went to war against Ali in the Battle of the Camel. Ali was victorious and pardoned Aisha, had her escorted to Medina and allocated her a pension.
Ali then turned towards Syria, which was in open revolt under her governor. He marched to the Euphrates and engaged Muawiyah's troops at the famous Battle of Siffin (657). Accounts of the clash vary -- however, it would seem that neither side had won a victory, since the Syrians called for an arbitration to settle the matters, arguing that continuing civil war would embolden the Byzantines.^[1] There are several conflicting accounts of the arbitrations. In the meantime, dissension broke out in Ali's camp, when some former supporters, later known as Kharijites, felt that Ali had betrayed them by entering into negotiations. While Ali was quelling the Kharijites, Muawiyah sent a force to seize control of Egypt.
When Alī was assassinated by a Kharijite in 661, Muawiyah held both Syria and Egypt and, as commander of the largest force in the Muslim Empire, had the strongest claim to the Caliphate. Ali's son Hasan, after initial defiance of Muawiyah, ceased hostilities and retired to Medina, where he lived a quiet private life.
Sunni Muslims claim that Hasan pledged allegiance to Muawiyah. Most Shi'a Muslims say that he never pledged allegiance, merely ceased to advance his claim to the caliphate. This was done out of consideration for the supporters of Ali's family, who had been much reduced during the tumults of Ali's caliphate.

Rule

After his accession to the position of Caliph by the year 661, Muawiyah governed the geographically and politically disparate Caliphate, which spread from Egypt in the West to Iran in the East, by strengthening the power of his allies in the newly conquered Arab territories. Prominent positions within the emerging governmental structures were held by Christians, some of whom belonged to families that had served in Byzantine governments. The employment of Christians was part of a broader policy of religious tolerance that was necessitated by the presence of large Christian populations in the conquered provinces, especially in Syria itself. This policy also boosted his popularity and solidified Syria as his power base. Muawiyah instituted several Byzantine-style bureaucracies, called ''diwans'', to aid him in the governance and the centralization of the Caliphate and the empire. Early Arabic sources credit two ''diwan''s in particular to Muawiyah: the ''Diwan al-Khatam'' "Chancellery" and the ''Barid'' "Postal Service", both of which greatly improved communications within the empire.
Continuation of the naval campaign again Rome was initially was very successful.
Among other, Chios and Smyrna were conquered and in 672 the base in Cyzicus
was established. The victories ended in 674 when the first naval siege
of Constantinople itself proved to be a catstrophe due to invention
of Greek fire by the Romans. The siege was repeated in the four next
years but each year was a failure. In 678 remnants of the previously
mightly fleet left for Syria. The blow was deepened by Mardaites -
Christian guerilla spreading in Syria, Lebanon and Palestine.
As the result Muawiyah accepted in 679 offer of peace from Roman
Emperor Constantine_IV on humiliating terms - all Ionian islands returned
to the Byzantium, Muawiyah agreed for annual tribute to Constantinople
of slaves, horses and thousands pounds of gold.
Muawiyah died May 6, 680. He was succeeded by his son Yazid I. Muawiyah had held the expanding empire together by force of his personality, through personal allegiances, in the style of a traditional Arab shaykh. However Muawiyah's attempt to start a dynasty failed because both Yazid and then his grandson Muawiya II died prematurely. The caliphate eventually went to a descendent of another branch of his clan.

Legacy

Caliph Muawiyah greatly beautified Damascus and developed a court to rival that of Constantinople. He expanded the frontiers of the empire, reaching the very gates of Constantinople at one point, though failing to hold any territory in Asia Minor. Sunni Muslims credit him with saving the fledgling Muslim nation from post civil war anarchy.
One of Caliph Muawiyah's most controversial and enduring legacies was his decision to designate his son Yazid as his successor, thereby the Caliphate became a dynasty. According to Shi'a doctrine, this was a clear violation of the treaty he made with Hasan, in which he said he would not make his son his successor. He attempted to preserve the form of the election however, by causing his nobles and the chiefs of the empire to elect and swear allegiance to his son in his own lifetime, a tradition that endured for several succeeding dynasties. However the Shi'ites were not an important factor in the resistance to Yazid which was led by Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr, the son of Zubayr ibn Awwam, the Companion of the Prophet.

Sunni view of Muawiyah

Sunni historians see him not as a religious ruler but a rebel, although he was a companion of the prophet, but still not worthy of respect as he fought the khalifa of the time Ali. They say that if there was a fifth rightly guided caliph it would have been Hasan but muawiyah wanted to usurp the throne from him.
:''Allah, make him guided, a guider, and guide people through him.'' ^[2]
He is also favorably depicted in a hadith from Bukhari which reads:
''..Muawiya who was really the best of the two men said to him, "O 'Amr! If these killed those and those killed these, who would be left with me for the jobs of the public, who would be left with me for their women, who would be left with me for their children?" Then Muawiya sent two Quraishi men from the tribe of 'Abd-i-Shams called 'Abdur Rahman bin Sumura and Abdullah bin 'Amir bin Kuraiz to Al-Hasan saying to them, "Go to this man (i.e. Al-Hasan) and negotiate peace with him and talk and appeal to him." So, they went to Al-Hasan and talked and appealed to him to accept peace..." ''^[3]
Sunni scholars rationalize that Hasan's willingness to abandon the caliphate to Muawiya suggests that Hasan did in fact think Muawiya an apostate, renegade, and hypocrite. They argue that Hasan did so with reasons such as for the sake of peace and not causing Fitnah, he gave it to muawiyah also for the reason that he had little support and muawiyah conquered most of the cities in the empire and forced them into bayah.
Hasan told Muawiyah not to make the khilafah into a monarch but he went against it by giving the khilafah to his son Yazid without a shura, sunni scholars agree that those acts of muawiyah are against islam, muawiyah openly defied and broke the promise of hasan al-mujtaba while at the same time not allowing a shura to elect a new leader of islam, nevertheless he was a companion of the prophet and must be respected. ^[4]
Sunnis discourage criticizing Muawiya's character and rule, observing his status as a companion of Prophet Muhammad, even though he did go against many rules of the Qu'ran while at the same time making his followers curse Amir ul Mumineen Ali Ibn Abi Talib. ^[4]

Shi'a view of Muāwiyah

Main articles: Shi'a view of Caliph Muawiyah

The Shi'a tend to vilify Muawiyah. His supposed conversion to Islam before the conquest of Mecca is dismissed as a fable, or mere hypocrisy. He is said to have opposed Ali, the rightful Caliph, out of sheer greed for power and wealth. His reign opened the door to unparalleled disaster, marked by persecution of Ali and his followers, resulting in Yazid I coming into power, shortly followed by the Battle of Karbala. He is said to have killed many of Muhammad's companions (Sahaba), either in battle or by poison, due to his lust for power. He is also accused of killing the children of Ubaidullah
:''[...] Then he [i.e. Mu'awiyah] was informed that Ubaidullah had two infant sons. So he set out to reach them, and when he found them - they had two (tender) forelocks like pearls - [and] he ordered to kill them.''^[6]
According to Shia Muawiyah not only fought with Ali, he cursed Ali as well. Furthermore,
he did force/make everybody to curse Ali (AS).

references

Sahih Muslim:
Narrated Sa'd Ibn Abi Waqqas:
Muawiyah, the son of Abu Sufyan, give order to Sa'd, and told him:
"What prevents you that you are refraining from cursing Abu Turab
(nickname of Ali)?" Sa'd replied: "Don't you remember that the Prophet
said three things about (the virtue of) Ali? So I will never curse
Ali."
Sunni reference: Sahih Muslim, Chapter of Virtues of Companions, Section of
Virtues of Ali, Arabic, v4, p1871, Tradition #32.

See also

★ Umayyad dynasty

★ Sahaba

References

1. pg.22 Mu'awiyah: Restorer of the Muslim Faith, Aisha Bewley, Dar al Taqwa Ltd. 2002.
2. Sunan Al-Tirmidhi, Book of Virtues #3824 and Sahih Al-Tirmidhi #3018
3. Sahih Bukhari 3:49:867
4. pg.4, Mu'awiyah: Restorer of the Muslim Faith, Aisha Bewley, Dar al Taqwa Ltd. 2002
5. pg.4, Mu'awiyah: Restorer of the Muslim Faith, Aisha Bewley, Dar al Taqwa Ltd. 2002
6. 21:6 Secrets of Mu'awiyah from Al-Amali: The Dictations of Sheikh al-Mufid

External links

Neutral view

★ Biography of Muawiya ibn Abu Sufyan

★ Mu'awiya as a Model of Islamic Governance [1]

Criticizing Mu'awiyah

★ Answering Ansar.org's defence of Mu'awyia bin Hind

Praising Mu'awiyah

★ Question

★ Answering Al-Tijani's allegations against Muˤāwiyya ibn Abī-Sufyān