Muawiyah I
Encyclopedia
Muawiyah I was the first Caliph
of the Umayyad Dynasty. After the conquest of Mecca
by the Muslims, Muawiyah's family converted to Islam
. Muawiyah is brother-in-law to Muhammad
who married his sister Ramlah bint Abi-Sufyan in 1AH. Muawiyah became a scribe for Muhammad
, and during the first and second caliphates of Abu Bakr
and Umar
, fought with the Muslims against the Byzantines
in Syria
.
When Uthman ibn Affan, a cousin of Muawiyah, became the third caliph, he appointed Muawiyah Governor of Syria
. However when Ali
was appointed the fourth and final Rashidun Caliph, he expelled Muawiyah from the Governorship. Muawiyah refused to obey Ali, and had some level of support from the Syrians in his rebelliousness, amongst whom he was a popular leader. Ali called for military action against Muawiyah, but the reaction of the political classes in Medina
was not encouraging, and thus Ali deferred. Eventually Ali marched on Damascus
and fought Muawiyah's supporters at the inconclusive Battle of Siffin
(657 CE).
Ali's son Hasan ibn Ali
signed a truce and retired to private life in Medina
. Muawiyah thus established the Umayyad Caliphate, which was to be a hereditary dynasty, and governed from Damascus
in Syria
instead of Medina
in Arabia.
Muawiyah I is a reviled figure in Shia Islam for several reasons. Firstly, because of his involvement in the Battle of Siffin
against Ali, whom the Shia Muslim
s believe was Muhammad's true successor (see Succession to Muhammad
); secondly, for the alleged breaking of the treaty he made with Hasan ibn Ali, after the death of Hassan ibn Ali, by appointing his son Yazid
as his successor; thirdly, on account of his responsibility for the killing of Hasan ibn Ali by alluring his wife a'dah binte Ash'as] Ja'dah binte Ash'as was the daughter of Ash'as bin Qays, a trible chieftan of yamen and Um e Farwa the sister of Abi Bakr] to poison him; and fourthly, for the deaths of various Companions of Muhammad.
Muawiyah bin Abi-Sufyan was born in Hejaz
(602 CE) into the Banu Umayya sub-clan of the Banu Abd-Shams clan of the Quraysh tribe. The Quraysh controlled the city of Mecca
(in the west of present-day Saudi Arabia
) and the Banu Abd-Shams were among the most influential of its citizens. Muawiyah and the rest of his family were staunch opponents of the Muslims before the ascendancy of Muhammad.
In 630, Muhammad
and his followers conquered Mecca, and most of the Meccans, including the Abd-Shams clan, formally submitted to Muhammad and accepted Islam
. Muawiyah, along with his father Abu Sufyan
, became Muslims at the conquest of Mecca when further resistance to Muslims became an impossibility. Some scholars hold the view that Muawiyah was the second of the two to convert, with Abu Sufyan convincing him to do it.
Muhammad welcomed his former opponents, enrolled them in his army and gave them important posts in what was to become the Caliphate
. After the Prophet Muhammad's death (632) Muawiyah served in the Islamic army sent against the Byzantine
forces in Syria
. He held a high rank in the army
led by his brother Yazid ibn Abu Sufyan
.
(Umar ibn al-Khattab) had appointed Muawiyah Ibn Abu Sufyan as governor of Syria. In the year 640, Umar appointed Muawiyah as governor of Syria when his brother died in an outbreak of plague. Muawiyah 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 Byzantine attack and, in subsequent years, to take the offensive against the Byzantines in campaigns that resulted in the capture of Cyprus
(649) and Rhodes
(654) and a devastating defeat of the Byzantine navy off the coast of Lycia
(655). At the same time, Muawiyah periodically dispatched land expeditions into Anatolia
.
According to the chronicler Theophanes the Confessor
, Muawiyah I, after capturing Rhodes sold the remains of the Colossus of Rhodes
to a traveling salesman from Edessa
. The buyer had the statue broken down, and transported the bronze scrap on the backs of 900 camels to his home. Pieces continued to turn up for sale for years, after being found along the caravan route.
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.
, allegedly seeking justice for the assassinated caliph Uthman Ibn Affan. Aisha
(Aisha bint Abu Bakr) (Muhammad's widow), Talhah (Talha ibn Ubayd-Allah) and Al-Zubayr (Abu ‘Abd Allah Zubayr ibn al-Awwam) were all in agreement with Muawiyah that those who assassinated Uthman should be brought to justice. However, Ali claimed that he was not able to apprehend and punish Uthman's murderers fearing rebel infiltration of the Muslim ranks. This resulted in Muawiyah refusing to acknowledge Ali's caliphate.
Muawiyah did not participate in the campaign by Aisha, Talhah and Al-Zubayr against Ali that ended in the Battle of the Camel
. The city of Basrah went over to them but they were defeated in battle by Ali. Talhah and Al-Zubayr were killed. Ali pardoned Aisha and had her escorted back to Medina
.
Ali then turned towards Syria, where Muawiyah was in open opposition. 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 arbitration to settle the matter, arguing that continuing civil war would embolden the Byzantines. There are several conflicting accounts of the arbitrations. One account suggests that Muawiyyah’s army were ordered to adorn the tips of their swords with pages from the Quran in an attempt to confused the army of Ali and prevent them from winning the battle. As a result, the army of Ali ceased fighting so as not to bring harm to the Quran. Muawiyah proposed a cease-fire which Ali agreed to and it was decided to end the conflict through peaceful talks.
In the meantime, dissension broke out in Ali's camp where some of his former supporters, later known as Kharijites
, felt that Ali had betrayed them by entering into negotiations. Ali set out to quell the Kharijites. At about the same time, unrest was brewing in Egypt. The governor of Egypt, Qais, was recalled, and Ali had him replaced with Muhammad ibn Abu Bakr (the brother of Aisha and the son of Islam's first caliph Abu Bakr
). Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr's rule resulted in widespread rebellion in Egypt. Muawiyah ordered 'Amr ibn al-'As
to invade Egypt and 'Amr did so successfully.
When Alī was assassinated in 661, Muawiyah, as commander of the largest force in the Muslim Empire, had the strongest claim to the Caliphate. Ali's son Hasan ibn Ali
signed a truce and retired to private life in Medina.
Muawiyah said later: "I never fought against Ali, only about Uthman's death". That was attested by Al-Sharif al-Radi in his book , he said:
at a ceremony in Jerusalem. Muawiyah governed the geographically and politically disparate Caliphate, which now spread from Egypt in the west to Iran
in the east, by strengthening the power of his allies in the newly conquered territories. Prominent positions in the emerging governmental structures were held by Christian
s, 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.
In a manner similar to Byzantine administrative practices, Muawiyah instituted several bureaucracies, called divan
s, to aid him in the governance and the centralization of the Caliphate and the empire. Early Arabic sources credit two diwans in particular to Muawiyah : the Diwan al-Khatam (Chancellery
) and the Barid (Postal Service), both of which greatly improved communications within the empire.
According to Arab historian Ibn Kathir
However, other scholars contend that he simply placated the Byzantine emperor with offers of land, gold, and slaves.
Muawiyah died on May 6, 680, allegedly from a stroke brought on by his weight. 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
sheikh
. 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 Marwan I
a descendant of another branch of Muawiyah's clan.
s) - the discriminatory treatment of non-Arab Muslims by the victorious Umayyad forces are documented by both Sunni and Shia sources as in the example below concerning Muawiyah's commands to his governor Ziyad ibn Abih
.
(The following is unclear as no specific hadith is mentioned). However, the two pre-eminent Masters of Sunni Hadith, Imam Bukhari and Imam Muslim, have rejected absolutely the later apology for Muawiyah, and Imam Muslim indeed places the Hadith-e-Muawiya in the Chapter of those Cursed by Muhammad. Further, the Imam Nisa'i was murdered when he recited this Hadith in the presence of pro-Muawiya Arab-speaking Syrians as it was perceived as a curse of Muawiyah, which debates the unreferenced suggestion that the term was a form of praise and not condemnation. Shias often question why there are no reliable precise accounts of Muawiyah actually participating in any battles after his conversion to Islam
. He expanded the frontiers of the empire, reaching the very gates of Constantinople at one point, though the Byzantines drove him back and he was unable to hold any territory in Anatolia. Sunni Muslims
credit him with saving the fledgling Muslim nation from post civil war anarchy. However, Shia Muslims charge that if anything, he was the instigator of the civil war, and weakened the Muslim nation and divided the Ummah, fabricating self-aggrandizing heresies and slander against the Prophet's family and even selling his Muslim critics into slavery in the Byzantine empire.
One of Muawiyah's most controversial and enduring legacies was his decision to designate his son Yazid as his successor. According to Shi'a doctrine, this was a clear violation of the treaty he made with Hasan ibn Ali, in which Muawiyah said he would not make his son his successor.
historians view Muawiyah as a companion of Muhammad, and hence worthy of respect for this reason, and a few Sunni Muslims take great issue with the Shi'a criticism and vilification of him. However, mainstream Sunni Muslims while refusing to adopt the negative Shi'a sentiment towards Muawiyah nevertheless quietly withhold according him religious status owing to his rebellions against Ali
and al-Hasan
, who are regarded as pious rulers, with Muawiyah being regarded as a worldly king of dubious sincerity. Finally, Muawiyah transformed the caliphate from a consensus system with some emphasis on religious qualification into a hereditary and monarchical one with no such stringent requirement, by designating his son Yazid as his successor.
A Sunni hadith says:
Sunni scholars interpret al-Hasan's willingness to abandon his claims to the caliphate in favor of Muawiyah as proof that al-Hasan, Muhammad's eldest and beloved grandson, did not go so far as to view Muawiyah an apostate, renegade or hypocrite.
and Sunnis like Sa'di
- took the side of Ali, not Muawiyah.
According to Shi'a view, Muawiyah opposed Ali, out of sheer greed for power and wealth. His reign opened the door to unparalleled disaster, marked by the persecution of Ali, slaughtering of his followers, and unlawful imprisonment of his supporters, which only worsened when Yazid come into power and the Battle of Karbala
ensued. Muawiyah is alleged to have killed many of Muhammad's companions (Sahaba), either in battle or by poison, due to his lust for power. Muawiyah killed several historical figures, including the Sahaba
Amr bin al-Hamiq, Muhammad ibn Abu Bakr Malik al-Ashtar, Hujr ibn Adi
(to which the families of Abu Bakr
and Umar
condemned Muawiyah for, and the Sahaba
deemed his killer to be cursed) and Abd al-Rahman bin Hasaan (buried alive for his support of Ali
).
Muawiyah was also responsible for instigating the Battle of Siffin
, the bloodiest battle in Islam's history, in which over 70,000 people (among them many of the last surviving companions of the Prophet Muhammad) were killed. Notable among the Companions who were killed by Muawiyah's forces was Ammar bin Yasir, a frail old man of 95 at the time of his murder. Shi'i Muslims see his being killed at the hands of Muawiyah's army as significant because of a well-known hadith narrated by Abu Hurayrah in which the Prophet is recorded to have said: "Rejoice Ammar! The transgressing party shall kill you."
When the tide of the battle was turning in Ali's favor, Muawiyah stalled Ali's troops by raising the Qur'an
on the tip of a bloody spear as a sort of "holy book shield" against attack by Muslims. This sort of act is widely regarded as blasphemy and desecration of God's word, and Shia scholars condemn Muawiyah for it, arguing such a practice would today be condemned by Sunni Muslims just as much as Shia Muslims.
The killing of the two children of Ubaydullah ibn Abbas can also be found in Sunni and Shi'a texts.
From the Shia point of view, Imam Hasan ibn Ali
did not sign the treaty with Muawiyah because he liked him; rather, he did so to prevent even worse bloodshed than had already happened at Siffin. Hasan's intention was to preserve the Muslim Ummah
and eventually restore the Caliphate to its rightful heirs, the Prophet's family (as per the terms of the treaty). He died before he was able to do this, allegedly poisoned by his wife on Muawiyah's orders.
Caliph
The Caliph is the head of state in a Caliphate, and the title for the ruler of the Islamic Ummah, an Islamic community ruled by the Shari'ah. It is a transcribed version of the Arabic word which means "successor" or "representative"...
of the Umayyad Dynasty. After the conquest of Mecca
Mecca
Mecca is a city in the Hijaz and the capital of Makkah province in Saudi Arabia. The city is located inland from Jeddah in a narrow valley at a height of above sea level...
by the Muslims, Muawiyah's family converted to Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
. Muawiyah is brother-in-law to Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
who married his sister Ramlah bint Abi-Sufyan in 1AH. Muawiyah became a scribe for Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
, and during the first and second caliphates of Abu Bakr
Abu Bakr
Abu Bakr was a senior companion and the father-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He ruled over the Rashidun Caliphate from 632-634 CE when he became the first Muslim Caliph following Muhammad's death...
and Umar
Umar
`Umar ibn al-Khattāb c. 2 November , was a leading companion and adviser to the Islamic prophet Muhammad who later became the second Muslim Caliph after Muhammad's death....
, fought with the Muslims against the Byzantines
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
in Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
.
When Uthman ibn Affan, a cousin of Muawiyah, became the third caliph, he appointed Muawiyah Governor of Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
. However when Ali
Ali
' |Ramaḍān]], 40 AH; approximately October 23, 598 or 600 or March 17, 599 – January 27, 661).His father's name was Abu Talib. Ali was also the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and ruled over the Islamic Caliphate from 656 to 661, and was the first male convert to Islam...
was appointed the fourth and final Rashidun Caliph, he expelled Muawiyah from the Governorship. Muawiyah refused to obey Ali, and had some level of support from the Syrians in his rebelliousness, amongst whom he was a popular leader. Ali called for military action against Muawiyah, but the reaction of the political classes in Medina
Medina
Medina , or ; also transliterated as Madinah, or madinat al-nabi "the city of the prophet") is a city in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia, and serves as the capital of the Al Madinah Province. It is the second holiest city in Islam, and the burial place of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad, and...
was not encouraging, and thus Ali deferred. Eventually Ali marched on Damascus
Damascus
Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...
and fought Muawiyah's supporters at the inconclusive Battle of Siffin
Battle of Siffin
The Battle of Siffin occurred during the First Fitna, or first Muslim civil war, with the main engagement taking place from July 26 to July 28. It was fought between Ali ibn Abi Talib and Muawiyah I, on the banks of the Euphrates river, in what is now Ar-Raqqah, Syria...
(657 CE).
Ali's son Hasan ibn Ali
Hasan ibn Ali
Al-Hasan ibn ‘Alī ibn Abī Tālib is an important figure in Islam, the son of Fatimah the daughter of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and of the fourth Caliph Ali ibn Abi Talib. Hasan is a member of the Ahl al-Bayt and Ahl al-Kisa...
signed a truce and retired to private life in Medina
Medina
Medina , or ; also transliterated as Madinah, or madinat al-nabi "the city of the prophet") is a city in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia, and serves as the capital of the Al Madinah Province. It is the second holiest city in Islam, and the burial place of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad, and...
. Muawiyah thus established the Umayyad Caliphate, which was to be a hereditary dynasty, and governed from Damascus
Damascus
Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...
in Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
instead of Medina
Medina
Medina , or ; also transliterated as Madinah, or madinat al-nabi "the city of the prophet") is a city in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia, and serves as the capital of the Al Madinah Province. It is the second holiest city in Islam, and the burial place of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad, and...
in Arabia.
Muawiyah I is a reviled figure in Shia Islam for several reasons. Firstly, because of his involvement in the Battle of Siffin
Battle of Siffin
The Battle of Siffin occurred during the First Fitna, or first Muslim civil war, with the main engagement taking place from July 26 to July 28. It was fought between Ali ibn Abi Talib and Muawiyah I, on the banks of the Euphrates river, in what is now Ar-Raqqah, Syria...
against Ali, whom the Shia Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
s believe was Muhammad's true successor (see Succession to Muhammad
Succession to Muhammad
The Succession to Muhammad concerns the various aspects of successorship of Muhammad after his death, comprising who might be considered as his successor to lead the Muslims, how that person should be elected, the conditions of legitimacy, and the role of successor...
); secondly, for the alleged breaking of the treaty he made with Hasan ibn Ali, after the death of Hassan ibn Ali, by appointing his son Yazid
Yazid I
Yazīd ibn Mu‘āwiya ibn Abī Sufyān , commonly known as Yazid I, was the second Caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate . He ruled for three years from 680 CE until his death in 683 CE. Many Muslims condemn Yazid's rule as contentious and unjust...
as his successor; thirdly, on account of his responsibility for the killing of Hasan ibn Ali by alluring his wife a'dah binte Ash'as] Ja'dah binte Ash'as was the daughter of Ash'as bin Qays, a trible chieftan of yamen and Um e Farwa the sister of Abi Bakr] to poison him; and fourthly, for the deaths of various Companions of Muhammad.
Early life
Hejaz
al-Hejaz, also Hijaz is a region in the west of present-day Saudi Arabia. Defined primarily by its western border on the Red Sea, it extends from Haql on the Gulf of Aqaba to Jizan. Its main city is Jeddah, but it is probably better known for the Islamic holy cities of Mecca and Medina...
(602 CE) into the Banu Umayya sub-clan of the Banu Abd-Shams clan of the Quraysh tribe. The Quraysh controlled the city of Mecca
Mecca
Mecca is a city in the Hijaz and the capital of Makkah province in Saudi Arabia. The city is located inland from Jeddah in a narrow valley at a height of above sea level...
(in the west of present-day Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
) and the Banu Abd-Shams were among the most influential of its citizens. Muawiyah and the rest of his family were staunch opponents of the Muslims before the ascendancy of Muhammad.
In 630, Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
and his followers conquered Mecca, and most of the Meccans, including the Abd-Shams clan, formally submitted to Muhammad and accepted Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
. Muawiyah, along with his father Abu Sufyan
Abu Sufyan ibn Harb
Sakhr ibn Harb , more commonly known as Abu Sufyan was a leading man of the Quraish of Mecca. He was a staunch opponent of the Islamic prophet Muhammad before accepting Islam later in his life.-Opposition to Islam:...
, became Muslims at the conquest of Mecca when further resistance to Muslims became an impossibility. Some scholars hold the view that Muawiyah was the second of the two to convert, with Abu Sufyan convincing him to do it.
Muhammad welcomed his former opponents, enrolled them in his army and gave them important posts in what was to become the Caliphate
Caliphate
The term caliphate, "dominion of a caliph " , refers to the first system of government established in Islam and represented the political unity of the Muslim Ummah...
. After the Prophet Muhammad's death (632) Muawiyah served in the Islamic army sent against the Byzantine
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
forces in Syria
Syria (Roman province)
Syria was a Roman province, annexed in 64 BC by Pompey, as a consequence of his military presence after pursuing victory in the Third Mithridatic War. It remained under Roman, and subsequently Byzantine, rule for seven centuries, until 637 when it fell to the Islamic conquests.- Principate :The...
. He held a high rank in the army
Army
An army An army An army (from Latin arma "arms, weapons" via Old French armée, "armed" (feminine), in the broadest sense, is the land-based military of a nation or state. It may also include other branches of the military such as the air force via means of aviation corps...
led by his brother Yazid ibn Abu Sufyan
Yazid ibn Abu Sufyan
Yazid ibn Abu Sufyan was one of the companions of Muhammad.-Biography:Yazid ibn Abu Sufyan was the son of Abu Sufyan ibn Harb, he was the brother of Muawiya I. Not to be confused with Yazid ibn Muawiya who was the caliph during which Imam Hussain was killed...
.
Governor of Syria
Caliph UmarUmar
`Umar ibn al-Khattāb c. 2 November , was a leading companion and adviser to the Islamic prophet Muhammad who later became the second Muslim Caliph after Muhammad's death....
(Umar ibn al-Khattab) had appointed Muawiyah Ibn Abu Sufyan as governor of Syria. In the year 640, Umar appointed Muawiyah as governor of Syria when his brother died in an outbreak of plague. Muawiyah 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 Byzantine attack and, in subsequent years, to take the offensive against the Byzantines in campaigns that resulted in the capture of Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
(649) and Rhodes
Rhodes
Rhodes is an island in Greece, located in the eastern Aegean Sea. It is the largest of the Dodecanese islands in terms of both land area and population, with a population of 117,007, and also the island group's historical capital. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within...
(654) and a devastating defeat of the Byzantine navy off the coast of Lycia
Lycia
Lycia Lycian: Trm̃mis; ) was a region in Anatolia in what are now the provinces of Antalya and Muğla on the southern coast of Turkey. It was a federation of ancient cities in the region and later a province of the Roman Empire...
(655). At the same time, Muawiyah periodically dispatched land expeditions into Anatolia
Anatolia
Anatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...
.
According to the chronicler Theophanes the Confessor
Theophanes the Confessor
Saint Theophanes Confessor was a member of the Byzantine aristocracy, who became a monk and chronicler. He is venerated on March 12 in the Roman Catholic and the Eastern Orthodox Church .-Biography:Theophanes was born in Constantinople of wealthy and noble iconodule parents: Isaac,...
, Muawiyah I, after capturing Rhodes sold the remains of the Colossus of Rhodes
Colossus of Rhodes
The Colossus of Rhodes was a statue of the Greek Titan Helios, erected in the city of Rhodes on the Greek island of Rhodes by Chares of Lindos between 292 and 280 BC. It is considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. It was constructed to celebrate Rhodes' victory over the ruler of...
to a traveling salesman from Edessa
Edessa, Mesopotamia
Edessa is the Greek name of an Aramaic town in northern Mesopotamia, as refounded by Seleucus I Nicator. For the modern history of the city, see Şanlıurfa.-Names:...
. The buyer had the statue broken down, and transported the bronze scrap on the backs of 900 camels to his home. Pieces continued to turn up for sale for years, after being found along the caravan route.
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
Muawiyah fought a protracted campaign against AliAli
' |Ramaḍān]], 40 AH; approximately October 23, 598 or 600 or March 17, 599 – January 27, 661).His father's name was Abu Talib. Ali was also the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and ruled over the Islamic Caliphate from 656 to 661, and was the first male convert to Islam...
, allegedly seeking justice for the assassinated caliph Uthman Ibn Affan. Aisha
Aisha
Aisha bint Abu Bakr also transcribed as was Muhammad's favorite wife...
(Aisha bint Abu Bakr) (Muhammad's widow), Talhah (Talha ibn Ubayd-Allah) and Al-Zubayr (Abu ‘Abd Allah Zubayr ibn al-Awwam) were all in agreement with Muawiyah that those who assassinated Uthman should be brought to justice. However, Ali claimed that he was not able to apprehend and punish Uthman's murderers fearing rebel infiltration of the Muslim ranks. This resulted in Muawiyah refusing to acknowledge Ali's caliphate.
Muawiyah did not participate in the campaign by Aisha, Talhah and Al-Zubayr against Ali that ended in the Battle of the Camel
Battle of Bassorah
The Battle of Bassorah was a battle that took place at Basra, Iraq in 656 between forces allied to Ali ibn Abi Talib and forces allied to Aisha , who wanted justice on the...
. The city of Basrah went over to them but they were defeated in battle by Ali. Talhah and Al-Zubayr were killed. Ali pardoned Aisha and had her escorted back to Medina
Medina
Medina , or ; also transliterated as Madinah, or madinat al-nabi "the city of the prophet") is a city in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia, and serves as the capital of the Al Madinah Province. It is the second holiest city in Islam, and the burial place of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad, and...
.
Ali then turned towards Syria, where Muawiyah was in open opposition. He marched to the Euphrates
Euphrates
The Euphrates is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia...
and engaged Muawiyah's troops at the famous Battle of Siffin
Battle of Siffin
The Battle of Siffin occurred during the First Fitna, or first Muslim civil war, with the main engagement taking place from July 26 to July 28. It was fought between Ali ibn Abi Talib and Muawiyah I, on the banks of the Euphrates river, in what is now Ar-Raqqah, Syria...
(657). Accounts of the clash vary – however, it would seem that neither side had won a victory, since the Syrians called for arbitration to settle the matter, arguing that continuing civil war would embolden the Byzantines. There are several conflicting accounts of the arbitrations. One account suggests that Muawiyyah’s army were ordered to adorn the tips of their swords with pages from the Quran in an attempt to confused the army of Ali and prevent them from winning the battle. As a result, the army of Ali ceased fighting so as not to bring harm to the Quran. Muawiyah proposed a cease-fire which Ali agreed to and it was decided to end the conflict through peaceful talks.
In the meantime, dissension broke out in Ali's camp where some of his former supporters, later known as Kharijites
Kharijites
Kharijites is a general term embracing various Muslims who, while initially supporting the authority of the final Rashidun Caliph Ali ibn Abi Talib, the son-in-law and cousin of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, then later rejected his leadership...
, felt that Ali had betrayed them by entering into negotiations. Ali set out to quell the Kharijites. At about the same time, unrest was brewing in Egypt. The governor of Egypt, Qais, was recalled, and Ali had him replaced with Muhammad ibn Abu Bakr (the brother of Aisha and the son of Islam's first caliph Abu Bakr
Abu Bakr
Abu Bakr was a senior companion and the father-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He ruled over the Rashidun Caliphate from 632-634 CE when he became the first Muslim Caliph following Muhammad's death...
). Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr's rule resulted in widespread rebellion in Egypt. Muawiyah ordered 'Amr ibn al-'As
'Amr ibn al-'As
`Amr ibn al-`As was an Arab military commander who is most noted for leading the Muslim conquest of Egypt in 640. A contemporary of Muhammad, and one of the Sahaba , who rose quickly through the Muslim hierarchy following his conversion to Islam in the year 8 AH...
to invade Egypt and 'Amr did so successfully.
When Alī was assassinated in 661, Muawiyah, as commander of the largest force in the Muslim Empire, had the strongest claim to the Caliphate. Ali's son Hasan ibn Ali
Hasan ibn Ali
Al-Hasan ibn ‘Alī ibn Abī Tālib is an important figure in Islam, the son of Fatimah the daughter of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and of the fourth Caliph Ali ibn Abi Talib. Hasan is a member of the Ahl al-Bayt and Ahl al-Kisa...
signed a truce and retired to private life in Medina.
Muawiyah said later: "I never fought against Ali, only about Uthman's death". That was attested by Al-Sharif al-Radi in his book , he said:
Rule
In the year 661, Muawiyah was crowned as caliphCaliph
The Caliph is the head of state in a Caliphate, and the title for the ruler of the Islamic Ummah, an Islamic community ruled by the Shari'ah. It is a transcribed version of the Arabic word which means "successor" or "representative"...
at a ceremony in Jerusalem. Muawiyah governed the geographically and politically disparate Caliphate, which now spread from Egypt in the west to Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
in the east, by strengthening the power of his allies in the newly conquered territories. Prominent positions in the emerging governmental structures were held by Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
s, 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.
In a manner similar to Byzantine administrative practices, Muawiyah instituted several bureaucracies, called divan
Divan
A divan was a high governmental body in a number of Islamic states, or its chief official .-Etymology:...
s, to aid him in the governance and the centralization of the Caliphate and the empire. Early Arabic sources credit two diwans in particular to Muawiyah : the Diwan al-Khatam (Chancellery
Chancellor
Chancellor is the title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the Cancellarii of Roman courts of justice—ushers who sat at the cancelli or lattice work screens of a basilica or law court, which separated the judge and counsel from the...
) and the Barid (Postal Service), both of which greatly improved communications within the empire.
According to Arab historian Ibn Kathir
However, other scholars contend that he simply placated the Byzantine emperor with offers of land, gold, and slaves.
Muawiyah died on May 6, 680, allegedly from a stroke brought on by his weight. 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
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
sheikh
Sheikh
Not to be confused with sikhSheikh — also spelled Sheik or Shaikh, or transliterated as Shaykh — is an honorific in the Arabic language that literally means "elder" and carries the meaning "leader and/or governor"...
. However Muawiyah's attempt to start a dynasty failed because both Yazid and then his grandson Muawiya II
Muawiya II
Muawiyah II was an Umayyad caliph for about four months after the death of his father Yazīd...
died prematurely. The caliphate eventually went to Marwan I
Marwan I
Marwan ibn al-Hakam was the fourth Umayyad Caliph, who took over the dynasty after Muawiya II abdicated in 684. Marwan's ascension pointed to a shift in the lineage of the Umayyad dynasty from descendants of Abu Sufyan to those of Hakam, both of whom were grandsons of Umayya...
a descendant of another branch of Muawiyah's clan.
Muawiyah and Mawalis
In accordance with the ways of Empire, Muawiyah favoured his Arab subjects over non-Arab Muslims (the MawaliMawali
Mawali or mawālá is a term in Classical Arabic used to address non-Arab Muslims.The term gained prominence in the centuries following the early Arab Muslim conquests in the 7th century, as many non-Arabs such as Persians, Egyptians, and Turks converted to Islam...
s) - the discriminatory treatment of non-Arab Muslims by the victorious Umayyad forces are documented by both Sunni and Shia sources as in the example below concerning Muawiyah's commands to his governor Ziyad ibn Abih
Ziyad ibn Abi Sufyan
Ziyad ibn Abeeh where 'Abeeh' means 'his father' since his ancestry is disputed. was a Muslim general and administrator and a member of the clan of the Umayyads.-Biography:...
.
Appearance and habits
There are conflicting reports regarding his appearance. According to certain sources, he was short with a large stomach.(The following is unclear as no specific hadith is mentioned). However, the two pre-eminent Masters of Sunni Hadith, Imam Bukhari and Imam Muslim, have rejected absolutely the later apology for Muawiyah, and Imam Muslim indeed places the Hadith-e-Muawiya in the Chapter of those Cursed by Muhammad. Further, the Imam Nisa'i was murdered when he recited this Hadith in the presence of pro-Muawiya Arab-speaking Syrians as it was perceived as a curse of Muawiyah, which debates the unreferenced suggestion that the term was a form of praise and not condemnation. Shias often question why there are no reliable precise accounts of Muawiyah actually participating in any battles after his conversion to Islam
Legacy
Muawiyah greatly beautified Damascus, and developed a court to rival that of ConstantinopleConstantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
. He expanded the frontiers of the empire, reaching the very gates of Constantinople at one point, though the Byzantines drove him back and he was unable to hold any territory in Anatolia. Sunni Muslims
Sunni Islam
Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam. Sunni Muslims are referred to in Arabic as ʾAhl ūs-Sunnah wa āl-Ǧamāʿah or ʾAhl ūs-Sunnah for short; in English, they are known as Sunni Muslims, Sunnis or Sunnites....
credit him with saving the fledgling Muslim nation from post civil war anarchy. However, Shia Muslims charge that if anything, he was the instigator of the civil war, and weakened the Muslim nation and divided the Ummah, fabricating self-aggrandizing heresies and slander against the Prophet's family and even selling his Muslim critics into slavery in the Byzantine empire.
One of Muawiyah's most controversial and enduring legacies was his decision to designate his son Yazid as his successor. According to Shi'a doctrine, this was a clear violation of the treaty he made with Hasan ibn Ali, in which Muawiyah said he would not make his son his successor.
Sunni view
Many Sunni MuslimMuslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
historians view Muawiyah as a companion of Muhammad, and hence worthy of respect for this reason, and a few Sunni Muslims take great issue with the Shi'a criticism and vilification of him. However, mainstream Sunni Muslims while refusing to adopt the negative Shi'a sentiment towards Muawiyah nevertheless quietly withhold according him religious status owing to his rebellions against Ali
Ali
' |Ramaḍān]], 40 AH; approximately October 23, 598 or 600 or March 17, 599 – January 27, 661).His father's name was Abu Talib. Ali was also the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and ruled over the Islamic Caliphate from 656 to 661, and was the first male convert to Islam...
and al-Hasan
Hasan ibn Ali
Al-Hasan ibn ‘Alī ibn Abī Tālib is an important figure in Islam, the son of Fatimah the daughter of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and of the fourth Caliph Ali ibn Abi Talib. Hasan is a member of the Ahl al-Bayt and Ahl al-Kisa...
, who are regarded as pious rulers, with Muawiyah being regarded as a worldly king of dubious sincerity. Finally, Muawiyah transformed the caliphate from a consensus system with some emphasis on religious qualification into a hereditary and monarchical one with no such stringent requirement, by designating his son Yazid as his successor.
A Sunni hadith says:
Sunni scholars interpret al-Hasan's willingness to abandon his claims to the caliphate in favor of Muawiyah as proof that al-Hasan, Muhammad's eldest and beloved grandson, did not go so far as to view Muawiyah an apostate, renegade or hypocrite.
Shi'a view
The Shi'a view Muawiyah as a tyrant, usurper and murderer. His supposed conversion to Islam before the conquest of Mecca is dismissed as a fable, or mere hypocrisy. He is also described as a manipulator and liar who usurped Islam purely for political and material gain of his father's loss. He was also widely regarded as a tyrant and usurper by both Shia Arabs and Persians, who despite being ruled by Sunni Arabs and their vassals for centuries, ultimately found the egalitarian Shia creed more palatable than the oppressive, Arab-supremacist tribal rule of Muawiyah. Ali was noted for upholding the rights of non-Arab Muslims, whereas the Umayyads are remembered in Persian history for squashing them. The Umayyads suppressed Persian culture and language, and a number of Iran's greatest contributors to Persian literature - both Shias like FerdowsiFerdowsi
Ferdowsi was a highly revered Persian poet. He was the author of the Shahnameh, the national epic of Iran and related societies.The Shahnameh was originally composed by Ferdowsi for the princes of the Samanid dynasty, who were responsible for a revival of Persian cultural traditions after the...
and Sunnis like Sa'di
Saadi (poet)
Abū-Muḥammad Muṣliḥ al-Dīn bin Abdallāh Shīrāzī better known by his pen-name as Saʿdī or, simply, Saadi, was one of the major Persian poets of the medieval period. He is not only famous in Persian-speaking countries, but he has also been quoted in western sources...
- took the side of Ali, not Muawiyah.
According to Shi'a view, Muawiyah opposed Ali, out of sheer greed for power and wealth. His reign opened the door to unparalleled disaster, marked by the persecution of Ali, slaughtering of his followers, and unlawful imprisonment of his supporters, which only worsened when Yazid come into power and the Battle of Karbala
Battle of Karbala
The Battle of Karbala took place on Muharram 10, in the year 61 of the Islamic calendar in Karbala, in present day Iraq. On one side of the highly uneven battle were a small group of supporters and relatives of Muhammad's grandson Husain ibn Ali, and on the other was a large military detachment...
ensued. Muawiyah is alleged to have killed many of Muhammad's companions (Sahaba), either in battle or by poison, due to his lust for power. Muawiyah killed several historical figures, including the Sahaba
Sahaba
In Islam, the ' were the companions, disciples, scribes and family of the Islamic prophet...
Amr bin al-Hamiq, Muhammad ibn Abu Bakr Malik al-Ashtar, Hujr ibn Adi
Hujr ibn Adi
Hujr ibn Adi was a supporter of Ali ibn Abi talib, he and his companions were killed by Muawiya I for refusing to Curse Ali. Hujr asked that his son be killed before he did so that he will be sure that his son stayed on the love of Ali and will not be affected by his death.-Character and...
(to which the families of Abu Bakr
Abu Bakr
Abu Bakr was a senior companion and the father-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He ruled over the Rashidun Caliphate from 632-634 CE when he became the first Muslim Caliph following Muhammad's death...
and Umar
Umar
`Umar ibn al-Khattāb c. 2 November , was a leading companion and adviser to the Islamic prophet Muhammad who later became the second Muslim Caliph after Muhammad's death....
condemned Muawiyah for, and the Sahaba
Sahaba
In Islam, the ' were the companions, disciples, scribes and family of the Islamic prophet...
deemed his killer to be cursed) and Abd al-Rahman bin Hasaan (buried alive for his support of Ali
Ali
' |Ramaḍān]], 40 AH; approximately October 23, 598 or 600 or March 17, 599 – January 27, 661).His father's name was Abu Talib. Ali was also the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and ruled over the Islamic Caliphate from 656 to 661, and was the first male convert to Islam...
).
Muawiyah was also responsible for instigating the Battle of Siffin
Battle of Siffin
The Battle of Siffin occurred during the First Fitna, or first Muslim civil war, with the main engagement taking place from July 26 to July 28. It was fought between Ali ibn Abi Talib and Muawiyah I, on the banks of the Euphrates river, in what is now Ar-Raqqah, Syria...
, the bloodiest battle in Islam's history, in which over 70,000 people (among them many of the last surviving companions of the Prophet Muhammad) were killed. Notable among the Companions who were killed by Muawiyah's forces was Ammar bin Yasir, a frail old man of 95 at the time of his murder. Shi'i Muslims see his being killed at the hands of Muawiyah's army as significant because of a well-known hadith narrated by Abu Hurayrah in which the Prophet is recorded to have said: "Rejoice Ammar! The transgressing party shall kill you."
When the tide of the battle was turning in Ali's favor, Muawiyah stalled Ali's troops by raising the Qur'an
Qur'an
The Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...
on the tip of a bloody spear as a sort of "holy book shield" against attack by Muslims. This sort of act is widely regarded as blasphemy and desecration of God's word, and Shia scholars condemn Muawiyah for it, arguing such a practice would today be condemned by Sunni Muslims just as much as Shia Muslims.
The killing of the two children of Ubaydullah ibn Abbas can also be found in Sunni and Shi'a texts.
From the Shia point of view, Imam Hasan ibn Ali
Hasan ibn Ali
Al-Hasan ibn ‘Alī ibn Abī Tālib is an important figure in Islam, the son of Fatimah the daughter of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and of the fourth Caliph Ali ibn Abi Talib. Hasan is a member of the Ahl al-Bayt and Ahl al-Kisa...
did not sign the treaty with Muawiyah because he liked him; rather, he did so to prevent even worse bloodshed than had already happened at Siffin. Hasan's intention was to preserve the Muslim Ummah
Ummah
Ummah is an Arabic word meaning "community" or "nation." It is commonly used to mean either the collective nation of states, or the whole Arab world...
and eventually restore the Caliphate to its rightful heirs, the Prophet's family (as per the terms of the treaty). He died before he was able to do this, allegedly poisoned by his wife on Muawiyah's orders.
External links
- Muawiyah I, from Encyclopædia BritannicaEncyclopædia BritannicaThe Encyclopædia Britannica , published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia that is available in print, as a DVD, and on the Internet. It is written and continuously updated by about 100 full-time editors and more than 4,000 expert...
. - Sunni views
- Shia views