Abu Sufyan ibn Harb

Sakhr ibn Harb ibn Umayya (Arabic: صَخْرِ ٱبْن حَرْب ٱبْن أُمَيَّةَ, romanized: Ṣakhr ibn Ḥarb ibn Umayya; c. 560—653), commonly known by his kunya Abu Sufyan (Arabic: أَبُو سُفْيَانُ, romanized: 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 (r. 661–680) and namesake of the Sufyanid line of Umayyad caliphs which ruled from 661 to 684.

Abu Sufyan was a leader and merchant from the Quraysh tribe of Mecca. During his early career, he often led trade caravans to Syria. He had been among the main leaders of Meccan opposition to Muhammad, the prophet of Islam and member of the Quraysh, commanding the Meccans at the battles of Uhud and the Trench in 625 and 627 CE. However, when Muhammad 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 (r. 632–634) for an unspecified period. Abu Sufyan later played a supporting role in the Muslim army at the Battle of the Yarmuk against the Byzantines in Syria. His sons Yazid and later Mu'awiya were given command roles in that province and the latter went on to establish the Umayyad Caliphate in 661.

Abu Sufyan was appointed the governor of Najran, in southern Arabia, either by Muhammad or more likely, by the first caliph, Abu Bakr (r. 632–634).^[1] He initially opposed the latter's succession of Muhammad as leader of the nascent Muslim state.^[1] 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 ibn Abi Talib, a cousin, son-in-law and early supporter of Muhammad.^[6] 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".^[6] 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.^[7] Western historians generally dismiss this episode as propaganda by the Muslim traditional sources, which were hostile to the Umayyads,^[8] 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.^[2] Abu Sufyan's son Yazid was ultimately appointed to a leading command role in the conquest. Abu Sufyan was present at the Battle of the Yarmuk, 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.^[1] According to an account cited by Sayf ibn Umar, he observed the battle alongside unspecified Arab shaykhs (chieftains), and accounts cited by al-Tabari further note that he "exhorted" the Muslim troops.^[9][1] His son Yazid held a command role in the battle and later died in a plague in Palestine in 639.^[1] Another of his sons, Mu'awiya, was appointed the governor of Syria by Caliph Umar (r. 634–644). Umar's successor, Uthman (r. 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.^[10] Abu Sufyan died in 653 at the age of 88.^[1]

Abu Sufyan's wife Ṣāfiya bint Abi al-As was the mother of Ramla (Umm Ḥabība) (She first married Ubayd-Allah ibn Jahsh, by whom she had one daughter, Ḥabība bint Ubayd Allah. After Ubayd Allah's death, she married Muhammad) and Umayma (She first married Huwaytib ibn Abd al-Uzza, by whom she had one son called Abu Sufyan).^[11]: 169 Abu Sufyan's son Yazid was the son of Zaynab bint Nawfal of the Kinana.^[12] Abu Sufyan's well-known wife Hind bint Utba was the mother of Hanzala (killed in the Battle of Badr; Hind refers to Hanzala as her "firstborn"),^{[13]: 313, 337, 385} Mu'awiya, Utba (He is said to have been born "in the time of the Prophet," i.e., after 610.^[14] He had a son named al-Walid), Juwayriya (Her first husband was al-Sayib ibn Abi Hubaysh. Her second husband was Abd al-Rahman ibn al-Harith),^[11]: 169 and Umm Hakam (She married Abd Allah ibn Uthman al-Thaqafi, by whom she had one son, Abd al-Rahman).^[11][15] Another of his wife Lubaba bint Abi al-As was mother of Maymuna (Amina) (She married Abi Murrah bin Urwa bin Mas'ud al-Thaqafi, and bore him a son, Dawud ^[13]: 589 and a daughter, Layla, who married al-Husayn bin Ali and bore al-Husayn his eldest son, Ali al-Akbar who was martyred in Karbala. Maymuna's second husband was al-Mughira ibn Shu'ba).^[11]: 169 Abu Sufyan and his wife Safiya bint Abi Amr ibn Umayya had Amr (taken captive in the Battle of Badr and later released),^[13]: 313 Hind (he 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),^[11]: 169 and Sakhra (She married Sayyid ibn al-Akhnas and is said to have had children by him).^[11]: 169 Atiqa bint Abi Udhayhir^[13]: 189 of the Daws tribe^[16]: 220 had Anbasa.^[16]: 220 Other Abu Sufyan's children include Ḥārith,^[17] Al-Faraa,^[13]: 214 and Azzah.^[18]