Mu'awiya ibn Abu Sufyan

Early years

Mu'awiya ibn Abu Sufyan was born in the year 603. Kunya was his Abu Abdurrahman .

Outwardly, he was handsome: tall, slim, broad-shouldered, with white skin. Big, bulging eyes gave him a formidable expression. When he laughed, his upper lip rose. It is also mentioned that Muawiya was dyeing his hair. Many Hadiths say that he loved to eat.

There are very few sources written about Muavia’s childhood. It is known that he was the son of Abu Sufyan ibn Harb and his wife Hind bint Utba. Abu Sufyan was a relative and at the same time the main enemy of Mohammed and his religion, but in the end he himself converted to Islam.

Mu'awiya became a Muslim in the year of Fatah (on the opening day of Mecca). Muawiya himself said to himself: "When I tried to convert to Islam, my parents told me that if I take in head to accept Islam, they will starve me."

Military and government activities

During the Muslim conquests, Mu'awiyah was one of the warlords. Under Abu Bakr, Mu'awiyah and his brother Yazid ibn Abu Sufyan led the conquest of Syria . After the victory, Yazid became the governor of this province, and after his death in 640, Mu'awiya received 1000 dinars a month from the Caliph.

Waging constant war with the Byzantines, Muawiya often wrote to the Caliph petitions for the creation of a Muslim fleet. But Umar did not give him consent. The construction of warships began only with Usman, who strictly forbade Mu'awiya to force people to participate in the battle at sea. In 647, thanks to his talent, Cyprus was annexed to the Caliphate . In 651, the first major naval battle between the Muslim and Byzantine fleets took place, and, despite their numerical superiority, the Byzantines were defeated. The authority of Mu'awiya increased with each new conquest. They talked about him not only in Syria, but also in Egypt and even in the capital of the Caliphate; it was stated that "the tigress that guards the cubs in the battles was not braver than him." But there is no mention of his personal participation in the battles.

Battles and battles on the sea and land brought great wealth to the state. With the arrival of new finances, the economic situation of the capital of Syria was rising, and this could not but affect its inhabitants. The story is given that Caliph Umar, visiting the provinces of the Caliphate, drove into the territory of Sham and found Mu'awiyah in a huge palace. The Caliph was very unhappy and expressed doubts about his awareness of the condition of poor Sham.

Then the Caliph approached him and said: "You are the owner of a great palace." To which he replied, "Yes, lord of the faithful." The Caliph asked: “Who tells you about the poor who come to you? Why did you allow yourself to have this huge palace? ”, But Mu'awiya replied:“ We are in a territory where there are insightful spies of our enemies and a great number of them. I want them to look at us as kings, as rulers, so that they frighten them. If you tell me to stop this, I will stop it. ” Umar replied: “If your opinion is true, then this is a dubious opinion. If your opinion is a lie, then this is the greatest deception. ” And Mu'awiyah said, "Order me, master of the faithful." But the caliph replied: "I will not order and will not forbid you." And together with Umar was Abdurrahman ibn Auf, who said: “Master of the faithful! What could be more beautiful than what Mu'awiya did here? ”And Umar ordered to leave everything as Mu'awiya did. Muawiya has always admired Western culture. Its proximity to Byzantium affected its love of luxury. (Subsequently, Mu'awiyah appointed the son of Yezid after him as caliph and laid the foundation of the Kingdom, the Principality (which is bidid, because before him none of the righteous caliphs appointed a successor after him)

The Caliph treasured the vicar of Sham and expressed dissatisfaction when someone decided to insult Mu'awiyah. Umar said: “Leave us and do not scold this man from the Kureish tribe, because he is the one who laughs in anger”.

Umar and his son Abdullah ibn Umar were not only amazed at Mu'awiya’s patience. Once Abdullah Ibn Umar said: “After the death of the Prophet, I did not see anyone who would have been more magnificent as a lord, except Mu'awiyah.” He was asked: "Abu Bakr, Umar, Usman and Ali, and what about them?". He replied: “By Allah, they were better than Mu'awiya. But Mu'awiyah was better than them as a ruler, as a king. ”

There is a story that once Abdullah ibn Abbas said that "Mu'awiyah was simply created for government."

Muawiya tried not to create unnecessary enemies and was restrained even to obvious enemies. He also had the talent to choose people on whom he can rely. These were one of the main reasons for the stability of his position.

He enjoyed authority not only among Muslims, but also among other religions. There is a story that in the dispute between the Maronites and the Jacobite Patriarch Theodore and the Bishop of Kinnashrina Sebocht in June 658 Muaviya acted as arbitrator.

Conflict with Ali Ibn Abu Talib

The hatred of the Shiites- rafidites towards Muawiya was caused by the fact that a battle took place between him and the ruler of the faithful Ali, resulting from the unrest associated with the assassination of Caliph Uthman. Muawiya refused to take Ali's oath until he gave him Uthman’s murderers, but Ali insisted that Muavia swear, and then ask what he wanted. Neither side made a compromise, as a result of which a battle took place in which many Muslims, as well as some prominent supporters, were killed. The early Shiites, who were during the salaf, also had a negative attitude towards Muawiya and his supporters, but at the same time they asked Allah forgiveness for them.

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In addition to Hind's sister, Mu'awiya had 6 brothers, two of whom died before they accepted the Caliphate.

The family of Muawiya was relatively small. Muawiya was married to several women. Among them: Maymuna bint Bahdal ibn Unime al-Kalbiya, Fakhta bint Karz bin Adbulamr bin Naoufal ibn Abdmanaf, Nail bint Ammar bin Kalbia and Kasvad bint Kurz. The first bore him Yazid and daughter Umma Raba al-Masharikh (died in childhood). The second bore a son Abdurrahman, who died as a child (in his name Muaviya took his kunyu - Abu Abdurrahman). After him, Abdullah was born, but this son was painful and weak-minded. There were no children from Naila bint Ammar and Kasvad bint Kurz. (Shortly after his marriage to File Bint Ammar, Mu'awiya gave her a divorce, and Kasvad bint Kurza became his wife on a campaign in Cyprus, where she died suddenly).

In addition to the above-mentioned children, there were three more among the daughters of Muawiya, but it is not mentioned from whose mothers they were. These are Hind, Ramlya and Sofia. Hind married Abdullah ibn Amir ibn Kurez ibn Rabig ibn Habib ibn Abdushhams. Ramla married Amr ibn Usman ibn Affan. Sofia - for Muhammad ibn Zayed ibn Kill.

• Bolshakov O. G. The history of the Caliphate. T. 3. Between two civil wars (656-696) . M .: Eastern literature, 1998. p. 9-181.
• Filshtinsky I. M. Caliphate under the rule of the Umayyad dynasty. M., 2005.

• Biography of Muawiya ibn Abu Sufyan (unavailable link)
• Mu'awiya as a Model of Islamic Governance [1]
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