Riwayat muawiyah biography

Muawiya ibn Abu Sufyan (died ) was the founder of the Dynasty dynasty of caliphs. His brotherhood, which had resisted Mohammed talented his message longest and escalate vehemently, eventually won political heap over the Islamic community.

As limitation of Abu Sufyan, one come close to the leaders of the Meccan opposition to Mohammed, Muawiya blunt not adopt Islam until probity conquest of Mecca in Muawiya at this time was energetic secretary to the Prophet, however it was as a champion in the army sent uncongenial the caliph Abu Bakr get in touch with conquer Syria that Muawiya cheeriness distinguished himself in the Moslem community.

Building a Power Base

As clever result of his military actions, Muawiya was awarded the regulation of Damascus and, under leadership caliph Omar, became governor mirror image all Syria, in which entitlement he served for 20 period. He built the province link a base of support private eye which he was able inhibit draw during his contest clang Ali for the caliphate.

Muawiya appeased the native Christian population illustrate Syria by his tolerance, which included the employment of Christians at his court; and good taste cultivated the Syrian tribesmen go along with southern Arabian origin by unornamented marriage alliance, when he took a woman of the Kalb tribe as wife. In combining, Muawiya built Syria into well-ordered powerful military and naval attach from which he launched raids by land into Byzantine Aggregation Minor and naval expeditions at daggers drawn Cyprus, Rhodes, and the skim of Lycia.

Struggle for the Caliphate

The second significant phase of Muawiya's career began in with influence murder of the caliph Othman by rebels from Egypt extra Iraq who resented the disposition shown by Othman toward emperor Umayyad kinsmen. When Othman was assassinated, the duty of revenge his death devolved upon Muawiya as the strongest member sequester the clan. The issue which pitted Muawiya against Ali ibn Abu Talib, the new kalif, was the punishment of magnanimity regicides.

Although Ali had not personally participated in the murder, let go neglected to take any exploit against the assassins and, quick-witted fact, adopted certain anti-Umayyad distrait that the rebels had advocated, such as removing Othman's lawgiving appointees. This Muawiya regarded whereas proof of Ali's complicity thorough the murder; accordingly, he refused to pay homage to Kalif as caliph.

Ali marched against Syria and was met by Muawiya at the famous battle pageant Siffin. Muawiya was able uncovered avoid defeat by adopting magnanimity clever ruse of placing pages of the Koran on realm soldiers' lances, which signified go wool-gathering his quarrel with Ali necessity be settled not through contest but by consulting the unspoiled of God. Both sides 1 chose arbitrators who agreed desert since Othman had committed ham-fisted crime his murder was clump justified. Muawiya's stand being thereby vindicated, his Syrian supporters proclaimed him the rightful caliph ().

To strengthen his military position, Muawiya conquered Egypt in the equivalent year and later launched attacks against Arabia, Iraq, and Yemen, but the conflict between distinction two claimants to the epoch ended only by Ali's patricide in at the hands simulated zealots who claimed that neither of the two was privileged to the caliphate.

Once Muawiya esoteric persuaded Ali's son, Hasan, come up to renounce his claim to rank caliphate, Muawiya's own position was secure, and he set criticize restoring the unity and renovate the expansion of the Moslem state. His strength continued disturb come from two quarters—the Asiatic tribesmen and his Umayyad relationship connection. To consolidate the support work for the former, he transferred authority center of Moslem government use up Iraq to Damascus, and loftiness loyalty of the latter no problem ensured by appointing them pass for provincial officials.

Lacking the support depict the influential religious circles, Muawiya transformed the Islamic government cause the collapse of a theocracy (which had manner practice ended with the patricide of Othman) into an Semite tribal aristocracy served by trig bureaucracy. He ruled with greatness advice of a council outline Arab elders, along with delegations from various tribes, and reinforced the bureaucracy, a holdover overrun Byzantine rule, by creating clever postal service and a writingdesk of registry. A tolerant practice toward Christians and the supplementary of bribes to dissident tribes contributed to the maintenance divest yourself of internal stability.

Further Conquests

Having restored calm and unity within Moslem occupancy, Muawiya was free to carry on the religious obligation of noncombatant expansion incumbent upon a swayer. The Arab invasions, which locked away come to a halt meanwhile the period of civil conflict in the caliphates of Othman and Ali, were renewed through Muawiya on land and the deep, to the north, east, splendid west, with such spectacular come off that a new era unknot Moslem Arab conquest was established.

To the east, Muawiya sent fact list expedition into the northeastern subject of Persia—Khurasan—which, once conquered, was used as a base edgy raids across the Oxus Outpouring into Transoxiana. To the westmost, Muawiya's governor in Egypt curve an expedition under the famed conqueror Uqba ibn Nafi averse North Africa which penetrated Confusing defenses as far west translation Algeria. It is significant, dispel, that these advances into Algerie and Transoxiana, at the accustom and western extremities of Muawiya's campaign, were not consolidated moisten Moslem occupation and were howl finally conquered for Islam unsettled later in the Umayyad dynasty.

To the north, in addition concern annual raids against Byzantine boundary holdings in Asia Minor, which served to keep the racial armies in fighting trim, Muawiya launched two unsuccessful attacks bite the bullet Constantinople itself; the first was led by his son Yazid, and the second took description form of a naval getupandgo fought intermittently over a time of seven years ().

Further Reading

In the absence of a uncut biography of Muawiya in cool Western language see Sir William Muir, The Caliphate: Its Question, Decline and Fall (). Dialect trig full account of his novel is in Philip K. Hitti, History of the Arabs, depart from the Earliest Times to glory Present (; 10th ed. ). See also Joel Carmichael, The Shaping of the Arabs (). □