Abu Sufyan ibn Harb

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For the son of Harith, see Abu Sufyan ibn al-Harith.

Abu Sufyan ibn al-Harb was one of Muhammad's staunchest opponents who became a sahaba (companion) of Muhammad

1 Biography
2 Legacy
- 2.1 Sunni view
- 2.2 Shi'a view
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Biography

Abu Sufyan ibn Harb was the leader of the Banu Umayyah (Umayyad) clan of the Quraish tribe and was the chieftain of the entire Quraish tribe, making him one of the most powerful men in Mecca during the lifetime of Muhammad.

[edit] Ancestry

Abu Sufyan was born sometime between 550 and 560 CE to Harb ibn Umayya. Abu Sufiyan's grand-father was Umayya ibn Abd Shams for whom the Umayyad dynasty is named, and his great-grand father was Abd Shams ibn Abd al-Manaf. His great-grandfather's brother was Hashim the great-grandfather of Muhammad.

[edit] Family

There are several sources that state that Abu Sufyan had sexual relation with several women prior to becoming a Muslim. Those hadith are not restricted to any particular source, but can be found in Shi'a, Sunni and Mutazilite sources. While Sunnis tend to question or reject those hadith ^{[citation needed]}, Shi'a and Mutazilite are prone to quote from those sources.

[edit] Layla binte Harmalah

Some sources state that he was rumored to have a relation with Layla binte Harmalah, the mother of Amr ibn al-A'as, sources quoted by Shi'a and Mutazili scholars,<ref>www.holynajaf.net (English)</ref> but rejected by Sunnis ^{[citation needed]}.

[edit] Saffya binte abi al-A'as

Abu Sufyan had a daughter in c. 595^{[citation needed]} together with Saffya binte abi al-A'as: Ramlah bint Abu Sufyan. She converted to Islam against her fathers wishes and migrated to Abyssinia with her husband. Since her husband abandoned Islam for Christianity, after her husband's death the Prophet sent to the Negus asking him to act as counsel and marry him to Umm Habiba. The Negus asked her for her hand and she accepted; he gave her 400 dinars as a dowry. When Abu Sufyan heard about the marriage he commented, “this stallion will not be hit on the nose...” a phrase meaning that the husband is suitable for the bride (an unsuitable stallion trying to mate with a mare would be hit on the nose, hence the phrase).<ref>Page 317 , Al-Kamil fi al-Tarikh by Ibn al-Athir (Arabic)</ref>

[edit] Hind bint Utbah

Abu Sufyan was married to Hind bint Utbah, and from that marriage was Muawiyah I born in 602 ^{[citation needed]}. Muawiyah established the Umayyad dynasty of caliphs.

However, controversial Muslim sources quoted by Shi'a and Mutazili scholars, but rejected by Sunnis state that the marriage to Muawiyah's mother was arranged since Hind bint Utbah was engaged in a Nikah Ijtimah; thus, the genetic bond between Abu Sufyan and Muawiyah is disputed.<ref> The sources list four people thought of being Muawiyahs father:

Abu-ibn-Umar ibn Musaafir (or Musaafir Abu Umar)
Umar ibn Walid
Abbas ibn Abd-al-Muttalib or Abu Sufyan.
Sabah the Ethiopian or a unknown fourth.

Some list Abu Sufyan as one of the four, other do not. In any case, Abu Sufyan accepted Muaiyahs as his child. For this reason, Shi'a name Muaiyahs "Muˤāwiyya ibn Hind", after his mother whom they regard as the prostitute that killed her black children, became married to Muhammads arch enemy and chewed Hamza ibn Abd al-Muttalibs liver. Sources quoted:

Ibn Abu al-Hadid in Sharh Nahj al-Balagha Volume 10 page 130
Rabi'ul Abrar by Allamah Zamakhshari Volume 3 page 551 [1]
Tadkhirath al Khawwas page 114 Chapter 7
Thanzeeya al Nasab fi Kubul al Arab
Sharh Ibn al Hadeed Volume 4 page 94 under the Chapter "Mun Kitab Ziyad Ubayya"
Muasalib ibne Sa'man munkool uz thun'zeey al Nasab page 97
al-Nasa'ih al-Kaafiyah page 85

Above and more references online: [2] </ref>

[edit] Sumayya

In 664, Abu Sufyan's son, Mu'awiyah recognised Ziyad ibn Abihi as a brother — Ziyad ibn Abu Sufyan — although he was not Abu Sufyan legitimate child.<ref>See Ziyad ibn Abi Sufyan for references </ref> Ali ibn al-Athir, a 13th century Sunni Islamic scholar writes <ref>Tareekh of Ibn Atheer Volume3 p. 24, under the Chapter addressing the events of 44 Hijri:</ref>

When Mu'awiya decided to declare Ibn Ziyad as his brother, he summoned a famous prostitute called Abu Maryam Salmany, and asked how Ziyad was born. She replied "your father Abu Sufyan attended my place one night, he performed Zina with a women called Sumayya, I saw him releasing his semen, after that your brother Ziyad was born.

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Suyuti wrote that Muawiya decision to declare Ziayad as his brother, and thus allowing Ziyad to receive inheritance from Abu Sufyan, to be against the Sharia <ref>Tarikh al-Khulafa, p. 175 </ref>

[edit] Muahmmad's era — ? – 632

[edit] Opposition to Islam — 610

Abu Sufyan's position of power made him an enemy of Muhammad, whom he viewed as a threat and a blasphemer of the Quraish gods. The Quraish persecuted people who accepted Islam. Even Abu Sufyan's own daughter was not spared from punishment when she accepted Islam; she was one of the first Muslims sent to Abyssinia for refuge. The enmity between the Quraish and early Muslims reached such a high pitch that many battles were fought between the two parties. Abu Sufyan led the army of Quraish in the Battle of Uhud, he and the masters took their wives and their herds with them (to prevent desertion).<ref>Page 293 , Al-Kamil fi al-Tarikh by Ibn al-Athir (Arabic).</ref>

Eventually the two parties would make peace with the Treaty of Hudaybiyya. The treaty was eventually broken when Banu Bakr, allies of the Quraish, attacked Banu Khuza'a, allies of the Muslims. This led to the conquest of Mecca by the Muslim armies, who took the city peacefully and spared those within.

When Heraclius heard that there is a man claiming to be a prophet he ordered a search for anyone from this man’s people. Abu Sufyan, who was in Syria to trade, was summoned meet Hericules and tell him about this man, not being able to lie in front of his companions he tried to belittle the position of the Prophet, but his answers had the opposite effect and Hericules declared: “If you had told me the truth then he will conquer what’s under my feet, and I would if were by him and wash his feet, go to your business”. <Ref>Page 317 , Al-Kamil fi al-Tarikh by Ibn al-Athir (Arabic).
The story is told with more detail on pages 527 and 528 of Tarikh al-Rusul wa al-Muluk (Arabic)</ref>

[edit] Conquest of Mecca — 630

He became a Muslim on the eve of the Conquest of Mecca with the help of the Prophet’s uncle Al-Abbas and as a mark of honour his house was declared a sanctuary (“those who enter it are safe”).<ref>Page 329, Al-Kamil fi al-Tarikh by Ibn al-Athir (Arabic).</ref>

Hind also accepted Islam. The Prophet had ordered her killed for her mutilation of his uncle’s body at Uhud but converts were freed from any sin of their previous lives. The Prophet blessed her herd after she apologised for only giving two goats, afterwards her herd grew enormously and she would give from it and say: “This is from the blessing of the Messenger, peace be upon him, thank God for guiding us to Islam.” <ref>Page 331, Al-Kamil fi al-Tarikh by Ibn al-Athir (Arabic).
The conversation between the Prophet and women of Makkah, lead by Hind, is on page 332 (Arabic)</ref>

He fought in the Islamic wars, losing both his eyes; the first in Siege of Taif, he asked Mohammed to put it back, but he was given the choice of having his eye in heaven or having it put back in life, at which point he threw it away.

[edit] Abu Bakr's era — 632–634

When Muhammed died Abu Sufyan was in charge of Najran^{[citation needed]}.

During the Succession to Muhammad, he offered help to Ali, but Ali refused.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Umar's era — 634-644

He lost his second eye in the Battle of Yarmouk (636). <ref>Page 393, Al-Kamil fi al-Tarikh by Ibn al-Athir (Arabic).
www.sahaba.net (English) </ref>

[edit] Uthman's era — 644-656

Abu Sufyan died aged ninety-five in Medina, Uthman led the prayer on him.

[edit] Legacy

Muawiyah, his son, started the Banu Umayyah dynasty of Caliphs, something that Maududi describes as a "Kingship's foundation began with this change".<ref>Khilafat wa Mulukiyyat, chapter 5, pages 158-159 (citing Al Bidayah wa-Nihayah by Ibn Kathir, vol 8, page 132) (English)</ref>

[edit] Sunni view

Sunni view him as an upright Sahabi, since they view all Sahaba as upright. The fact that the third Caliph Uthman led the prayer on Abu Sufyan after he had died and the fact that Abu Sufyan fought for the Muslims and sacrificed one of his eyes in a battle is held as further evidence for his uprightousness. Sunnis hold that since Uthman led Abu Sufyan's funeral prayer, he could not have been a hypocrite (or a kafir).(see Sahih Bukhari 2:23:359) And Muhammad himself didn't call Abu Sufyan as an infidel when Abu Sufyan became a companion and accepted Islam.

Another reason for which he is respected by Sunnis was his willingness to give up both his eyes, only a few weeks after his conversion to Islam before which he used to vehemently oppose Muslims. Furthermore, Muhammad guaranteed that he would be entering heaven, according to Sunni sources, when Muhammad said "Which would you prefer: An eye in heaven or shall I pray to Allah that he brings it back?" Rather than questioning Muhammad and Islam, asking for an eye on Earth, he said he would accept his eye in heaven.<ref>www.sahaba.net (English)</ref>

[edit] Shi'a view

Shi'a have a very dim view of both his personality and life. Shi'a view him as a hypocrite (Arabic: munafiq) that did not believed in Islam in the first place, but managed to infiltrate the Islamic ranks and be included among the Muslims.<ref>www.al-islam.org (English)</ref>