Mu'awiya I

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Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan (Arabic: معاوية بن أبي سفيان; c. 597, 603 or 605–April 680), commonly known as Mu'awiya I, was the founder and first caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate. He demanded Uthman's killers to be punished. Mu'awiya subsequently went to war with Ali for a few years. Ali was eventually martyred by the Kharijites in January 661 and Hasan was elected caliph. During Mu'awiya's reign, the Arab empire conquered much of North Africa, as well as Khurasan and Sijistan. Constantinople, the capital of the Roman Byzantine empire, was also besieged. During the last years of his caliphate, Mu'awiya declared his son Yazid to be his successor.

Legacy

Sunni Muslims do not consider Mu'awiya a rightly-guided, though nevertheless honor him as a noble companion of Muhammad and a scribe of divine revelation. The Shia believe Mu'awiya to be a tyrant and an enemy of Ali. Ibadis also disapprove of Mu'awiya, and modern Ibadi theologians defend the early Kharijite opposition to him. Mu'awiya has nevertheless been the subject of lavish praise in Arabic literature as the ideal ruler.

Mu'awiya I Media

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  The Caliphate's growth. By the time Muhammad died in 632, Islam had spread throughout Arabia (green)

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  Map of the region of Syria in the first decades of Islamic rule

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  The standard (liwa) of Mu'awiya at the Battle of Siffin

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  A Greek inscription crediting Mu'awiya for restoring the Roman-era bath facilities at Hamat Gader in 663, the sole epigraphic attestation of Mu'awiya's rule in Syria, the center of his caliphate

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  Map showing the raids, battles and naval engagements between the Arab Caliphate and Byzantine during Mu'awiya's governorship of Syria (640–661) and Mu'awiya's caliphate (661–680).

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  A map depicting growth of the Caliphate. During the reign of Mu'awiya, the Muslims conquered the region of Ifriqiya (central North Africa; shaded in purple)

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  A statue representing Uqba ibn Nafi, the Arab commander who conquered Ifriqiya and founded Kairouan in 670, during Mu'awiya's reign. Uqba served as Mu'awiya's lieutenant governor over North Africa until the caliph dismissed him in 673.

Bibliography

• Shahin, Aram A. (2012). "In Defense of Muʿāwiya ibn Abī Sufyān: Treatises and Monographs on Muʿāwiya from the Eighth to the Nineteenth Centuries". In Cobb, Paul M. (ed.). The Lineaments of Islam: Studies in Honor of Fred McGraw Donner. Leiden and Boston: Brill. pp. 177–208. doi:10.1163/9789004231948_010. ISBN 978-90-04-21885-7.