Abū Sufyān ibn Harb

Abū Sufyān ibn Harb ( Arabic أَبُو سُفيَان بن حَرب, DMG Abū Sufyān b. Ḥarb ; † 652 ) was a clan chief and merchant in Mecca at the time of the Prophet Mohammed and played a significant role in the early history of Islam .

He belonged to the ʿAbd-Shams , a clan of the Quraish tribe . At the beginning of the 7th century, he and his father Harb held the function of an "arbitrator" (ḥakam) for the Umayyads , who formed a subgroup of the ʿAbd shams. He is later mentioned as the leader of the entire Abd Shams clan.

Abū Sufyān was a staunch opponent of Muhammad and persecuted his followers. Even his daughter Ramla had to flee from him to Abyssinia after she accepted Islam. After the Battle of Badr in 624 and the death of several Meccan chiefs there, Abu Sufyan held control of Meccan politics for years and fought against Mohammed in the fiercest way from this position.

An improvement in the relationship between the two resulted in the year 628 that Mohammed Abu Sufyan's daughter Ramla (= Umm Habība) married. When allies of the Quraish broke the Hudaibiya peace agreement in 630, Abu Sufyan traveled to Medina to negotiate with Mohammed. The exact course of events is not clear, but it is certain that after Abu Sufyan's return to Mecca, there was an exchange of gifts between him and Mohammed. During the subsequent siege of Mecca by Muhammad's troops, Abū Sufyān led the negotiations for the peaceful surrender of the city. On this occasion he converted to Islam himself.

One of Abū Sufyan's sons - the second-born of his third wife Hind bint Utbah - was Mu'awiya , later caliph , who established the rule of the Umayyads .

Individual evidence

↑ See MJ Kister: Mecca and the tribes of Arabia: Some notes on their relations. In: M. Sharon (Ed.): Studies in Islamic History and Civilization in honor of David Ayalon. Leiden 1986, pp. 33-57, here p. 53.
^ W. Montgomery Watt: Muhammad. Prophet and Statesman. Oxford University Press, 1961, p. 124
↑ Cf. MJ Kister: "O God, tighten Thy grip on Muḍar ...": Some socio-economic and religious aspects of an early "ḥadīth". In: Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient. Volume 24, 1981, pp. 242-273, here pp. 261-267.

literature

W. Mongomery Watt: Article Abū Sufyān. In: The Encyclopaedia of Islam. New Edition . Brill, suffering. Volume I, p. 151.

personal data
SURNAME	Abū Sufyān ibn Harb
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	أَبُو سُفيَان بن حَرب (Arabic)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Quraysh leader in Mecca
DATE OF BIRTH	6th century or 7th century
DATE OF DEATH	652

[1] See MJ Kister: Mecca and the tribes of Arabia: Some notes on their relations. In: M. Sharon (Ed.): Studies in Islamic History and Civilization in honor of David Ayalon. Leiden 1986, pp. 33-57, here p. 53.

[2] W. Montgomery Watt: Muhammad. Prophet and Statesman. Oxford University Press, 1961, p. 124

[3] Cf. MJ Kister: "O God, tighten Thy grip on Muḍar ...": Some socio-economic and religious aspects of an early "ḥadīth". In: Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient. Volume 24, 1981, pp. 242-273, here pp. 261-267.