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77-462: About a month after Hamzah's unsuccessful attack in the first caravan raid, Muhammad entrusted a party of sixty Muhajirun led by Ubaydah to conduct another operation at a Quraysh caravan that was returning from Syria and protected by one hundred men. The leader of this caravan was Abu Sufyan ibn Harb . The Muslim party went as far as Thanyatul-Murra, a watering place in Hejaz . No fighting took place, as

154-429: A skirmishing force, screening the main army until its arrival. Early Muslim sources mention that the army of Gregory had used chains to link together its foot soldiers, who had all taken an oath of death. The chains were in 10-man lengths as a proof of unshakeable courage on the part of the men, who thus displayed their willingness to die where they stood and not to retreat. The chains also acted as an insurance against

231-528: A breakthrough by enemy cavalry. However, modern historians suggest that the Byzantines adopted the Graeco-Roman testudo military formation in which soldiers would stand shoulder-to-shoulder with shields held high and an arrangement of 10 to 20 men would be completely shielded on all sides from missile fire, each soldier providing cover for an adjoining companion. The Byzantine cavalry was armed with

308-523: A call to arms for the invasion of Syria in February 634. The Muslim invasion of Syria was a series of carefully planned and well-co-ordinated military operations, which employed strategy, instead of pure strength, to deal with the Byzantine defensive measures. The Muslim armies, however, soon proved to be too small to handle the Byzantine response, and their commanders called for reinforcements. Khalid

385-473: A council of war to launch his attack just before dawn, to catch the Muslim force unprepared as they conducted their morning prayers. He planned to engage his two central armies with the Muslim centre in an effort to stall them while the main thrusts would be against the wings of the Muslim army, which would then be driven away from the battlefield or pushed towards the centre. To observe the battlefield, Vahan had

462-405: A decisive battle forced the Byzantines to concentrate their five armies in response. The Byzantines had for centuries avoided engaging in large-scale decisive battles, and the concentration of their forces created logistical strains for which the empire was ill-prepared. Damascus was the closest logistical base, but Mansur, leader of Damascus, could not fully supply the massive Byzantine army that

539-464: A fight. The fourth raid, known as the invasion of Waddan , was the first offensive in which Muhammad took part personally with 70, mostly Muhajir, troops. It is said that twelve months after moving to Medina, Muhammad himself led a caravan raid to Waddan ( Al-Abwa ). The aim was to intercept the caravans of the Quraysh. The raid party did not meet any Quraysh during the raid. The fifth raid, known as

616-487: A leading role in the dismantlement of the pagan sanctuary of al-Lat in the city. Abu Sufyan was appointed the governor of Najran , in southern Arabia, either by Muhammad or more likely, by the first caliph, Abu Bakr ( r.  632–634 ). He initially opposed the latter's succession of Muhammad as leader of the nascent Muslim state. Abu Sufyan, seeing no hope that a member of the Banu Abd Shams could attain

693-401: A long sword, known as the spathion . They would also have had a light wooden lance , known as a kontarion and a bow ( toxarion ) with forty arrows in a quiver, hung from a saddle or from the belt. Heavy infantry, known as skoutatoi , had a short sword and a short spear. The lightly armed Byzantine troops and the archers carried a small shield, a bow hung from the shoulder across the back and

770-404: A mile apart. It is recorded in Muslim chronicles that before the battle started, George, a unit commander in the Byzantine right centre, rode up to the Muslim line and converted to Islam; he would die the same day fighting on the Muslim side. The battle began as the Byzantine army sent its champions to duel with the Muslim mubarizun . The mubarizun were specially trained swordsmen and lancers, with

847-399: A quiver of arrows. Cavalry armour consisted of a hauberk with a mail coif and a helmet with a pendant: a throat-guard lined with fabric and having a fringe and cheek piece. Infantry was similarly equipped with a hauberk, a helmet and leg armour. Light lamellar and scale armour was also used. Khalid's strategy of withdrawing from the occupied areas and concentrating all of his troops for

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924-797: A simultaneous counterattack in Iraq , in what was meant to be a well-coordinated effort. When Heraclius launched his offensive in May 636, Yazdegerd could not co-ordinate with the maneuver, probably owing to the exhausted condition of his government, and what would have been a decisive plan missed the mark. Byzantine preparations began in late 635 and by May 636 Heraclius had a large force concentrated at Antioch in Northern Syria. The assembled Byzantine army contingents consisted of Slavs , Franks , Georgians , Armenians , Christian Arabs , Lombards , Avars , Khazars , Balkans and Göktürks . The force

1001-484: Is Theophanes, who wrote a century later. Accounts of the battle vary, some stating it lasted a day, others six days. During a council of war, the command of the Muslim army was transferred to Khalid by Abu Ubaidah, Commander in Chief of the Muslim army. After taking command, Khalid reorganized the army into 36 infantry regiments and four cavalry regiments, with his cavalry elite, the mobile guard, held in reserve. The army

1078-844: Is said to have had children by him). Atiqa bint Abi Udhayhir of the Daws tribe had Anbasa. Other Abu Sufyan's children include Ḥārith, Al-Faraa, and Azzah. Battle of the Yarmuk This is an accepted version of this page The Levant Egypt North Africa Anatolia & Constantinople Border conflicts Sicily and Southern Italy Naval warfare Byzantine reconquest Ridda Wars Conquest of Sasanian Persia Conquest of Byzantine Syria Campaigns in Africa Campaigns in Armenia and Anatolia The Battle of

1155-775: The Arab advance and to recover lost territory, Emperor Heraclius had sent a massive expedition to the Levant in May 636. As the Byzantine army approached, the Arabs tactically withdrew from Syria and regrouped all their forces at the Yarmuk plains close to the Arabian Peninsula , where they were reinforced, and defeated the numerically superior Byzantine army. The battle is widely regarded to be Khalid ibn al-Walid 's greatest military victory and to have cemented his reputation as one of

1232-597: The Battle of Hunayn against the Banu Thaqif of Ta'if , traditional rivals of Mecca, and the latter's tribal backers from the Hawazin confederation. During this battle, which ended in a decisive Muslim victory, he lost an eye, and was rewarded a relatively high percentage of the spoils to reconcile his heart. Because of his past trade relations with Ta'if, where he also owned property and had kinsmen, Abu Sufyan played

1309-656: The Caucasus and Armenia , Heraclius launched a winter offensive against the Persians in Mesopotamia in 627, winning a decisive victory at the Battle of Nineveh , thus threatening the Persian capital city of Ctesiphon . Discredited by the series of disasters, Khosrow II was overthrown and killed in a coup led by his son Kavad II , who immediately sued for peace and agreed to withdraw from all occupied territories of

1386-556: The Hijrah (emigration of Muhammad and his followers from Mecca to Medina in 622). A prominent financier and merchant, Abu Sufyan engaged in trade in Syria , often heading Meccan caravans to the region. He owned land in the vicinity of Damascus . In 624, a caravan Abu Sufyan was leading back to Mecca from Syria faced an assault by Muhammad, prompting him to send for aid. In response, a 1,000-strong Meccan army led by Abu Jahl ibn Hisham

1463-503: The invasion of Buwat , was also commanded by Muhammad. A month after the raid at al-Abwa, he personally led 200 men including Muhajirs and Ansars to Bawat, a place on the caravan route of the Quraysh merchants. A herd of 1,500 camels, accompanied by 100 riders under the leadership of Umayyah ibn Khalaf , a Quraysh. The purpose of these raids was to get back what they had lost when they migrated from Mecca to Medina to avoid persecution by Quraysh for practicing their religion. Quraysh seized

1540-781: The Byzantine Empire. Heraclius restored the True Cross to Jerusalem with a majestic ceremony in 629. Meanwhile, there had been rapid political development in the Arabian Peninsula, where Muhammad had been preaching Islam and, by 630, had successfully annexed most of Arabia under a single political authority. When Muhammad died in June 632, Abu Bakr was chosen as caliph and his political successor. Troubles emerged soon after Abu Bakr's succession, and several Arab tribes openly revolted against him. He declared war against

1617-582: The Byzantine army. On Khalid's advice the Muslim forces retreated to Dara'ah (or Dara) and Dayr Ayyub, covering the gap between the Yarmuk Gorges and the Harra lava plains, and established a line of camps in the eastern part of the plain of Yarmuk. This was a strong defensive position, and the maneuverers brought the Muslims and Byzantines into a decisive battle, which the latter had tried to avoid. During

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1694-480: The Byzantine assault lacked determination; many Byzantine soldiers were unable to press the attack against the Muslim veterans. The fighting was generally moderate although in some places, it was especially intense. Vahan did not reinforce his forward infantry , two thirds of which was kept in reserve with one third deployed to engage the Muslims, and at sunset, both armies broke contact and returned to their respective camps. Phase 1: On 16 August, Vahan decided in

1771-467: The Byzantine battle line at 13 kilometres (8.1 mi). The centre of the army was under the command of Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah (left centre) and Shurahbil bin Hasana (right centre). The left wing was under the command of Yazid and the right wing was under Amr ibn al-A's. The centre, left and right wings were given cavalry regiments, to be used as a reserve for a counterattack if they were pushed back by

1848-499: The Byzantines, who fearing that the Muslims with such reinforcements would grow powerful, decided that they had no choice but to attack. The reinforcements that were sent to the Muslims at Yarmuk arrived in small bands, giving the impression of a continuous stream of reinforcements to demoralize the Byzantines to compel them to attack. The same tactic would be repeated again during the Battle of Qadisiyah . The battle began on 15 August. At dawn, both armies lined up for battle less than

1925-524: The Byzantines. Behind the centre stood the mobile guard under the personal command of Khalid. If Khalid was too occupied in leading the general army, Dharar ibn al-Azwar would command the mobile guard. Over the course of the battle, Khalid would repeatedly make critical and decisive use of that mounted reserve. Khalid sent out several scouts to keep the Byzantines under observation. In late July, Vahan sent Jabalah with his lightly armoured Christian-Arab forces to reconnoitre-in-force, but they were repulsed by

2002-481: The Levant , in which he gave the Banu Abd Shams a stake, despite their early opposition to him, which he sought to allay. Abu Sufyan's son Yazid was ultimately appointed to a leading command role in the conquest. Abu Sufyan was present at the Battle of the Yarmuk , which resulted in a decisive Muslim victory against the Byzantines in Syria. His advanced age at the time renders it unlikely that he actively participated in

2079-460: The Monophysite and Chalcedonian factions, of negligible direct impact, certainly inflamed underlying tensions. The effect of the feuds was decreased coordination and planning, one of the reasons for the catastrophic Byzantine defeat. The battle lines of the Muslims and the Byzantines were divided into four sections: the left wing, the left centre, the right centre and the right wing. Note that

2156-621: The Muslim forces were geographically divided, Heraclius sought to exploit that situation and planned to attack. He did not wish to engage in a single pitched battle but rather to employ central position and fight the enemy in detail by concentrating large forces against each of the Muslim corps before they could consolidate their troops. By forcing the Muslims to retreat, or by destroying Muslim forces separately, he would fulfil his strategy of recapturing lost territory. Reinforcements were sent to Caesarea under Heraclius' son Constantine III , probably to tie down Yazid's forces, which were besieging

2233-494: The Muslim troops concentrated there, the hill gave a good view of the plain of Yarmuk. The ravine on the west of the battlefield was accessible at a few places in 636 AD, and had one main crossing: a Roman bridge ( Jisr-ur-Ruqqad ) near Ain Dhakar Logistically, the Yarmuk plain had enough water supplies and pastures to sustain both armies. The plain was excellent for cavalry maneuvers. Most early accounts place

2310-530: The Muslims encamped at the Yarmuk plain, the Byzantine army, preceded by the lightly armed Ghassanids of Jabalah, moved forward and established strongly fortified camps just north of the Wadi-ur-Ruqqad. The right flank of the Byzantine army was at the south end of the plains, near the Yarmuk River and about a mile before the ravines of Wadi al Allan began. The left flank of the Byzantines was at

2387-410: The Persians from Anatolia but was decisively defeated in 613 when he launched a major offensive in Syria against the Persians. Over the following decade, the Persians were able to conquer Palestine and Egypt . Meanwhile, Heraclius prepared for a counterattack and rebuilt his army. In 622, Heraclius finally launched his offensive. After his overwhelming victories over the Persians and their allies in

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2464-411: The Quraysh apparently broke the truce. Information about the results of these talks is unclear, but Watt surmises that Abu Sufyan and Muhammad entered into an understanding of sorts. When Muhammad conquered Mecca in 630, Abu Sufyan played a key role in the city's surrender, being among the first Qurayshi leaders to submit and guaranteeing protection for his partisans. He fought alongside the Muslims at

2541-411: The Quraysh were quite far from the place where Muslims were in the offing to attack the caravan. Nevertheless, Sa`d ibn Abi Waqqas shot an arrow at the Quraysh. This is known as the first arrow of Islam. Despite this surprise attack, no fighting took place and the Muslims returned empty-handed. It is believed that Ubaydah was the first to carry the banner of Islam; others say Hamzah was the first to carry

2618-536: The Rashidun stronghold of Najd, if retreat became necessary. Instructions were also issued to return jizya (tribute) to people who had paid it. However, once concentrated at Jabiyah, the Muslims were subject to raids from pro-Byzantine Ghassanid forces. Encamping in the region was also precarious as a strong Byzantine force was garrisoned in Caeseara and could attack the Muslim rear while they were held in front by

2695-593: The Roman gladius and Sassanid long swords were used; long swords were usually carried by horsemen. Swords were hung in baldrics . Bows were about 2 metres (6.6 ft) long when unbraced, similar in size to the famous English longbow. The maximum useful range of the traditional Arabian bow was about 150 m (490 ft). Early Muslim archers, while being infantry archers without the mobility of horseback archer regiments, proved to be very effective in defending against light and unarmoured cavalry attacks. A few days after

2772-849: The Yarmuk (also spelled Yarmouk ) was a major battle between the army of the Byzantine Empire and the Arab Muslim forces of the Rashidun Caliphate . The battle consisted of a series of engagements that lasted for six days in August 636, near the Yarmouk River (also called the Hieromyces River), along what are now the borders of Syria–Jordan and Syria-Israel , southeast of the Sea of Galilee . The result of

2849-602: The Yarmuk River, a tributary of the Jordan River , on its south. The stream had very steep banks, ranging from 30 m (98 ft)–200 m (660 ft) in height. On the north is the Jabiyah road and to the east are the Azra hills although the hills were outside the actual field of battle. Strategically, there was only one prominence in the battlefield: a 100 m (330 ft) elevation known as Tel al Jumm'a , and for

2926-455: The battle was a decisive Muslim victory that ended Roman rule in Syria after about seven centuries. The Battle of the Yarmuk is regarded as one of the most decisive battles in military history, and it marked the first great wave of early Muslim conquests after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad , heralding the rapid advance of Islam into the then-Christian/Roman Levant . To check

3003-649: The battle's results. Two years later, he led the attempted siege of Medina, but was defeated by the Muslim defenders at the Battle of the Trench , and his morale may have taken a blow at this failure. The command of the Meccan forces were transferred to his Qurayshi rivals, Safwan ibn Umayya , Ikrima ibn Amr and Suhayl ibn Amr . Though Abu Sufyan did not participate in the truce negotiations at al-Hudaybiya in 628, he held peace talks with Muhammad in Medina when allies of

3080-490: The battle, on Vahan's invitation, Khalid came to negotiate peace, with a similar end. The negotiations delayed the battles for a month. On the other hand, Umar, whose forces at Qadisiyah were threatened with confronting the Sassanid armies , ordered Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas to enter negotiations with the Persians and to send emissaries to Yazdegerd III and his commander Rostam Farrokhzād , apparently inviting them to Islam. That

3157-611: The battle. According to an account cited by Sayf ibn Umar , he observed the battle alongside unspecified Arab shaykhs (chieftains), and accounts cited by al-Tabari further note that he "exhorted" the Muslim troops. His son Yazid held a command role in the battle and later died in a plague in Palestine in 639. Another of his sons, Mu'awiya , was appointed the governor of Syria by Caliph Umar ( r.  634–644 ). Umar's successor, Uthman ( r.  644–656 ), shared descent with Abu Sufyan from Umayya ibn Abd Shams and

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3234-466: The descriptions of the Muslim and the Byzantine battle lines are exactly each other's opposite: the Muslim right wing faced the Byzantine left wing (see image ). Vahan was instructed by Heraclius not to engage in battle until all avenues of diplomacy had been explored, probably because Yazdegerd III 's forces were not yet ready for the offensive in Iraq . Accordingly, Vahan sent Gregory and then Jabalah to negotiate, but their efforts proved futile. Before

3311-400: The first banner. Sa`d ibn Abi Waqqas was ordered to lead the third raid. His group consisted of about twenty Muhajirs. This raid was done about a month after the previous. Sa'd, with his soldiers, set up an ambush in the valley of Kharrar on the road to Mecca and waited to raid a returning Meccan caravan from Syria. But the caravan had already passed and the Muslims returned to Medina without

3388-535: The governor of Najran by Caliph Abu Bakr ( r.  632–634 ) for an unspecified period. Abu Sufyan later played a supporting role in the Muslim army at the Battle of the Yarmuk against the Byzantines in Syria. His sons Yazid and later Mu'awiya were given command roles in that province and the latter went on to establish the Umayyad Caliphate in 661. Abu Sufyan's given name was Sakhr and he

3465-530: The greatest tacticians and cavalry commanders in history. In 610, during the Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628 , Heraclius became the emperor of the Byzantine Empire, after overthrowing Phocas . Meanwhile, the Sasanian Empire conquered Mesopotamia and in 611 they overran Syria and entered Anatolia , occupying Caesarea Mazaca (now Kayseri , Turkey). In 612, Heraclius managed to expel

3542-469: The left by Qanatir. The centre was formed by the army of Dairjan and the Armenian army of Vahan, both under the overall command of Dairjan. The Byzantine regular heavy cavalry , the cataphract , was distributed equally among the four armies, each army deploying its infantry at the forefront and its cavalry as a reserve in the rear. Vahan deployed Jabalah's Christian Arabs , mounted on horses and camels, as

3619-601: The main leaders of Meccan opposition to Muhammad , the prophet of Islam and member of the Quraysh, commanding the Meccans at the battles of Uhud and the Trench in 625 and 627 CE . However, when Muhammad entered Mecca in 630, he was among the first to submit and was given a stake in the nascent Muslim state, playing a role at the Battle of Hunayn and the subsequent destruction of the polytheistic sanctuary of al-Lat in Ta'if . After Muhammad's death, he may have been appointed as

3696-483: The maneuvers, there were no engagements except for a minor skirmish between Khalid's elite light cavalry and the Byzantine advance guard. The battlefield lies in the plain of Jordanian Hauran , just southeast of the Golan Heights , an upland region currently on the frontier between Jordan and Syria, east of the Sea of Galilee . The battle was fought on the plain east of Raqqat stream ravine. That ravine joins

3773-805: The mobile guard. After the skirmish, no engagement occurred for a month. Helmets used included gilded helmets similar to the silver helmets of the Sassanid empire. Mail was commonly used to protect the face, neck, and cheeks as an aventail from the helmet or as a mail coif. Heavy leather sandals, as well as Roman-type sandal boots, were also typical of the early Muslim soldiers. Armour included hardened leather scale or lamellar armour and mail armour . Infantry soldiers were more heavily armoured than horsemen. Large wooden or wickerwork shields were used. Long-shafted spears were used, with infantry spears being 2.5 m (8.2 ft) long and cavalry spears being up to 5.5 m (18 ft) long. Short infantry swords like

3850-540: The north, a short distance before the Hills of Jabiyah began, and was relatively exposed. Vahan deployed the Imperial Army facing east, with a front about 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) long, as he was trying to cover the whole area between the Yarmuk gorge in the south and the Roman road to Egypt in the north, and substantial gaps had been left between the Byzantine divisions. The right wing was commanded by Gregory and

3927-402: The objective to slay as many enemy commanders as possible to damage their morale. At midday, after losing a number of commanders in the duels, Vahan ordered a limited attack with a third of his infantry forces to test the strength and strategy of the Muslim army and, using their overwhelming numerical and weaponry superiority, achieve a breakthrough wherever the Muslim battle line was weak. However

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4004-578: The operation from Antioch. Byzantine sources mention Niketas, son of the Persian general Shahrbaraz , among the commanders, but it is not certain which army he commanded. The Rashidun army was then split into four groups: one under Amr in Palestine, one under Shurahbil in Jordan, one under Yazid in the Damascus - Caesarea region and the last one under Abu Ubaidah along with Khalid at Emesa. As

4081-568: The potential backlash from the Muslim community should he accept his backing. Western historians generally dismiss this episode as propaganda by the Muslim traditional sources, which were hostile to the Umayyads , the branch of the Banu Abd Shams to which Abu Sufyan belonged and which ultimately became the ruling family of the Caliphate in 661 until 750. Abu Bakr ordered the Muslim conquest of

4158-440: The property and belongings left behind by Muslims and sold those. The caravan was led by 100 Quraysh and 2,500 camels were with them. Abu Sufyan ibn Harb Sakhr ibn Harb ibn Umayya ( Arabic : صَخْرِ ٱبْن حَرْب ٱبْن أُمَيَّةَ , romanized :  Ṣakhr ibn Ḥarb ibn Umayya ; c.  560—653 ), commonly known by his kunya Abu Sufyan ( Arabic : أَبُو سُفْيَانُ , romanized :  Abū Sufyān ),

4235-674: The rebels. In what became known as the Ridda wars of 632–633, Abu Bakr managed to defeat his opponents and unite Arabia under the central authority of the caliph at Medina . Once the rebels had been subdued, Abu Bakr began a war of conquest, beginning with Iraq . His most brilliant general, Khalid ibn al-Walid , conquered Iraq in a series of successful campaigns against the Sassanid Persians. Abu Bakr's confidence grew, and once Khalid had established his stronghold in Iraq, Abu Bakr issued

4312-606: The role, aimed to keep the leadership in the hands of his next closest kinsmen, the Banu Hashim, specifically Ali ibn Abi Talib , a cousin, son-in-law and early supporter of Muhammad. According to the historian Wilferd Madelung , Abu Sufyan, by dint of his chieftainship of the Banu Abd Shams and the generosity he had received from Muhammad, was duty-bound by a tribal code of honor to offer Ali such support, as doing otherwise "would have been shameful". Ali, however, refused his support, citing Abu Sufyan's late conversion to Islam and

4389-529: The series of setbacks, Heraclius prepared for a counterattack to reacquire the lost regions. In 635 Yazdegerd III , the Emperor of Persia , sought an alliance with the Byzantine Emperor. Heraclius married off his daughter (according to traditions, his granddaughter) Manyanh to Yazdegerd III, to cement the alliance. While Heraclius prepared for a major offensive in the Levant, Yazdegerd was to mount

4466-463: The size of the Muslim forces between 36,000 and 40,000 and the number of Byzantine forces between 60,000 and 70,000 (This number has been estimated by taking into account the logistical situation of the Empire and with the view that they could never have mustered such troops when the Empire was at its apex but especially not with the especially weak and exhausted realm of 628 onwards). Modern estimates for

4543-602: The sizes of the respective armies vary: some estimates for the Byzantine army are around 40,000 at most, while other estimates are 15,000 to 20,000. Estimates for the Rashidun army are between 15,000 and 40,000, most likely around 36,000. Original accounts are mostly from Arab sources, generally agreeing that the Byzantine army and their allies outnumbered the Muslim Arabs by a 2 to 1. The only early Byzantine source

4620-415: The town. The Byzantine imperial army moved out from Antioch and Northern Syria in the middle of June 636. The Byzantine imperial army was to operate under the following plan: The Muslims discovered Heraclius' preparations at Shaizar from Byzantine prisoners. Alert to the possibility of being caught with separated forces that could be destroyed, Khalid called a council of war and advised Abu Ubaidah to pull

4697-441: The troops back from Palestine and Northern and Central Syria and concentrate the entire Rashidun army in one place. Abu Ubaidah ordered the concentration of troops in the vast plain near Jabiyah , as control of the area made cavalry charges possible and facilitated the arrival of reinforcements from Umar, so that a strong, united force could be fielded against the Byzantine armies. The position also benefited from close proximity to

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4774-534: The various Byzantine commanders were also fraught with tension. There was a struggle for power between Trithurios and Vahan, Jarajis, and Qanatir (Buccinator). Jabalah, the Christian Arab leader, was largely ignored, to the detriment of the Byzantines given his knowledge of the local terrain. An atmosphere of mistrust thus existed between the Romans, Armenians and Arabs. Longstanding ecclesiastical feuds between

4851-558: Was Abd al-Rahman ibn al-Harith), and Umm Hakam (She married Abd Allah ibn Uthman al-Thaqafi, by whom she had one son, Abd al-Rahman ). Another of his wife Lubaba bint Abi al-As was mother of Maymuna (Amina) (She married Abi Murrah bin Urwa bin Mas'ud al-Thaqafi , and bore him a son, Dawud and a daughter, Layla , who married al-Husayn bin Ali and bore al-Husayn his eldest son, Ali al-Akbar who

4928-434: Was a citizen army , in contrast to a mercenary army, the age of the soldiers ranged from 20 (in the case of Khalid's son) to 70 (in the case of Ammar). Three of the ten companions promised paradise by Muhammad , namely Sa'id, Zubayr and Abu Ubaidah, were present at Yarmuk. Umar, apparently wanting to defeat the Byzantines first, used the best Muslim troops against them. The continuing stream of Muslim reinforcements worried

5005-530: Was a prominent opponent-turned companion and father-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad . He was the father of the first Umayyad caliph Mu'awiya I ( r.  661–680 ) and namesake of the Sufyanid line of Umayyad caliphs which ruled from 661 to 684. Abu Sufyan was a leader and merchant from the Quraysh tribe of Mecca . During his early career, he often led trade caravans to Syria . He had been among

5082-636: Was born around c.  560 to his father Harb ibn Umayya , a leader of the Quraysh tribe of Mecca, and mother Safiyya bint Hazn ibn Bujayr. The family belonged to the Banu Abd Shams clan of the Quraysh, the brother clan of the Banu Hashim , to which the Islamic prophet Muhammad belonged. Abu Sufyan was among the leaders of the Qurayshi opposition to Muhammad in the years preceding

5159-405: Was dispatched. In the ensuing confrontation, Abu Sufyan, "by skillful and vigorous leadership eluded the Muslims", according to the historian W. Montgomery Watt . However, under Abu Jahl's command, the Meccans pursued a direct confrontation with the Muslims, which resulted in the rout of the Quraysh at the Battle of Badr . One of Abu Sufyan's sons, Hanzala, was killed at Badr and another son, Amr,

5236-431: Was gathered at the Yarmuk plain. Several clashes were reported with local citizens over supply requisition, as summer was at an end and there was a decline of pasturage. Greek court sources accused Vahan of treason for his disobedience to Heraclius' command not to engage in large-scale battle with Arabs. Given the massing of the Muslim armies at Yarmuk, however, Vahan had little choice but to respond in kind. Relations between

5313-705: Was known to show special favor to his kinsmen. To that end, he symbolically honored Abu Sufyan, along with al-Hakam ibn Abi al-As and al-Walid ibn Uqba of the Umayyad line of the Banu Abd Shams, and al-Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib of the Banu Hashim, by allowing them to sit on his throne in Medina. Abu Sufyan died in 653 at the age of 88. Abu Sufyan's wife Ṣāfiya bint Abi al-As was the mother of Ramla (Umm Ḥabība) (She first married Ubayd-Allah ibn Jahsh , by whom she had one daughter, Ḥabība bint Ubayd Allah . After Ubayd Allah's death, she married Muhammad) and Umayma (She first married Huwaytib ibn Abd al-Uzza, by whom she had one son called Abu Sufyan). Abu Sufyan's son Yazid

5390-403: Was martyred in Karbala. Maymuna's second husband was al-Mughira ibn Shu'ba ). Abu Sufyan and his wife Safiya bint Abi Amr ibn Umayya had Amr (taken captive in the Battle of Badr and later released), Hind (he married al-Harith ibn Nawfal, by whom she had six children: Abd Allah, Muhammad al-Akbar, Rabi'a, Abd al-Rahman, Ramla and Umm al-Zubayr), and Sakhra (She married Sayyid ibn al-Akhnas and

5467-981: Was most probably the delaying tactic employed by Umar on the Persian front. Meanwhile, he sent reinforcements of 6,000 troops, mostly from Yemen, to Khalid. The force included 1,000 Sahaba (companions of Muhammad), among whom were 100 veterans of the Battle of Badr , the first battle in Islamic history, and included citizens of the highest rank, such as Zubayr ibn al-Awwam , Abu Sufyan , and his wife Hind bint Utbah . Also present were such distinct companions as Sa'id ibn Zayd , Fadl ibn Abbas , Abdul-Rahman ibn Abi Bakr (the son of Abu Bakr ), Abdullah ibn Umar (the son of Umar ), Aban ibn Uthman (the son of Uthman ), Abdulreman ibn Khalid (the son of Khalid), Abdullah ibn Ja'far (the nephew of Ali ), Ammar ibn Yasir , Miqdad ibn Aswad , Abu Dharr al-Ghifari , Malik al-Ashtar , Abu Ayyub al-Ansari , Qays ibn Sa'd , Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman , Ubada ibn as-Samit , Hisham ibn al-A'as , Abu Huraira and Ikrimah ibn Abi Jahl . As it

5544-499: Was organised in the Tabi'a formation, a tight, defensive infantry formation. The army was lined up on a front of 12 kilometres (7.5 mi), facing west, with its left flank lying south on the Yarmuk River a mile before the ravines of Wadi al-Allan began. The army's right flank was on the Jabiyah road in the north across the heights of Tel al Jumm'a , with substantial gaps between the divisions so that their frontage would match that of

5621-633: Was organized into five armies, the joint leader of which was Theodore Trithyrius . Vahan, an Armenian and the former garrison commander of Emesa, was made the overall field commander, and had under his command a purely Armenian army. Buccinator (Qanatir), a Slavic prince, commanded the Slavs and Jabalah ibn al-Aiham , king of the Ghassanid Arabs, commanded an exclusively Christian Arab force. The remaining contingents, all European, were placed under Gregory and Dairjan. Heraclius himself supervised

5698-478: Was replaced by Abu Ubaidah . Having secured southern Palestine, Muslim forces now advanced up the trade route, and Tiberias and Baalbek fell without much struggle and conquered Emesa early in 636. The Muslims then continued their conquest across the Levant . Having seized Emesa, the Muslims were just a march away from Aleppo , a Byzantine stronghold, and Antioch , where Heraclius resided. Seriously alarmed by

5775-527: Was sent by Abu Bakr from Iraq to Syria with reinforcements and to lead the invasion. In July, the Byzantines were decisively defeated at Ajnadayn . Damascus fell in September, followed by the Battle of Fahl , in which the last significant garrison of Palestine was routed. After Abu Bakr died in 634, his successor, Umar , was determined to continue the Caliphate 's expansion deeper into Syria. Though previous campaigns led by Khalid had been successful, he

5852-428: Was taken captive, but released. Among the other Meccan casualties were Abu Jahl himself and Utba ibn Rabi'a , who was one of Abu Sufyan's fathers-in-law. In the aftermath of Badr, Abu Sufyan was charged with avenging Meccan losses, the command he held likely being hereditary. Subsequently, Abu Sufyan inflicted significant losses on the Muslims at the Battle of Uhud in 625, but the Quraysh were generally unsatisfied with

5929-567: Was the son of Zaynab bint Nawfal of the Kinana . Abu Sufyan's well-known wife Hind bint Utba was the mother of Hanzala (killed in the Battle of Badr; Hind refers to Hanzala as her "firstborn"), Mu'awiya , Utba (He is said to have been born "in the time of the Prophet," i.e., after 610. He had a son named al-Walid ), Juwayriya (Her first husband was al-Sayib ibn Abi Hubaysh. Her second husband

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