Muawiyah I

Muawiyah I
Reign	661 – 680
Full name	Muʻāwīya ibn ʻAbī Sufyān
Born	602
Died	May 6 680 (Aged 78)
Successor	Yazid I
Dynasty	Umayyad
Father	Abu Sufyan ibn Harb
Mother	Hind bint Utbah

Muawiyah I (Arabic: معاوية ابن أبي سفيان‎ Muʿāwiyah ibn ʾAbī Sufyān; 602 – 6 May 680) was the first Caliph of the Umayyad Dynasty. After the conquest of Mecca by the Muslims, Muawiyah's family converted to Islam. Muawiyah is brother-in-law to Muhammad who married his sister Ramlah bint Abi-Sufyan in 1AH. Muawiyah became a scribe for Muhammad, and during the first and second caliphates of Abu Bakr and Umar, fought with the Muslims against the Byzantines in Syria.

When Uthman ibn Affan, a cousin of Muawiyah, became the third caliph, he appointed Muawiyah Governor of Syria. However when Ali was appointed the fourth and final Rashidun Caliph, he expelled Muawiyah from the Governorship. Muawiyah refused to obey Ali, and had some level of support from the Syrians in his rebelliousness, amongst whom he was a popular leader.^[1] Ali called for military action against Muawiyah, but the reaction of the political classes in Medina was not encouraging, and thus Ali deferred. Eventually Ali marched on Damascus and fought Muawiyah's supporters at the inconclusive Battle of Siffin (657 CE).

Ali's son Hasan ibn Ali signed a truce and retired to private life in Medina. Muawiyah thus established the Umayyad Caliphate, which was to be a hereditary dynasty,^[2][3][4][5] and governed from Damascus in Syria instead of Medina in Arabia.

Muawiyah I is a reviled figure in Shia Islam for several reasons. Firstly, because of his involvement in the Battle of Siffin against Ali, whom the Shia Muslims believe was Muhammad's true successor (see Succession to Muhammad); secondly, for the alleged breaking of the treaty he made with Hasan ibn Ali, after the death of Hassan ibn Ali, by appointing his son Yazid as his successor; thirdly, on account of his responsibility for the killing of Hasan ibn Ali by alluring his wife [[Ja'dah binte Ash'as] Ja'dah binte Ash'as was the daughter of Ash'as bin Qays, a trible chieftan of yamen and Um e Farwa the sister of Abi Bakr] to poison him;^{[6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]} and fourthly, for the deaths of various Companions of Muhammad.

Early life

Umayyad Mosque, established during Muawiyah's era.

Muawiyah bin Abi-Sufyan was born in Hejaz (602 CE) into the Banu Umayya sub-clan of the Banu Abd-Shams clan of the Quraysh tribe. The Quraysh controlled the city of Mecca (in the west of present-day Saudi Arabia) and the Banu Abd-Shams were among the most influential of its citizens. Muawiyah and the rest of his family were staunch opponents of the Muslims before the ascendancy of Muhammad.

In 630, Muhammad and his followers conquered Mecca, and most of the Meccans, including the Abd-Shams clan, formally submitted to Muhammad and accepted Islam. Muawiyah, along with his father Abu Sufyan, became Muslims at the conquest of Mecca when further resistance to Muslims became an impossibility.^[14][15] Some scholars hold the view that Muawiyah was the second of the two to convert, with Abu Sufyan convincing him to do it.

Muhammad welcomed his former opponents, enrolled them in his army and gave them important posts in what was to become the Caliphate. After the Prophet Muhammad's death (632) Muawiyah served in the Islamic army sent against the Byzantine forces in Syria. He held a high rank in the army led by his brother Yazid ibn Abu Sufyan.

Governor of Syria

Caliph Umar (Umar ibn al-Khattab) had appointed Muawiyah Ibn Abu Sufyan as governor of Syria. In the year 640, Umar appointed Muawiyah as governor of Syria when his brother died in an outbreak of plague. Muawiyah gradually gained mastery over the other areas of Syria, instilling remarkable personal loyalty among his troops and the people of the region. By 647, Muawiyah had built a Syrian army strong enough to repel a Byzantine attack and, in subsequent years, to take the offensive against the Byzantines in campaigns that resulted in the capture of Cyprus (649) and Rhodes (654) and a devastating defeat of the Byzantine navy off the coast of Lycia (655). At the same time, Muawiyah periodically dispatched land expeditions into Anatolia.

According to the chronicler Theophanes the Confessor, Muawiyah I, after capturing Rhodes sold the remains of the Colossus of Rhodes to a traveling salesman from Edessa. The buyer had the statue broken down, and transported the bronze scrap on the backs of 900 camels to his home. Pieces continued to turn up for sale for years, after being found along the caravan route.

All these campaigns came to a halt with the accession of Ali to the caliphate, when a new and decisive phase of Muawiyah's career began.

Conflict with Ali

Muawiyah fought a protracted campaign against Ali, allegedly seeking justice for the assassinated caliph Uthman Ibn Affan. Aisha (Aisha bint Abu Bakr) (Muhammad's widow), Talhah (Talha ibn Ubayd-Allah) and Al-Zubayr (Abu ‘Abd Allah Zubayr ibn al-Awwam) were all in agreement with Muawiyah that those who assassinated Uthman should be brought to justice. However, Ali claimed that he was not able to apprehend and punish Uthman's murderers fearing rebel infiltration of the Muslim ranks. This resulted in Muawiyah refusing to acknowledge Ali's caliphate.

Muawiyah did not participate in the campaign by Aisha, Talhah and Al-Zubayr against Ali that ended in the Battle of the Camel.^[16] The city of Basrah went over to them but they were defeated in battle by Ali. Talhah and Al-Zubayr were killed. Ali pardoned Aisha and had her escorted back to Medina.

Ali then turned towards Syria, where Muawiyah was in open opposition. He marched to the Euphrates and engaged Muawiyah's troops at the famous Battle of Siffin (657). Accounts of the clash vary – however, it would seem that neither side had won a victory, since the Syrians called for arbitration to settle the matter, arguing that continuing civil war would embolden the Byzantines.^[17] There are several conflicting accounts of the arbitrations. One account suggests that Muawiyyah’s army were ordered to adorn the tips of their swords with pages from the Quran in an attempt to confused the army of Ali and prevent them from winning the battle. As a result, the army of Ali ceased fighting so as not to bring harm to the Quran. Muawiyah proposed a cease-fire which Ali agreed to and it was decided to end the conflict through peaceful talks.^[18]

In the meantime, dissension broke out in Ali's camp where some of his former supporters, later known as Kharijites, felt that Ali had betrayed them by entering into negotiations. Ali set out to quell the Kharijites. At about the same time, unrest was brewing in Egypt. The governor of Egypt, Qais, was recalled, and Ali had him replaced with Muhammad ibn Abu Bakr (the brother of Aisha and the son of Islam's first caliph Abu Bakr). Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr's rule resulted in widespread rebellion in Egypt. Muawiyah ordered 'Amr ibn al-'As to invade Egypt and 'Amr did so successfully.

When Alī was assassinated in 661, Muawiyah, as commander of the largest force in the Muslim Empire, had the strongest claim to the Caliphate. Ali's son Hasan ibn Ali signed a truce and retired to private life in Medina.

Muawiyah said later: "I never fought against Ali, only about Uthman's death".^[19] That was attested by Al-Sharif al-Radi in his book , he said:

In the war... When we met people of Al-Sham, it seemed that our god is one, our prophet is the same, our calling is the same, and no one is more of a believer than the other about believing in Allah, or the prophet. The misunderstandings were about Uthman's blood, and we have nothing to do with it.

—Al-Sharif al-Radi, ^[20]

Rule

In the year 661, Muawiyah was crowned as caliph at a ceremony in Jerusalem.^[21] Muawiyah governed the geographically and politically disparate Caliphate, which now spread from Egypt in the west to Iran in the east, by strengthening the power of his allies in the newly conquered territories. Prominent positions in the emerging governmental structures were held by Christians, some of whom belonged to families that had served in Byzantine governments. The employment of Christians was part of a broader policy of religious tolerance that was necessitated by the presence of large Christian populations in the conquered provinces, especially in Syria itself. This policy also boosted his popularity and solidified Syria as his power base.

In a manner similar to Byzantine administrative practices, Muawiyah instituted several bureaucracies, called divans, to aid him in the governance and the centralization of the Caliphate and the empire. Early Arabic sources credit two diwans in particular to Muawiyah : the Diwan al-Khatam (Chancellery) and the Barid (Postal Service), both of which greatly improved communications within the empire.

According to Arab historian Ibn Kathir^[22]

At the height of tension when fighting was about to erupt at Siffin between Imam Ali and Muawiyah, Muawiyah was informed that the Byzantine Emperor raised a very large army and was drawing very close to the borders of the Muslim state. He wrote to him, giving him a very clear warning, 'By God, if you do not stop your designs and go back to your place, I will end my dispute with my cousin and will drive you out of the entire land you rule, until I make the earth too tight for you.' The Byzantine Emperor was scared off and abandoned his plans

However, other scholars contend that he simply placated the Byzantine emperor with offers of land, gold, and slaves.^[23]

Muawiyah died on May 6, 680, allegedly from a stroke brought on by his weight. He was succeeded by his son Yazid I. Muawiyah had held the expanding empire together by force of his personality, through personal allegiances, in the style of a traditional Arab sheikh. However Muawiyah's attempt to start a dynasty failed because both Yazid and then his grandson Muawiya II died prematurely. The caliphate eventually went to Marwan I a descendant of another branch of Muawiyah's clan.

Muawiyah and Mawalis

In accordance with the ways of Empire, Muawiyah favoured his Arab subjects over non-Arab Muslims (the Mawalis) - the discriminatory treatment of non-Arab Muslims by the victorious Umayyad forces are documented by both Sunni and Shia sources as in the example below concerning Muawiyah's commands to his governor Ziyad ibn Abih.^[24][25][26]

Appearance and habits

There are conflicting reports regarding his appearance. According to certain sources, he was short with a large stomach. (The following is unclear as no specific hadith is mentioned). However, the two pre-eminent Masters of Sunni Hadith, Imam Bukhari and Imam Muslim, have rejected absolutely the later apology for Muawiyah, and Imam Muslim indeed places the Hadith-e-Muawiya in the Chapter of those Cursed by Muhammad.^[27] Further, the Imam Nisa'i was murdered when he recited this Hadith in the presence of pro-Muawiya Arab-speaking Syrians as it was perceived as a curse of Muawiyah, which debates the unreferenced suggestion that the term was a form of praise and not condemnation.^[28] Shias often question why there are no reliable precise accounts of Muawiyah actually participating in any battles after his conversion to Islam

Legacy

Muawiyah greatly beautified Damascus, and developed a court to rival that of Constantinople. He expanded the frontiers of the empire, reaching the very gates of Constantinople at one point, though the Byzantines drove him back and he was unable to hold any territory in Anatolia. Sunni Muslims credit him with saving the fledgling Muslim nation from post civil war anarchy. However, Shia Muslims charge that if anything, he was the instigator of the civil war, and weakened the Muslim nation and divided the Ummah, fabricating self-aggrandizing heresies^[29] and slander against the Prophet's family^[30] and even selling his Muslim critics into slavery in the Byzantine empire.^[23]

One of Muawiyah's most controversial and enduring legacies was his decision to designate his son Yazid as his successor. According to Shi'a doctrine, this was a clear violation of the treaty he made with Hasan ibn Ali, in which Muawiyah said he would not make his son his successor.

Sunni view

Many Sunni Muslim historians view Muawiyah as a companion of Muhammad, and hence worthy of respect for this reason, and a few Sunni Muslims take great issue with the Shi'a criticism and vilification of him.^[31] However, mainstream Sunni Muslims while refusing to adopt the negative Shi'a sentiment towards Muawiyah nevertheless quietly withhold according him religious status owing to his rebellions against Ali and al-Hasan, who are regarded as pious rulers, with Muawiyah being regarded as a worldly king of dubious sincerity. Finally, Muawiyah transformed the caliphate from a consensus system with some emphasis on religious qualification into a hereditary and monarchical one with no such stringent requirement, by designating his son Yazid as his successor.

A Sunni hadith says:

...Muawiyah who was really the best of the two men said to him, "O 'Amr! If these killed those and those killed these, who would be left with me for the jobs of the public, who would be left with me for their women, who would be left with me for their children?" Then Muawiya sent two Quraishi men from the tribe of 'Abd-i-Shams called 'Abdur Rahman bin Sumura and Abdullah bin 'Amir bin Kuraiz to Al-Hasan saying to them, "Go to this man (i.e. Al-Hasan) and negotiate peace with him and talk and appeal to him." So, they went to Al-Hasan and talked and appealed to him to accept peace...^[32]

Sunni scholars interpret al-Hasan's willingness to abandon his claims to the caliphate in favor of Muawiyah as proof that al-Hasan, Muhammad's eldest and beloved grandson, did not go so far as to view Muawiyah an apostate, renegade or hypocrite.

Shi'a view

The Shi'a view Muawiyah as a tyrant, usurper and murderer. His supposed conversion to Islam before the conquest of Mecca is dismissed as a fable, or mere hypocrisy. He is also described as a manipulator and liar who usurped Islam purely for political and material gain of his father's loss. He was also widely regarded as a tyrant and usurper by both Shia Arabs and Persians, who despite being ruled by Sunni Arabs and their vassals for centuries, ultimately found the egalitarian Shia creed more palatable than the oppressive, Arab-supremacist tribal rule of Muawiyah. Ali was noted for upholding the rights of non-Arab Muslims, whereas the Umayyads are remembered in Persian history for squashing them. The Umayyads suppressed Persian culture and language, and a number of Iran's greatest contributors to Persian literature - both Shias like Ferdowsi and Sunnis like Sa'di - took the side of Ali, not Muawiyah.

According to Shi'a view, Muawiyah opposed Ali, out of sheer greed for power and wealth. His reign opened the door to unparalleled disaster, marked by the persecution of Ali, slaughtering of his followers,^[33] and unlawful imprisonment of his supporters,^[34] which only worsened when Yazid come into power and the Battle of Karbala ensued. Muawiyah is alleged to have killed many of Muhammad's companions (Sahaba), either in battle or by poison, due to his lust for power. Muawiyah killed several historical figures, including the Sahaba Amr bin al-Hamiq, Muhammad ibn Abu Bakr^[35] Malik al-Ashtar,^[36] Hujr ibn Adi^[37] (to which the families of Abu Bakr and Umar condemned Muawiyah for,^[38] and the Sahaba deemed his killer to be cursed^[39]) and Abd al-Rahman bin Hasaan (buried alive for his support of Ali).^[40]

Muawiyah was also responsible for instigating the Battle of Siffin, the bloodiest battle in Islam's history, in which over 70,000 people (among them many of the last surviving companions of the Prophet Muhammad) were killed. Notable among the Companions who were killed by Muawiyah's forces was Ammar bin Yasir, a frail old man of 95 at the time of his murder. Shi'i Muslims see his being killed at the hands of Muawiyah's army as significant because of a well-known hadith narrated by Abu Hurayrah in which the Prophet is recorded to have said: "Rejoice Ammar! The transgressing party shall kill you."^[41]

When the tide of the battle was turning in Ali's favor, Muawiyah stalled Ali's troops by raising the Qur'an on the tip of a bloody spear as a sort of "holy book shield" against attack by Muslims.^[42] This sort of act is widely regarded as blasphemy and desecration of God's word, and Shia scholars condemn Muawiyah for it, arguing such a practice would today be condemned by Sunni Muslims just as much as Shia Muslims.

The killing of the two children of Ubaydullah ibn Abbas can also be found in Sunni and Shi'a texts.^[43]

[...] Then he [i.e. Muawiyah] was informed that Ubaidullah had two infant sons. So he set out to reach them, and when he found them - they had two (tender) forelocks like pearls - [and] he ordered to kill them.^[44]

From the Shia point of view, Imam Hasan ibn Ali did not sign the treaty with Muawiyah because he liked him; rather, he did so to prevent even worse bloodshed than had already happened at Siffin. Hasan's intention was to preserve the Muslim Ummah and eventually restore the Caliphate to its rightful heirs, the Prophet's family (as per the terms of the treaty). He died before he was able to do this, allegedly poisoned by his wife on Muawiyah's orders.^{[citation needed]}

See also

• Second Fitna
• Sunni view of the Sahaba

References

1. ^ Shahid Ashraf, Encyclopaedia of Holy Prophet and Companions, Anmol, 2004. (p.180)
2. ^ Marshall Cavendish, "World and Its Peoples: The Middle East, Western Asia, and Northern Africa", 2006. (p.186)
3. ^ John L. La Monte, The world of the Middle Ages: a reorientation of medieval history, Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1949. (p. 105)
4. ^ Bernard F. Reilly, The medieval Spain, Cambridge University Press, 1993. (p. 55)
5. ^ Grolier, Academic American encyclopedia, Volume 10, 1994 (p. 382)
6. ^ Mas'oodi, Vol 2: Page 47
7. ^ Tārikh - Abul Fidā Vol 1: Page 182
8. ^ Iqdul Farid - Ibn Abd Rabbāh Vol 2, Page 11
9. ^ Rawzatul Manazir - Ibne Shahnah Vol 2, Page 133
10. ^ Tārikhul Khamis, Husayn Dayarbakri Vol2, Page 238
11. ^ Akbarut Tiwal - Dinawari Pg 400
12. ^ Mawātilat Talibeyeen - Abul Faraj Isfahāni
13. ^ Isti'ab - Ibne Abdul Birr
14. ^ The History of al-Tabari, Volume IX, The Last Years of the Prophet, p32, SUNY Press
15. ^ Life of Muhammad, Ibn Hisham, Volume 2, p597 (Urdu)
16. ^ The Early Caliphate, Maulana Muhammad Ali, Al-Jadda Printers, pg. 169-206, 1983
17. ^ Aisha Bewley, Mu'awiyah: Restorer of the Muslim Faith, pg. 22. Dar al Taqwa Ltd. 2002.
18. ^ http://www.ahlelbayt.com/articles/history/siffin
19. ^ (Arabic) [1]
20. ^ Nahj al-Balagha (3/648), by Al-Sharif al-Radi
21. ^ History of Israel and the Holy Land By Michael Avi-Yonah, Shimon Peres
22. ^ Al-Bidayah wal-Nihayah
23. ^ ^{a b} * Musharriful Mahbubin by Hazrat Khuwaja Mehboob Qasim Chishti Mushrrafi Qadri ra.gif Pages 216-218
    • Kokab wa Rifi Fazal-e-Ali Karam Allah Wajhu, Page 484, By Syed Mohammed Subh-e-Kashaf AlTirmidhi, Urdu translation by Syed Sharif Hussein Sherwani Sabzawari, Published by Aloom AlMuhammed, number B12 Shadbagh, Lahore, 1 January 1963.
    • Habib Alseer Rabiyah AlAbrar, Volume 1, Alama JarulAllah Zamik (530 Hijri),
    • Hadoiqa Sanai, by Hakim Sanai (Died 525 Hijri, at Ghazni), Page 65-67,
    • Namoos Islam, by Agha Hashim Sialkoti, Published Lahore, 1939 - Pages 66-67
    • Tazkarah Tul-Aikram Tarikh-e-Khulafa Arab-Wa-Islam by Syed Shah Mohamed Kabir Abu Alalaiyi Dana Puri, Published Le Kishwar Press, Lakhnow, April 1924/ 1346 H
24. ^ "Ansab al Ashraf" or "Futuh al-Buldan" by Baladhuri. p.417.
25. ^ "Tarikh-i Sistan". p82
26. ^ "Tarikh e Qum". p254-6.
27. ^ Sahih Muslim, Book of those Cursed by Muhammad but were not deserving
28. ^ IBn Khallikan, Al Wafat Al Ayan Imam, under the biography of Nisa'i, section dealing with his murder
29. ^ http://www.answering-ansar.org/answers/muawiya/en/chap8.php
30. ^ http://www.answering-ansar.org/answers/muawiya/en/chap7.php
31. ^ Leader of the Jundallah Movemement, Abd Al-Malek Al-Rigi: We Train Fighters in the Mountains and Send Them into Iran. October 17, 2008
32. ^ Muhammad Muhsin Khan "The Translation of the Meanings of Salih al-Bukhari, volume 3" 1984 ISBN 81-7151-016-7, item 867
33. ^ Tarikh Tabri Volume 18 page 201 ; al Istiab, Volume 1 page 49, Chapter: Busar; al Isaba Volume, 1 page 289, Translation No. 642, Busar bin Irtat; Asadul Ghaba, Volume 1 page 113, Topic: Busar bin Irtat; Tarikh Ibn Asakir, Volume 3 page 225 ; Tarikh Asim Kufi, page 308.
34. ^ al Bidaya wa al Nihaya, Volume 8 page 52 ; Asad'ul Ghaba Volume, 1 page 846, Dhikr Umro bin Hamiq; Tarikh Yaqubi, volume 2 page 200, 50 H; Al Bidayah wal Nihayah, Volume 8 page 52, death of Amro bin al-Hamiq al-Khazai.
35. ^ al Bidaya wa al Nihaya, Volume 8 page 48, Dhikr 50 Hijri; al Istiab, Volume 1 page 363 ; al Isaba, Volume 4 page 623, Translation No. 5822 ; Asadul Ghaba, Volume 1 page 846, Amr bin al-Hamiq al-Khazai; Tabaqat al Kubra, Volume 6 page 25 ; Tarikh Kamil, Volume 3 page 240 Dhikr 51 Hijri; Risala Abu Bakr Khawarzmi, page 122 ; Tarikh ibn Khaldun, Volume 3 page 12 ; al Maarif, page 127; History of Tabari, Volume 18 page 137
36. ^ Tadhirathul Khawwas, page 64 ; Muruj al Dhahab, Volume 3 page 420 ; Tarikh ibn Khaldun, Volume 2 page 191; Tarikh Kamil, Volume 3 page 179 ; Tarikh Tabari, English translation Volume 18 pages 144-146 ; Habib al Sayyar, Volume 1 page 72 ; Tabaqat al Kubra, Volume 6 page 213
37. ^ al Bidaya wa al Nihaya, Volume 8 page 53 Dhikr 51 Hijri; Tarikh Kamil, Volume 3 page 249 Dhikr 51 Hijri; Tarikh ibn Asakir, Volume 12 page 227 Dhikr Hujr ibn Adi; Tarikh ibn Khaldun, Volume 3 page 13 Dhikr 51 Hijri; al Isaba, Volume 1 page 313 Dhikr Hujr ibn Adi; Asad'ul Ghaba, Volume 1 page 244 Dhikr Hujr ibn Adi; Shadharat ul Dhahab, Volume 1 page 57 Dhikr 51 Hijri; Tabaqat al Kubra, Volume 6 page 217 Dhikr Hujr ibn Adi; Mustadrak al Hakim, Volume 3 page 468-470 Dhikr Hujr ibn Adi; Akhbar al Tawaal, page 186 Dhikr Hujr ibn Adi; Tarikh Abu'l Fida, page 166 Dhikr 51 Hijri; Muruj al Dhahab, Volume 3 page 12 Dhikr 53 Hijri; Tarikh Yaqubi, Volume 2 page 219
38. ^ al-Bidaya wa al-Nihaya, Volume 8 page 55 ; Kanz al Ummal, Volume 3 page 88 ; Tarikh al Islam by Dhahabi Volume 2 page 217 ; Tarikh ibn Khaldun, Volume 3 page 12 ; al Isaba, page 355 Dhikr Hujr; al-Istiab, Volume 1 page 97.
39. ^ Qadhi Abi Bakar al-Arabi. 'Awasim min al Qawasim' p.341 ; Allamah Muhibuddin al-Khateeb
40. ^ Bidayah wal Nihayah, Volume 8 page 52; Tarikh Kamil, Volume 3 page 245 ; History of Tabari, Volume 18 page 151.
41. ^ Sunan Tirmidhi, Hadith #3800
42. ^ http://www.ezsoftech.com/islamic/siffin.asp
43. ^ Sunni: Tarikh Kamil, Volume 3 page 194 Dhikr 40 Hijri; Shadharath al Dhahab, page 64 Dhikr 58 Hijri; Tarikh Taabari (English translation) Volume 18 pages 207-208; Murujh al Dhahab, Volume 3 page 30 ; al Istiab, Volume 1 page 49, Chapter: Busar; Tarikh ibn Asakir, Volume 10 page 146; Asad'ul Ghaba Volume 1 page 213 Dhikr Busar; Tarikh Islam by Dhahabi, Volume 2 page 187. Shia: 21:6 Secrets of Muawiyah from Al-Amali: The Dictations of Sheikh al-Mufid
44. ^ Shia: 21:6 Secrets of Muawiyah from Al-Amali: The Dictations of Sheikh al-Mufid

External links

• Muawiyah I, from Encyclopædia Britannica.
• Sunni views
• Shia views

Muawiyah I Banu Umayya
Sunni Islam titles
Preceded by Hasan ibn Ali	Caliph 661–680	Succeeded by Ibn Al-Zubayr
Regnal titles
Preceded by none	Umayyad Caliph 661–680	Succeeded by Yazid I
Regnal titles
Preceded by Yazid ibn Abi Sufyan	Governor of Al-Sham 640–656	under direct control of Muawiya I

Persondata
Name	Muawiyah I
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	602
Place of birth
Date of death	680
Place of death