Yazid ibn Abu Sufyan
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Yazid ibn Abi Sufyan ibn Harb ibn Umayya ( ar, يزيد بن أبي سفيان بن حرب بن أمية, Yazīd ibn Abī Sufyān ibn Ḥarb ibn Umayya; died 639) was a leading Arab Muslim commander in the conquest of Syria from 634 until his death in the plague of Amwas in 639. Following the capture of Damascus around 635, he was placed in command of the city and its military district. After the death of the overall Muslim commander of Syria,
Abu Ubayda ibn al-Jarrah ʿĀmir ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Jarrāḥ ( ar, عامر بن عبدالله بن الجراح; 583–639 CE), better known as Abū ʿUbayda ( ar, أبو عبيدة ) was a Muslim commander and one of the Companions of the Islamic prophet M ...
, in 639, he was appointed by Caliph Umar () the governor of Damascus, Jordan and Palestine. Yazid was the elder half-brother of
Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan Mu'awiya I ( ar, معاوية بن أبي سفيان, Muʿāwiya ibn Abī Sufyān; –April 680) was the founder and first caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate, ruling from 661 until his death. He became caliph less than thirty years after the deat ...
, who was appointed as his successor over Damascus and Jordan by Umar and gradually became governor over all of Syria. In 661 he became caliph and founded the Syria-based Umayyad dynasty.


Early life

Yazid was a son of Abu Sufyan, a chief of the
Quraysh The Quraysh ( ar, قُرَيْشٌ) were a grouping of Arab clans that historically inhabited and controlled the city of Mecca and its Kaaba. The Islamic prophet Muhammad was born into the Hashim clan of the tribe. Despite this, many of the Qur ...
tribe of Mecca, belonging to the Umayya branch of its Banu Abd Shams clan. His mother was Zaynab bint Nawfal (also identified as Zaynab bint Hashim) of the Kinana tribe. He embraced Islam with his father and paternal half-brother Mu'awiya when the Islamic prophet Muhammad captured Mecca in 630. Soon afterward, he fought with the Muslims against the Thaqif tribe and its nomadic allies at the Battle of Hunayn. He was among the Qurayshites who the Islamic prophet won over through his generosity, in his case receiving a present of one hundred camels and forty ounces of silver. Yazid was married to Fakhita, a daughter of Muhammad's close companion Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf.


Commander and governor in Syria

Yazid was appointed by Caliph Abu Bakr () one of the main commanders of the Muslim conquest of Byzantine Syria, launched in 633 or 634. Yazid and his men, who numbered between 3,000 and 7,500 according to the sources, were initially dispatched to the Balqa region east and northeast of the
Dead Sea The Dead Sea ( he, יַם הַמֶּלַח, ''Yam hamMelaḥ''; ar, اَلْبَحْرُ الْمَيْتُ, ''Āl-Baḥrū l-Maytū''), also known by other names, is a salt lake bordered by Jordan to the east and Israel and the West Bank ...
. In May 634 Yazid and the other main commanders, including Amr ibn al-As, Shurahbil ibn Hasana and
Khalid ibn al-Walid Khalid ibn al-Walid ibn al-Mughira al-Makhzumi (; died 642) was a 7th-century Arab military commander. He initially headed campaigns against Muhammad on behalf of the Quraysh. He later became a Muslim and spent the remainder of his career in ...
, besieged and captured Bosra, the first major Byzantine town to fall to the Muslims in Syria. After their major victory against the Byzantines at the Battle of Ajnadayn, during which Yazid acted as lieutenant commander, he launched further operations in the Balqa. Among these was the capture of the
Amman Amman (; ar, عَمَّان, ' ; Ammonite language, Ammonite: 𐤓𐤁𐤕 𐤏𐤌𐤍 ''Rabat ʻAmān'') is the capital and largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of 4,061,150 a ...
fort in 635. Yazid took part in the siege of Damascus, beginning in 634. Following the fall of city in 635, or later in 637, Yazid became the deputy governor of
Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...
under
Abu Ubayda ibn al-Jarrah ʿĀmir ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Jarrāḥ ( ar, عامر بن عبدالله بن الجراح; 583–639 CE), better known as Abū ʿUbayda ( ar, أبو عبيدة ) was a Muslim commander and one of the Companions of the Islamic prophet M ...
's overall command over the Muslims in Syria. From Damascus, according to some of the early Muslim sources, Yazid dispatched lieutenant commanders against various places, including Dihya ibn Khalifa of the Banu Kalb to Palmyra in the desert to the northeast and a certain Zahra of the
Banu Qushayr The Banū Qushayr ( ar, بنو قشير) was a branch of the Arab tribe of Banu Amir, historically resident in central Arabian Peninsula and later spreading to Khurasan, Iraq, Upper Mesopotamia. Genealogy According to Arab genealogical tradition, ...
to the Batanea plain in the
Hauran The Hauran ( ar, حَوْرَان, ''Ḥawrān''; also spelled ''Hawran'' or ''Houran'') is a region that spans parts of southern Syria and northern Jordan. It is bound in the north by the Ghouta oasis, eastwards by the al-Safa (Syria), al-Safa ...
region south of Damascus; the defenders of both places capitulated after negotiations. He later left Damascus to confront a Byzantine force led by a patrician, Theodore, sent by the Byzantine emperor
Heraclius Heraclius ( grc-gre, Ἡράκλειος, Hērákleios; c. 575 – 11 February 641), was List of Byzantine emperors, Eastern Roman emperor from 610 to 641. His rise to power began in 608, when he and his father, Heraclius the Elder, the Exa ...
to recapture the city. Yazid was reinforced by Khalid and the Byzantines were defeated. In the
Battle of the Yarmuk The Battle of the Yarmuk (also spelled Yarmouk) was a major battle between the army of the Byzantine Empire and the Muslim forces of the Rashidun Caliphate. The battle consisted of a series of engagements that lasted for six days in August 63 ...
in 636, where the Muslims scored a decisive victory against the Byzantines, which consolidated and extended their conquest of much of Syria, Yazid was one of the four principal Muslim field commanders. He and Mu'awiya also launched operations against the Syrian littoral, capturing the Mediterranean port towns of Sidon, Beirut and Byblos. When Abu Ubayda died in the plague of Amwas in 639, Yazid was appointed by Caliph Umar () as the governor of Damascus, Jordan and
Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...
. The plague had afflicted much of Syria and took an enormous toll on the Muslim troops there. Later in 639, Yazid succumbed to the plague as well. He did not leave any children. Umar appointed Mu'awiya in his brother's place over Damascus and Jordan.


Image

Yazid is referred to in later Islamic sources as 'Yazid al-Khayr' (Yazid the Good) because of his positively viewed role in the Syrian conquest. Because of the nature of his death during a state of war he is considered by these sources to be a '' shahid'' (martyr).


See also

* Companions of prophet Muhammad *


References


Bibliography

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Yazid Abi Sufyan 639 deaths Year of birth missing Arab people of the Arab–Byzantine wars 7th-century deaths from plague (disease) Banu Umayya Companions of the Prophet People of the Muslim conquest of the Levant Rashidun governors of Syria