Al-Hakam ibn Abi al-As ibn Umayya (; died 655/56), was the father of the founder of the Marwanid line of the Umayyad dynasty,

Marwan I Marwan ibn al-Hakam ibn Abi al-As ibn Umayya (; 623 or 626April/May 685), commonly known as MarwanI, was the fourth Umayyad Caliphate, Umayyad caliph, ruling for less than a year in 684–685. He founded the Marwanid ruling house of the Umayyad ...

(), and a paternal uncle of Caliph

Uthman Uthman ibn Affan (17 June 656) was the third caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate, ruling from 644 until his assassination in 656. Uthman, a second cousin, son-in-law, and notable companion of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad, played a major role ...

(). He was known as a staunch opponent of the Islamic prophet

Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...

and was consequently exiled when the latter captured their hometown of

Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...

in 630. He was later pardoned by Uthman.

Family

Al-Hakam was the son of Abu al-As ibn Umayya of the

Banu Abd Shams Banu Abd Shams () refers to a clan within the Meccan tribe of Quraysh (tribe), Quraysh. Ancestry The clan names itself after Abd Shams ibn Abd Manaf, the son of Abd Manaf ibn Qusai and brother of Hashim ibn 'Abd Manaf, who was the great-grandfat ...

and Ruqayya bint al-Harith of the

Banu Makhzum The Banu Makhzum () was one of the wealthy clans of the Quraysh (tribe), Quraysh. They are regarded as being among the three most powerful and influential clans in Mecca before the advent of Islam, the other two being the Banu Hashim (the tribe of ...

, both parents' clans belonging to the

Quraysh The Quraysh () are an Tribes of Arabia, Arab tribe who controlled Mecca before the rise of Islam. Their members were divided into ten main clans, most notably including the Banu Hashim, into which Islam's founding prophet Muhammad was born. By ...

tribe of

. His paternal grandfather was the progenitor of the Umayyad family. Al-Hakam married Amina bint Alqama ibn Safwan al-Kinaniyya after she was divorced by his half-brother Affan ibn Abi al-As. She gave birth to al-Hakam's son, Marwan, who became the Umayyad caliph in 684-685 and the progenitor of all successive Umayyad caliphs. Al-Hakam fathered at least twenty, but probably over thirty children from four different wives and a number of slave women. Besides Marwan, Amina bint Alqama was the mother of al-Hakam's eldest son, Uthman al-Azraq, and al-Harith, Abd al-Rahman, Salih and daughters Umm al-Banin and Zaynab. His second wife, Mulayka bint Awfa of the Banu Murra clan of the Ghatafan tribe, was the mother of his sons Yahya, Aban, Uthman al-Asghar, Habib, Amr and daughters Umm Yahya, Zaynab, Umm Shayba, Umm Uthman and Umm Salama. His third wife, Umm al-Nu'man bint al-Harith ibn Abi Amr of the

Banu Thaqif The Banu Thaqif () is an Arab tribe which inhabited, and still inhabits, the city of Ta'if and its environs, in modern Saudi Arabia, and played a prominent role in early Islamic history. During the pre-Islamic period, the Thaqif rivaled and co ...

tribe, gave him sons Nu'man, Aws, Suhayl, and Amr, and daughters Umm Aban, Umama, Umm Amr and Umm al-Hakam. His Qurayshite wife, al-Ba'itha bint Hashim ibn Utba ibn Rabi'a of the Banu Abd Shams was the mother of his son Yusuf.

Life

Al-Hakam was known to have staunchly opposed the

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

ic prophet

and was thus exiled by the latter from

to the nearby town of

Taif Taif (, ) is a city and governorate in Mecca Province in Saudi Arabia. Located at an elevation of in the slopes of the Hijaz Mountains, which themselves are part of the Sarat Mountains, the city has a population of 563,282 people in 2022, mak ...

. According to the history of 9th-century historian

al-Tabari Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad ibn Jarīr ibn Yazīd al-Ṭabarī (; 839–923 CE / 224–310 AH), commonly known as al-Ṭabarī (), was a Sunni Muslim scholar, polymath, historian, exegete, jurist, and theologian from Amol, Tabaristan, present- ...

, Muhammad later pardoned al-Hakam and he was allowed to return to his hometown. However, in the history of 9th-century historian

al-Yaqubi ʾAbū al-ʿAbbās ʾAḥmad bin ʾAbī Yaʿqūb bin Ǧaʿfar bin Wahb bin Waḍīḥ al-Yaʿqūbī (died 897/8), commonly referred to simply by his nisba al-Yaʿqūbī, was an Arab Muslim geographer. Life Ya'qubi was born in Baghdad to a fam ...

, al-Hakam was allowed to return to Mecca by his nephew, Caliph

(), after his petitions to return were rejected by the previous two caliphs,

Abu Bakr Abd Allah ibn Abi Quhafa (23 August 634), better known by his ''Kunya (Arabic), kunya'' Abu Bakr, was a senior Sahaba, companion, the closest friend, and father-in-law of Muhammad. He served as the first caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate, ruli ...

() and

Umar Umar ibn al-Khattab (; ), also spelled Omar, was the second Rashidun caliph, ruling from August 634 until his assassination in 644. He succeeded Abu Bakr () and is regarded as a senior companion and father-in-law of the Islamic prophet Mu ...

(). Uthman showed special favor to his kinsmen and he symbolically honored al-Hakam, along with his Umayyad relatives

Abu Sufyan Sakhr ibn Harb ibn Umayya (; ), commonly known by his ' Abu Sufiyan (), 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 () and namesake of the S ...

and

al-Walid ibn Uqba Al-Walīd ibn ʿUqba ibn Abī Muʿayṭ (, died 680) was the governor of Kufa in 645/46–649/50 during the reign of his half-brother, Caliph Uthman (). During the reign of Uthman, he lead Fajr prayers while intoxicated, and there were witness of ...

and

Banu Hashim Banu Hashim () is an Arab clan within the Quraysh tribe to which the Islamic prophet Muhammad belonged, named after Muhammad's great-grandfather Hashim ibn Abd Manaf. Members of this clan, and especially their descendants, are also referred ...

member al-Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib, by allowing them to sit on his throne in

Medina Medina, officially al-Madinah al-Munawwarah (, ), also known as Taybah () and known in pre-Islamic times as Yathrib (), is the capital of Medina Province (Saudi Arabia), Medina Province in the Hejaz region of western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ...

. Al-Hakam died in 655/56.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hakam ibn Abi al-As Year of birth missing 7th-century Arab people 656 deaths Banu Umayya Opponents of Muhammad