Ziyād ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Yazīd ibn Muʿāwiya (Arabic:زياد بن عبد الله بن يزيد بن معاوية), commonly known asAbū Muḥammad al-Sufyānī (Arabic:أبو محمد السفياني) was anUmayyad prince and apretender to theUmayyad Caliphate, which had beenoverthrown by the Iraq-basedAbbasid Caliphate in early 750.

Abu Muhammad was a great-grandson of the first Umayyad caliph,Mu'awiya I, and thus belonged to the Sufyanid (Sufyani) line of theUmayyad family, which ruled the caliphate between 661 and 684, after which they were succeeded by theMarwanid line. The last Umayyad caliph,Marwan II (r. 744–750), imprisoned Abu Muhammad until releasing him at the end of his reign, when the Abbasids routed his army at theBattle of the Zab in 750.

To counter the ascendant Abbasids, Abu Muhammad and his tribal supporters from theBanu Kalb and the widerYaman ofHoms andPalmyra joined forces with theirtraditional rivals, theQays underAbu al-Ward. Abu Muhammad claimed the mantle of the caliphate and took on the messianic role of the 'Sufyani', who would deliver a golden age for theSyrians. His tribal coalition was defeated by the Abbasids and he fled to theHejaz, where he was killed during the early reign of Abbasid caliphal-Mansur (r. 754–775).

Abu Muhammad was a member of theUmayyad family, the son ofAbd Allah ibn Yazid and grandson of CaliphYazid I (r. 680–683). He was related to Caliphal-Walid II (r. 743–744) through the latter's aunt,Atika bint Yazid.^[1] He adopted the epithet 'al-Sufyani' as both a reference to his descent from CaliphMu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan (r. 661–680) and a claim to being the early Islamic messianic figure,al-Sufyani. Abu Muhammad's claim was embraced by many inIslamic Syria, particularly the people ofHoms, who believed him to be amessiah-like figure who would destroy the rising Abbasid Caliphate.^[2] The Umayyad caliphMarwan II (r. 744–750) had Abu Muhammad imprisoned inHarran for much of the second half of his reign. Abu Muhammad did not escape his incarceration when other inmates broke out; those inmates were caught and killed by Harran's inhabitants. Marwan released Abu Muhammad after his defeat by the Abbasids at theBattle of the Zab in January 750.^[3]

Later in 750, theQaysi general,Abu al-Ward, launched a revolt to defeat the Abbasids, rallying his kinsmen and other Qaysis and disavowing his allegiance to the Abbasid governor of Syria,Abd Allah ibn Ali. Abu Muhammad joined the revolt as a leader of theYaman tribal confederation of Homs andPalmyra. Abu Muhammad assumed political leadership of the revolt and issued a claim to leadership of the Umayyad Caliphate, reaching out for support from other Umayyad nobles. Abu al-Ward, meanwhile, served as the revolt's military commander,^[2] though this command was likely limited to the Qaysi troops, the Yamani troops being led byal-Asbagh ibn Dhu'ala al-Kalbi.^[4] Although the intent of the revolt was to combat the Abbasids, particularly theirKhurasani soldiers, it became a joint Qaysi–Yamani effort to gain control of the Umayyad Caliphate.^[2]

Despite an initial victory against the Abbasids led byAbd al-Samad ibn Ali atQinnasrin, Abu Muhammad's forces were defeated near Homs. In the latter battle, Abu al-Ward and many of his kinsmen and Qaysi soldiers were killed, while Abu Muhammad fled to Palmyra. The Abbasid commander Bassam ibn Ibrahim attempted and failed to capture Palmyra, but Abu Muhammad fled again, this time heading for theHejaz (western Arabia). There, he found a safe haven nearMount Uhud. Abu Muhammad and his family remained in Arabia until they were tracked down and killed during Caliphal-Mansur's reign (r. 754–775). Abu Muhammad's revolt, though short-lived, was the most significant threat the Abbasids faced in the period immediately following their successfulrevolution against the Umayyads. The revolt motivated the Abbasids to track down and eliminate other remnants of the Umayyad dynasty.^[5]

The origin, role and identity of theSufyani in Islamic tradition and Abu Muhammad's place in it is much debated. In the local Syrian context, theSufyani was seen as a deliverer who would herald a golden age. But inShi'ite tradition, due to his descent fromAbu Sufyan—originally an opponent ofMuhammad and the father ofMu'awiya, who was responsible for the downfall ofAli—he was an anti-Muslim figure, a sort ofIslamic Antichrist and the opponent of theMahdi.^[6] Scholars have debated the roots of this figure, with some claiming the existence of the legend already during Umayyad times.Henri Lammens suggested that Abu Muhammad was the origin of the legend, and that Syrians believed that after his execution he went into hiding—much like the Shi'iteMahdi—and would reappear.Wilferd Madelung championed the view that theSufyani was from the beginning an anti-Mahdi figure, and that he only acquired positive connotations in Syria at a later date.^[7] Several later rebels in Syria, fromAbu Harb al-Mubarqa in the 840s all the way up to the 15th century, claimed the mantle of theSufyani.^[8]

• Cobb, Paul M. (2001).White Banners: Contention in 'Abbasid Syria, 750–880. SUNY Press.ISBN 978-0791448809.
• Cook, David (2011)."Early Islamic and Classic Sunni and Shi'a Apocalyptic Movements". In Wessinger, Catherine (ed.).The Oxford Handbook of Millennialism. Oxford University Press. pp. 267–284.ISBN 978-0195301052.
• Najeebabadi, Akbar Shah (2001).The History of Islam, Vol. 2. Darussalam.ISBN 978-9960892887.
• Roggema, Barbara (2009).The Legend of Sergius Baḥīrā: Eastern Christian Apologetics and Apocalyptic in Response to Islam. BRILL.ISBN 978-9004167308.
• Hillenbrand, Carole, ed. (1989).The History of al-Ṭabarī, Volume XXVI: The Waning of the Umayyad Caliphate: Prelude to Revolution, A.D. 738–744/A.H. 121–126. SUNY Series in Near Eastern Studies. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press.ISBN 978-0-88706-810-2.

• Umayyad dynasty
• 8th-century deaths
• Rebels from the Abbasid Caliphate
• Syria under the Abbasid Caliphate
• 750s conflicts
• People of the Third Fitna
• 8th-century Arab people

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