Mu'awiya I (
c. 597, 603 or 605–April 680) was the founder and firstcaliph of the
Umayyad Caliphate, ruling from 661 until his death. He became caliph less than thirty years after the death of the Islamic prophet
Muhammad and immediately after the four
Rashidun ('rightly-guided') caliphs. Unlike his predecessors, who had been close, early
companions of Muhammad, Mu'awiya was a relatively late follower of Muhammad.
Mu'awiya and his father
Abu Sufyan had opposed Muhammad, their distant
Qurayshite kinsman and later Mu'awiya's brother-in-law, until Muhammad
captured Mecca in 630. Afterward, Mu'awiya became one of Muhammad's
scribes. He was appointed by Caliph
Abu Bakr (
r. 632–634) as a deputy commander in the
conquest of Syria. He moved up the ranks through
Umar's caliphate (
r. 634–644) until becoming governor of
Syria during the reign of his
Umayyad kinsman, Caliph
Uthman (
r. 644–656). He allied with the province's powerful
Banu Kalb tribe, developed the defenses of its coastal cities, and directed the
war effort against the
Byzantine Empire, including the first Muslim naval campaigns. In response to
Uthman's assassination in 656, Mu'awiya took up the cause of avenging the murdered caliph and opposed the election of
Ali. During the
First Fitna, the two led their armies to a stalemate at the
Battle of Siffin in 657, prompting an abortive series of arbitration talks to settle the dispute. Afterward, Mu'awiya gained recognition as caliph by his Syrian supporters and his ally
Amr ibn al-As, who conquered
Egypt from Ali's governor in 658. Following the
assassination of Ali in 661, Mu'awiya compelled Ali's son and successor
Hasan to abdicate and Mu'awiya's
suzerainty was acknowledged throughout the Caliphate. (
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