View source for Abu al-A'war

{{short description|Arab military commander}}
{{Infobox military person
| name          = Abu al-A'war
| other_name    = Amr ibn Sufyan ibn Abd Shams al-Sulami
| image         =
| caption       =
| birth_place   = [[Hejaz]]
| allegiance    = {{plainlist|
*Pagan Arab tribes (pre-630)
*[[Rashidun Caliphate]] (632–656)
*[[Mu'awiya I]] (656–661)
*[[Umayyad Caliphate]] (661–death)
}}
| battles       = {{tree list}}
*[[Battle of Hunayn]] (630)
*[[Muslim conquest of the Levant]]
**[[Battle of the Yarmuk]] (636)
*[[Arab–Byzantine wars]]
**Raid on [[Amorium]] (644)
**Second Arab raid on [[Cyprus]] (ca. 650)
**Raids on [[Kos]], [[Crete]] and [[Rhodes]] (653/654)
**[[Battle of the Masts]] (654)
*[[First Fitna]]
** [[Battle of Siffin]] (657)
{{tree list/end}}
| children      = Sufyan
| relations     = {{plainlist|
*Sufyan ibn Abd Shams (father)
*Ubayda ibn Abd al-Rahman (nephew or great-grandson)
}}
| laterwork     = Governor of [[Jund al-Urdunn]] ({{circa|650s}}–death)
}}
'''Abu al-A'war Amr ibn Sufyan ibn Abd Shams al-Sulami''' ({{langx|ar|أبو الأعور عمرو بن سُفيان بن عبد شمس السلمي|translit=ʾAbū al-ʾAʿwar ʿAmr ibn Sufyān ibn ʿAbd Shams al-Sulamī}}), identified with the '''Abulathar''' or '''Aboubacharos''' ({{langx|el|Ἀβουλαθάρ, Ἀβουβάχαρος}}) of the [[Byzantine]] sources ([[floruit|fl]]. 629–669), was an [[Arab]] admiral and general, serving in the armies of the [[Rashidun Caliphate|Rashidun]] caliphs [[Abu Bakr]] ({{reign|632|634}}), [[Umar]] ({{reign|634|644}}) and [[Uthman]] ({{reign|644|656}}) rejecting the fourth Rashidun caliph [[Ali]] ({{reign|656|661}}), instead serving [[Umayyad Caliphate|Umayyad]] caliph [[Mu'awiya I]] ({{reign|661|680}}).
He was one of the last prominent members of the [[Banu Sulaym]] tribe to convert to [[Islam]], and fought against [[Muhammad]] at the [[Battle of Hunayn]] in 630. After becoming a Muslim, he took part in the [[Muslim conquest of the Levant|conquest of Syria]] in the 630s and fought at the [[Battle of the Yarmuk|Yarmuk]]. Later, he commanded the Arab navy during the campaigns against the Byzantines in the eastern Mediterranean, including the decisive Muslim victory at the [[Battle of the Masts]] in 654. His army was also responsible for the destruction of the [[colossus of Rhodes]]. From the [[First Fitna]] until his disappearance from the historical record in the 660s, Abu al-A'war served Mu'awiya in a number of capacities, including as a commander and negotiator at the [[Battle of Siffin]], an operative of [[Amr ibn al-As]] in [[Egypt in the Middle Ages|Egypt]], a tax administrator in [[Jund Filastin|Palestine]] and the governor of [[Jund al-Urdunn|Jordan]]; he had held the latter post since the reign of Uthman.
==Early life and career==
Abu al-A'war's given name was Amr. His father was Sufyan ibn Abd Shams, a chieftain of the prominent Dhakwan clan of the [[Banu Sulaym]], a nomadic [[Arab]] tribe that dominated the Harra region in the north-central [[Hejaz]] (in present-day western Saudi Arabia) and had strong links to [[Medina]] and [[Mecca]].{{Sfn|Lecker|1997|p=817–818}}{{Sfn|Blankinship|1993|p=91, note 502}} Abu al-A'war's mother and grandmother both belonged to the [[Quraysh]] tribe of Mecca.{{Sfn|Lecker|1997|p=818}} His father Sufyan commanded the Sulaym when they fought alongside the Quraysh against [[Muhammad]] and the early Muslims at the [[Battle of the Trench]] in 627 CE.{{Sfn|Lecker|1997|p=817}}
Although most of the Sulaym converted to Islam by 629, Abu al-A'war, who was a confederate of the Qurayshi leader [[Abu Sufyan ibn Harb|Abu Sufyan]], proved an exception and fought against the Muslims at the [[Battle of Hunayn]] that year.{{Sfn|Blankinship|1993|p=91, note 502}}{{Sfn|Lecker|1997|p=818}} Abu al-A'war ultimately converted to Islam, though his status as a ''[[sahaba|ṣaḥāba]]'' (companion of Muhammad) is disputed by Muslim scholars.{{Sfn|Lecker|1997|p=818}} Indeed, the highly authoritative Muslim scholar [[Muhammad al-Bukhari]] does not mention Abu al-A'war in his list of ''ṣaḥāba''.{{Sfn|Blankinship|1993|p=91, note 502}}
==Campaigns against the Byzantines==
Abu al-A'war was likely part of the army of [[Yazid ibn Abi Sufyan]] dispatched by Caliph [[Abu Bakr]] ({{reign|632|634}}) to [[Muslim conquest of the Levant|conquer Byzantine Syria]].{{Sfn|Lammens|1960|p=108}} He commanded a detachment of Yazid's forces at the [[Battle of Yarmouk]], during which the Byzantines were routed and much of Syria was annexed by the growing [[Rashidun Caliphate]].{{Sfn|Lammens|1960|p=108}} His relationship with Yazid and his father Abu Sufyan helped establish his enduring loyalty to their [[Banu Umayya|Umayyad clan]] throughout his career.{{Sfn|Lammens|1960|p=108}} Under the direction of [[Mu'awiya I|Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan]], Yazid's brother and the governor of Syria, Abu al-A'war and [[Wahb ibn Umayr]], led a raid against the Byzantine city of [[Amorium|Amorion]] in 644; this marked the start of both strategic and marauding Muslim military campaigns into Byzantine [[Anatolia]].{{Sfn|Kaegi|1992|p=246}}
He commanded the second Arab raid against [[Cyprus]], which probably took place in summer 650. The Arabs besieged the town of [[Lapithos]], but abandoned the siege after the inhabitants paid a large sum of money. It appears that the Arabs did not evacuate the island entirely, however, and that Abu al-A'war erected a fortress with a garrison of 12,000 men, who according to the Arabic sources remained on the island until the peace treaty of 680, following the failure of the [[First Arab Siege of Constantinople]]. Abu al-A'war seems to have commanded this garrison for some time, since the 10th-century Byzantine emperor [[Constantine VII]] records that the Arab "Aboubacharos"—who is likely to be identified with Abu al-A'war—erected a tomb for his daughter, who died there, which survived to Constantine's day.{{sfn|PmbZ|loc=Abū l-A'war (#71)}}
According to [[Michael the Syrian]], shortly after this, in 653/654, Abu al-A'war commanded an expedition against [[Kos]], which was captured and plundered due to the treason of the local bishop.{{sfn|PmbZ|loc=Abū l-A'war (#71)}} He proceeded to pillage [[Crete]] and [[Rhodes]].<ref name="ArabObserver49">{{cite journal|journal=[[Arab Observer]]|title=Rise of Moslem Sea Power Under Uthman|date=1966|issue=289–301|page=49|publisher=National Publications House}}</ref> The latter was a major commercial island and its capture was a major loss to the Byzantines.<ref name="ArabObserver49"/> During the pillaging of Rhodes, Abu al-A'war's troops leveled the [[Colossus of Rhodes]], a well-known statue of the Greek god [[Helios]].<ref name="ArabObserver49"/>{{dubious|date=August 2019}} Finally in 654 he commanded the Arab fleet in the great [[Battle of the Masts]], where the [[Byzantine navy]] under Emperor [[Constans II]] was annihilated.{{Sfn|Blankinship|1993|p=91, note 502.}}{{sfn|PmbZ|loc=Abū l-A'war (#71)}} According to Armenian and Byzantine sources, his fleet continued onward to besiege Constantinople but a storm destroyed the ships carrying siege engines.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i3LDBAAAQBAJ&q=hoyland+in+god's+path|title=In God's Path: The Arab Conquests and the Creation of an Islamic Empire|last=Hoyland|first=Robert G.|date=2014-01-01|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780199916368|pages=107|language=en}}</ref> This loss is absent from Arabic chronicles.
==Service with Mu'awiya==
Caliph [[Uthman]] ({{reign|644|656}}), who belonged to the Umayyad clan, appointed Abu al-A'war as governor of [[Jund al-Urdunn]] (military district of Jordan) with its capital in [[Tiberias]].{{Sfn|Gil|1997|p=116}} During the [[First Fitna]], which followed the assassination of Uthman, Abu al-A'war served as one of Mu'awiya's generals in the battles against Caliph [[Ali]] ({{reign|656|661}}).{{Sfn|Lecker|1997|p=818}} He commanded a Sulaymi contingent at the [[Battle of Siffin]] in 657.{{Sfn|Blankinship|1993|p=91, note 502}} Following the fighting at Siffin, Abu al-A'war was one Mu'awiya's representatives in the settlement negotiations with Ali, and he prepared the preliminary draft for the caliphal succession conference in [[Udhruh|Adhruh]], a town in the [[Al-Sharat|Sharat]] highlands.{{Sfn|Lammens|1960|p=108}} In 658/59, Mu'awiya confirmed Abu al-A'war in his post in Jordan.{{Sfn|Gil|1997|p=117}}
Later, Abu al-A'war assisted [[Amr ibn al-As]] with asserting Mu'awiya's authority over Egypt.{{Sfn|Blankinship|1993|p=91, note 502}}{{Sfn|Lammens|1960|p=108}} After Mu'awiya succeeded Ali in 661 and established the [[Umayyad Caliphate]], he intended to replace Amr, his independent-minded governor in Egypt, with Abu al-A'war, but this plan never came to fruition.{{Sfn|Lammens|1960|p=108}} Instead, Abu al-A'war was kept as governor of Jordan.{{Sfn|Lecker|1997|p=818}}{{Sfn|Lammens|1960|p=108}} According to Michael the Syrian, in 669,{{Sfn|Gil|1997|p=76}} Abu al-A'war oversaw the census of the ''[[fellah|fellāḥīn]]'' (peasantry) of [[Jund Filastin]] (military district of Palestine),{{Sfn|Lammens|1960|p=108}} and thereby introduced the system of taxation imposed on the Christian villages of Palestine.{{Sfn|Gil|1997|p=76}}
==Legacy==
On account of his services for Mu'awiya, medieval Muslim historians regarded Abu al-A'war as one of Mu'awiya's senior lieutenants and part of the latter's ''biṭāna'' (inner circle).{{Sfn|Lammens|1960|p=108}} Abu al-A'war disappears from the historical record before the end of Mu'awiya's reign in 680.{{Sfn|Lammens|1960|p=108}} During his lifetime, his son Sufyan was a military chief of the Arab tribes in Jordan.{{Sfn|Gil|1997|p=76}} His nephew or great-grandson, Ubayda ibn Abd al-Rahman, served as the provincial governor of [[Azerbaijan (Iran)#Islamic period|Azerbaijan]], Jordan, and [[Ifriqiya]] during the reigns of Umayyad caliphs [[Umar II]] ({{reign|717|720}}) [[Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik|Hisham]] ({{reign|724|743}}) and [[al-Walid II]] ({{reign|743|744}}), respectively.{{Sfn|Lecker|1997|p=818}}
==References==
{{reflist|30em}}
==Sources==
* {{The History of al-Tabari | volume = 11 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=xbwtJ2mJ5zsC&pg=PA91}}
* {{A History of Palestine, 634-1099}}
* {{cite book | last1 = Kaegi | first1 = Walter E. |author-link=Walter Kaegi | title = Byzantium and the Early Islamic Conquests | date = 1992| publisher = Cambridge University Press | isbn = 0-521-41172-6 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=IvPVEb17uzkC&pg=PA246}}
* {{EI2 | title = Abu ’l- Aʿwar ʿAmr b. Sufyān al-Sulamī | last = Lammens | first = H. | authorlink=Henri Lammens | volume = 1 | page = 108}}
* {{EI2 | title = Sulaym |last = Lecker | first = M. | volume = 9 | pages = 817–818}}
* {{PMBZ}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:7th-century Arab people]]
[[Category:Admirals of the Rashidun Caliphate]]
[[Category:Arab people of the Arab–Byzantine wars]]
[[Category:Generals of the Rashidun Caliphate]]
[[Category:Banu Sulaym]]
[[Category:People of the First Fitna]]
[[Category:Medieval history of Cyprus]]
[[Category:Generals of the Umayyad Caliphate]]
[[Category:Umayyad governors of Jordan]]
[[Category:Colossus of Rhodes]]