View source for Harith ibn Abi Shamir

{{Short description|Governor of Syria under the Byzantine Empire in the 7th century}}
{{more citations needed|date=September 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Harith ibn Abi Shamir
| native_name        = الحارث بن أبي شمر
| native_name_lang   = ar
| image              = File:Arabischer Maler um 1335 003.jpg
| caption            = An imaginary depiction of Harith ibn Abi Shamir from a [[Persian miniature]] that is in the collections of the [[Austrian National Library]], [[Vienna]]
| death_date         = {{circa|630s CE}}
| death_place        = [[Syria]] (possibly)
| known_for          = Governor of Syria under Byzantine rule (according to the Arab historians)
}}
'''Harith ibn Abi Shamir''' ([[Arabic]]: الحارث بن أبي شمر) or '''Arethas''' ([[Greek language|Greek]]: Ἀρέθας) is the name of an [[Arab Christian]] who reportedly governed [[Syria]] in the 7th century CE, according to Arabic narratives. Islamic traditions also relate that the Muslim prophet [[Muhammad]] sent a letter to Harith around 629 CE to invite him to Islam; which Harith reportedly rejected out of anger.
== Biography ==
=== Traditional narrative ===
The traditional view of Harith states that he was the ruler of [[Syria]] from the [[Ghassanid]] dynasty of Arab Christians.<ref name=":0">Mubarakpuri, Saifur Rahman (2008). ''The Sealed Nectar: Biography of the Noble Prophet''. Dar-us-Salam Publications. {{Isbn|978-9960899558|}}</ref> Harith was more than likely to have been a mere governor of Syria under the [[Byzantine Empire]]; the Byzantines may have given him a good amount of autonomy and independence in his rule as was the case with the other Ghassanid rulers who were allies of Byzantium.<ref>{{cite book |last=Bury |first=John |title=History of the Later Roman Empire from the Death of Theodosius I to the Death of Justinian, Part 2 |date=January 1958 |publisher=Courier Dover Publications |isbn=9780486203997 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JxWifqqPtUcC&pg=PP1}}</ref> [[Ibn Hazm]] states that Harith's grandmother was a woman named Dhat al-Qarta'in; whose full lineage is Mariya bint Arqam ibn Tha'laba ibn 'Amr ibn Jafnah; hence Harith has maternal descent from the first Ghassanid king, [[Jafnah ibn Amr]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ibn Hazm |title=Jamharat Ansab al-Arab |publisher=Dar Al Kutub Al Ilmiyah |year=2018 |isbn=2745100432 |location=Beirut, Lebanon}}</ref>
== Diplomatic activities ==
=== Peace offerings ===
Harith reportedly donated two swords as a peace offering to a temple of the Arabian goddess [[Manāt|Manat]] which was venerated by the [[Khazraj]] tribe.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=N.A. Faris |date=1952 |title=The Book Of Idols: Being A Translation From The Arabic Of The Kitāb al-Asnām By Hishām Ibn Al-Kalbi |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G4HXAAAAMAAJ |journal=Princeton Oriental Studies |location=New Jersey |publisher=Princeton University Press |volume=14 |pages=23}}</ref> These swords were taken as war booty after the destruction of the temple during the [[Raid of Sa'd ibn Zaid al-Ashhali]] in 630 CE.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Ibn Sa'd |title=Kitab Tabaqat al-Kubra |publisher=Dar Sader |year=1998 |location=Beirut, Lebanon |trans-title=The Book of Major Classes}}</ref>
=== Supposed interaction with Muhammad ===
In the 7th century CE, the Islamic prophet Muhammad sent a letter inviting Harith to Islam, which read:<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Ibn Sayyid al-Nas |title=Light Of The Eyes: An Abridgement of the Biography of the Trusted, the Trustworthy |publisher=Furthest Boundary Press |isbn=9780993525 |editor-last=Ibrahim Osi Efa}}</ref>
{{blockquote|Peace be upon him who follows true guidance and believes in it and regards it as true. I invite you to believe in One God with no associates, and your kingdom shall remain yours.}}
The letter was likely sent around 629, but after 628.<ref>{{cite journal |last = Donner |first = Fred M. |author-link = Fred M. Donner |title = Muḥammad's Political Consolidation in Arabia up to the Conquest of Mecca: A Reassessment |journal = The Muslim World |year = 1979 |volume = 69 |issue = 4 |pages = 229–247 |doi = 10.1111/j.1478-1913.1979.tb03388.x |jstor = }}</ref> One of the [[Sahaba]], by the name of [[Shuja ibn Wahb]], carried the letter to the court of Harith in Syria, where it was read out to him. Upon hearing the letter, Harith became infuriated and threatened to attack [[Medina]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" />
Islamic narratives report that Harith had started to prepare to invade [[Medina]], but a message reached him from the Byzantine emperor [[Heraclius]] which ordered him not to attack Muhammad.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4">{{Cite web |title=ص11 - كتاب السيرة النبوية راغب السرجاني - موقف الحارث بن أبي شمر الغساني أمير دمشق من رسالة النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم له - المكتبة الشاملة |url=https://shamela.ws/book/37369/462 |access-date=2024-09-06 |website=shamela.ws}}</ref> Harith, obedient to the Byzantine overlords, abandoned all his plans to invade Medina.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4" /> Other Islamic narratives also state that Harith's servant, Myra, converted to Islam after a conversation with Shuja ibn Wahb.
== Identification ==
Harith ibn Abi Shamir may have been the Ghassanid phylarch Jabalah V ibn al-Harith, who reigned from 628–632 and was succeeded by [[Jabala ibn al-Ayham]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |first=Greg |last=Fisher |title=Jafnids |encyclopedia=[[The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity]] |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2018 |volume=2: J–Z |page=804 |isbn=978-0-19-866277-8 |editor=Oliver Nicholson |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198662778.001.0001/acref-9780198662778-e-2052}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Royal Family Tree |url=https://www.royalghassan.org/family-tree.html |access-date=2024-08-24 |website=Sovereign Imperial & Royal House of Ghassan |language=en}}</ref> This identification is supported by the fact that the ''Tabaqat Ibn Sa'd'' states that Harith was succeeded by Jabala ibn al-Ayham upon his death.<ref name=":2" />
A narration from [[Tabari]] identifies Harith as [[Al-Mundhir III ibn al-Harith]].<ref>{{cite book |title=The History of al-Tabari Vol. 8: The Victory of Islam: Muhammad at Medina |date=15 June 2015 |translator-last1=Fishbein |translator-first1=Michael |publisher=SUNY Press |isbn=978-1-4384-0290-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4A-4ZC4l0dMC&pg=PA108 |page=108|language=en}}</ref> However, this is contradicted by two factors. Firstly, the letter was sent between 628–630 CE, but Al-Mundhir III was no longer in power by 581 CE, having been accused of treason and then subsequently held in Byzantine imprisonment.<ref>{{ODB|last=Shahîd|first=Irfan|authorlink=Irfan Shahid|title=Ghassānids}}
*{{cite book |last=Shahîd |first=Irfan |title=Byzantium and the Arabs in the Sixth Century |volume= 1 |location=Washington, DC |publisher=Dumbarton Oaks |year=1995 |isbn=978-0-88402-214-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BEvEV9OVzacC}}</ref> He would eventually be released in 602 CE, but there is no evidence of him returning to power afterwards.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Martindale |first=John Robert |title=The prosopography of the later Roman empire. Vol. 3 B: A. D. 527 - 641 / J. R. Martindale (Kâlâdji - Zudius) |last2=Jones |first2=Arnold H. M. |last3=Morris |first3=J. |date=2011 |publisher=Cambridge Univ. Press |isbn=978-0-521-20160-5 |edition=3. print |volume=3 |location=Cambridge}}</ref>
== Sayings ==
Some quotes have been attributed to him, for example;
*“The meeting of two swords nullifies a choice.”
*“The one deceived by the words of his rival is his own worst enemy.”
*“Opportunity is fleeting, slowly returning.”
These three quotes were attributed to him in the book, ''al-I'jaz wa al-I'jaz'' by the author [[Al-Tha'alibi]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Al-Tha'alibi |url=https://shamela.ws/book/23741 |title=al-I'jaz wa al-I'jaz |publisher=Maktaba Al Qur'an Al Karim Lil Tiba'a Wa Al Nashr |year=1999 |location=Cairo, Egypt}}</ref>
== See also ==
*[[Non-Muslim interactants with Muslims during Muhammad's era]]
*[[Muqawqis]]
== References ==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gassani, Harith}}
[[Category:6th-century Arab people]]
[[Category:7th-century Arab people]]
[[Category:Syrian Christians]]
[[Category:Ghassanids]]
[[Category:Arab Christians]]
{{Syria-bio-stub}}