Then Muhammad married Abu Sufyan's widowed sister in 629 and entered Mecca in 630, whereupon Abu Sufyan became a follower and took a role in the new Muslim state. (The illustration shows Abu Sufyan and other leaders making a pledge.)
Abu Sufyan had two sons, Yazid and Muawiyah, who each were granted command roles in the province. Yazid became governor of Damascus, Jordan, and Palestine. This was under the Rashidun Caliphate. Muawiyah went on to start his own caliphate, the Umayyad Caliphate.
Muawiyah became one of Muhammad's scribes first, moving up the ranks until he became the governor of Syria. There was a powerful tribe, the Banu Kalb, with which Muawiyah formed an alliance. Muawiyah was a leader in the campaigns against the Byzantine Empire.
His duties were not just military, of course. He organized the local government and established a chancellery and postal routes. The Muslim conquest of Ifriqiya (Northern Africa) was begun by him. When the last Rashidun Caliph, Uthman, was assassinated, Muawiyah was chosen to replace him. Muawiyah was the first caliph of the Umayyad Dynasty.
He was different from other caliphs, however, treating himself more as a king above others rather than a first among equals. He was criticized for having a throne that put him physically higher than others. A 9th-century Arab Muslim historian, al-Ya'qubi, described him as:
...the first to have a bodyguard, police-force and chamberlains ... He had somebody walk in front of him with a spear, took alms out of the stipends and sat on a throne with the people below him ... He used forced labour for his building projects ... He was the first to turn this matter [the caliphate] into mere kingship.
There is another anecdote, however, that makes him a little more kind to his subjects. One anecdote, in which he is questioned for letting someone criticize him, has him respond "I do not insert myself between the people and their tongue, so long as they do not insert themselves between us and our sovereignty."
Another supposed saying go his was "I never use my voice if I can use my money, never my whip if I can use my voice, never my sword if I can use my whip; but, if I have to use my sword, I will."
He died in the spring of 680 CE, having caused a controversy by naming his son as his successor rather than having a successor be chosen by his followers. Some of what we know about him comes from a Nestorian chronicler named Elijah of Nisibis, whom I will tell you about tomorrow.
