UMAYYAD CALIPHATE
GENEALOGY
(The Sufyānids)
Abū Sufyān Ṣakhr ibn Ḥarb al-Umawī, Leader of Quraysh and of the forces hostile to the Prophet, from the death of his cousin, Abū Lahab, in 624 until the Conquest of Mecca by the forces of Islam in 630. He converted to Islam and was quickly rehabilitated, being appointed Governor, responsible for taxes, of the distant city of Najran (632-653). Despite this, according to the historical tradition, he was present in an advisory capacity at several of the Rashidun Caliphate's early victories, eventually losing both of his eyes. He died, aged over ninety years in 653. He married (first) Umm Habība Saffiyah bint Abīl-'Ās al-'Umawī, his first cousin. He married (second) Hind bint `Utbah `Abd Shamsī, his second cousin. He married (third) Saffiyah bint `Abd il-Muṭṭalib al-Hāshemī, who also married Al-`Awwām ibn Khuwaylid al-Asadī. He had issue:
1) Yazīd ibn Abī Sufyān al-Umawī (son of Hind). A General involved in the Rashidun Caliphate's invasion of Byzantine Syria, he was Governor of Damascus (634-639) and, briefly, of Syria, before he died of plague in 639.
2) Mu`āwiyah I Katib al-Waḥi ibn Abī Sufyān al-Umawī, First Umayyad Caliph (Son of Hind) - See below.
3) `Utbah ibn Abī Sufyān al-Umawī (Son of Hind). Governor of Egypt (664-665). He led the Hajj (pilgrimage) in 661, 666 and, possibly, in 667. He had issue, including:
a) Al-Walīd ibn `Utbah al-Umawī. Governor of Medina (677-680, 681-682). He led the Hajj in 676, 678, 681 and 682.
4) `Anbasah ibn Abī Sufyān al-Umawī (Son of Hind). He led the Hajj in 662 and, possibly, 667.
5) Muḥammad ibn Abī Sufyān al-Umawī (son of Hind?). He had issue, including
a) `Uthmān ibn Muḥammad al-Umawī. He led the Hajj in 679 and was Governor of Medina in 682. He had issue, including:
i) Yazīd ibn `Uthmān al-Umawī
i) A Daughter, who married Al-Walīd II ibn Yazīd al-Umawī, Eleventh Umayyad Caliph. She had issue - see below.
6) Ziyād ibn `Ubayd, claimed to be an illegitimate child by one Sumayyah. He was recognised as such by Mu`awiyah, but the accuracy of this was disputed by later generations. He was a prominent Umayyad general during the First Fitna.
1) Ramlah bint Abī Sufyān al-Umawī (daughter of Umm Habība), a Narrator of Hadith (stories of the life and opinions of the Prophet). She marred (first, and later divorced) Ubaydallāh ibn Jash, a brother-in-law of the Prophet. She married (second) the Prophet. She died in 666.
2) Hind ibn Abī Sufyān al-Umawī (daughter of Hind)
3) Umm ul-Ḥākim bint Abī Sufyān al-Umawī (daughter of Hind?). She married `Abdullāh ibn `Uthmān ath-Thaqafī and had issue, including:
a) `Abd ur-Raḥmān ibn `Abdillāh ath-Thaqafī. He was an Umayyad General and Governor of Kufa in 678.
b) Al-Mughīrah ibn `Abdillāh ath-Thaqafī
a) Umm Muḥammad bint `Abdillāh ath-Thaqafī
661 - 680 Mu`āwiyah I Katib al-Waḥi ibn Abī Sufyān al-Umawī, Commander of the Faithful and First Umayyad Caliph. Born 602 in Mecca he was an opponent of Islam with his father until the Conquest of Mecca in 630, when he converted. He was quickly rehabilitated, serving as Secretary to the Prophet for Secular matters (630-632). After the Prophet's death he was a General in the wars with the Byzantines and he became Governor of the newly conquered province of Syria in 639, following his brother's death from the plague. He was outraged, when `Alī refused to punish the murderers of the Third Rashidun Caliph, who was a member of the Umayyad clan, and he rebelled, claiming the Caliphate for himself (656). After five years of war he took control of the Islamic world as the first Umayyad Caliph. He moved the capital from Medina to Damascus and spent much of his rule trying to ensure that his eldest son would succeed him in the, theoretically elective, Caliphate. He married (first) Nā'ilah bint 'Umārah al-Kalbī, but divorced her; she remarried to Habīb an-Nu'mān ibn al-Bashīr al-Ansārī. He married (second) Maysūn bint Bahdad al-Kalbī. He married (third) Fākhitah bint Qurazah an-Nawfalī, a fourth cousin. He married (fourth) Katwah bint Qurazah an-Nawfalī, sister of the previous; she died in 649. He died in 680 but had issue:
1) Yazīd I ibn Mu`āwiyah al-Umawī, Second Umayyad Caliph (Son of Maysūn) - see below.
2) `Abdullāh ibn Mu`āwiyah al-Umawī (Son of Fākhitah).
1) Hind bint Mu`āwiyah al-Umawī (Daughter of Maysūn). She married her fourth cousin, `Abdallāh ibn `Āmir `Abd Shamsī, Governor of Sijistan (648) and Basra (650-656, 661-664). She had issue:
a) `Abd al-Malik ibn `Abdallāh `Abd Shamsī, Head of the Police and Religious Affairs at Basra in 684 and a source to aṭ-Ṭabarī.
b) `Abd ul-A`lā ibn `Abdillāh `Abd Shamsī, an Umayyad General.
680 - 683 Yazīd I ibn Mu`āwiyah al-Umawī, Commander of the Faithful and Second Umayyad Caliph. Born 645, tradition records him as corrupt and evil, with no respect for Islam; this position may be coloured by the disastrous events of his reign. He served as a general and led the Hajj (pilgrimage) in 671. His father was determined that he would succeed him as Caliph, and extracted oaths of allegience to Yazid, during his lifetime. After Mu`awiyah's death, Yazid did ascend to the Caliphate, but the community was divided on whether to accept him. Many wished, instead, to recognise Husayn, the second son of the Fourth Rashidun Caliph; Yazid massacred him and most of his family at Karbala. In the aftermath, one of Husayn's supporters, Ibn az-Zubayr revolted, taking control of the Hejaz. This was the beginning of the Second Fitna, or Islamic Civil War. Yazid's armies advanced into the Hejaz, capturing Medina and beseiging Mecca in 683. In the course of these operations, many sacred sites were damaged, including the Kaaba, the holiest site in Islam. He married (first) Umm Khālid / Umm Hāshim Fākhitah bint Abī Hāshim `Abd Shamsī, his father's third cousin, who later married the Fourth Umayyad Caliph. He married (second) Umm Kulthūm bint `Abdallāh. He died in 683, his enemies claiming it as divine retribution. He had issue (the vast majority of which are otherwise unmentioned in the historical record):
1) Abū `Abd ir-Raḥmān Abū Laylā Mu`āwiyah II ibn Yazīd al-Umawī, Third Umayyad Caliph (Son of Fākhitah) - see below.
2) Abū Hāshim Khālid ibn Yazīd al-Umawī (Son of Fākhitah). A famous astronomer, alchemist and poet. He died around 700.
3) Abū Sufyān ibn Yazīd al-Umawī (Son of Fākhitah).
4) `Abdullāh al-Uswār ibn Yazīd al-Umawī (Son of Umm Kulthūm). Apparently a famous horseman, but there is no other mention of him in Tabari. He had issue:
a) Abū Muḥammad Muḥammad ibn `Abdillāh al-Umawī. An Umayyad General and Governor of Homs (744). After the `Abbasids had killed the Thirteenth Umayyad Caliph, he briefly claimed the Caliphate in 750, but was killed.
5) Ar-Rabī ibn Yazīd al-Umawī.
6) `Abd ur-Raḥmān ibn Yazīd al-Umawī
7) Ḥarb ibn Yazīd al-Umawī
8) `Abdullāh al-Ashgar ibn Yazīd al-Umawī
9) `Utbah ibn Yazīd al-Umawī
10) Abū Bakr ibn Yazīd al-Umawī
11) `Umar ibn Yazīd al-Umawī
12) Muḥammad ibn Yazīd al-Umawī. He had issue, including:
a) Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad al-Umawī.
1) `Ātikah bint Yazīd al-'Umawī. She married Abūl-Walīd `Abd ul-Malik ibn Marwān al-Umawī, Fourth Umayyad Caliph and had issue - see below.
683 Abū `Abd ir-Raḥmān Abū Laylā Mu`āwiyah II ibn Yazīd al-Umawī, Commander of the Faithful and Third Umayyad Caliph. Born in 661 he was very sickly and died in 683 after only a few days rule. Probably because of this the historical tradition views him very positively. He never married and, despite his two kunyas, had no issue.