Here follows the biography of Muʿāwiyah (1) together with a brief account of his life and the reports concerning his merits and virtues.

He is Muʿāwiyah ibn Abī Sufyān Ṣakhr ibn Ḥarb ibn Umayyah ibn ʿAbd Shams ibn ʿAbd Manāf ibn Quṣayy, the Qurashī Umayyad, Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, “the uncle of the believers,” and the scribe of the revelation of the Lord of all worlds. His mother was Hind bint ʿUtbah ibn Rabīʿah ibn ʿAbd Shams.

Muʿāwiyah entered Islam in the Year of the Conquest. He is reported to have said:

“I accepted Islam on the Day of al-Qaḍiyyah, but I concealed my faith from my father. When he came to know of it he said, ‘Your brother Yazīd—who is better than you—still follows the religion of his people.’ I replied, ‘I have spared no effort on my own behalf.’

“The Messenger of Allah ﷺ entered Mecca during the ʿUmrah of al-Qaḍāʾ while I already believed in him; then, when he returned in the Year of the Conquest, I openly proclaimed my Islam, came to him, and he welcomed me. From then on I wrote in his presence.”

Al-Wāqidī said: “He was with the Prophet at Ḥunayn, and the Prophet gave him one hundred camels and forty uqiyyahs of gold, the weight of which Bilāl measured out for him. He was also present at al-Yamāmah.

“Some have claimed”—Ibn ʿAsākir relates this—“that he was the one who killed Musaylimah. It is possible that he shared in the killing, but the one who actually struck him down was Wahshī, and he was then finished off (2) by Abū Dujānah Simāk ibn Kharashah with the sword.”

His father was among the nobles of Quraysh [in the pre-Islamic period] (3) and, after the day of Badr, retained sole leadership. When he later embraced Islam, his faith became praiseworthy, and he had honorable stands and commendable deeds at Yarmūk and on other occasions before and after.

Muʿāwiyah accompanied the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, served among the scribes who recorded the revelation before him, and transmitted hadith from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.