Q. & A. 711 to 1707 with solved Papers css 1971 to date

CHAPTER
Ameer Mn’nwn/a (Rnd. A)
355
AMEER MU’AWIYA (RAD. A)
(661-680 A.D./ 41-60 A.H.)
Mu’awiya (Rad.A), the founder of the Umayyad dynasty of Caliphs based in Syria ruled as generally acknowledged Caliph from

661-680 A.D.1 Mu’awiya’s reign witnessed not only the consolidation but the extension of the territories of the Caliphate. To this period belongs the expansion in North Africa for which Uqbah ibn Nafi was in the main responsible. In the east the complete conquest of Khurasan was undertaken from al-Basrah, the O\us was crossed and Bukhara in far-away Turkestan conquered. Thus Mu’awiya (Rad.A) became not only the father of a dynasty but the second founder of the Caliphate after Hazrat Umar (Rad.A).2

Rise to Power
The distinguished soldiers of Islam. Yazid and Mu’awiya (Rad.A), were the sons of the famous Abu Sufyan b. Harb, who shared the honour and prestige of supplying food and water to the pilgrims of Ka’bah with Abu Talib b. ’Abdul Muttalib. led the Makkhans against Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and accepted Islam only when the Medinites were about to enter into Makkah as conquerors. The Muslim army in Syria was divided into three contingents one under the command of Yazid which pushed on towards Damascus and his brother Mu’awiya (Rad.A) bore his standard. Mu’awiya (Rad.A) helped his brother in the conquest of Saida (Sidon), Irqa, Jubayl and Bayrout (Beirut) on the sea-coast of the Damascus province.
Mu’awiya (Rad.A) had the privilege of being included among the witnesses to the agreement Umar (Rad.A) signed at alJabiyah before the occupation of Jerusalem b> the Muslims. In the
1 l:nc\clopediaofl.slam. Vol VII. P 263
2 Him. I’ 194
siege of Caesarea in 17/638 Mu’awiya (Rad.A) worked along with Amr b. al-A,s. Soon Yazid, who had succeeded Abu Ubaydah as Governor and Chief Commander, died like his predecessor in pestilence and was succeeded by his brother Mu’awiya (Rad.A), who forced the garrison of Caesarea to surrender in October 640 A.D. The new advantageous position that Mu’awiya (Rad.A) held gave him time and opportunity to prove his generalship and administrative genius b> maintaining strict discipline and consolidating his rule. He was wise and able but a man of great ambition.
Mu’awiya (Rad.A) engaged himself in consolidating the administration of Syria and, with sagacious foresight, strengthened his hold against the Romans. He controlled the Arab soldiery with the help of the influential citizens of Makkah and Medina a large number of whom had meanwhile settled in Syria. By the time his close relation Usman (Rad.A) succeeded Umar (Rad.A) in the Caliphate the entire province of Syria enjoyed peace under his strict rule.
In 26/64? the second year of the Caliphate of Usman (Rad.A), the eastern Romans advanced from Asia Minor. They were repulsed with the help of 8.000 Arab volunteers received from the eastern provinces. Mu’awiya (Rad.A) launched an expedition against Asia Minor and passing through Armenia, which had been conquered for him by Habib ibn Maslamah al-Fihri as early as 644-5, reached Tabaristan in the east and Tiflis and the Black Sea in the north. Hostilities between Constantinople and Damascus thus began leading to serious consequences. Mu’awiya (Rad.A), who had been once refused permission by Umar (Rad.A) to attack the Greeks in Eastern Mediterranean waters in retaliation for the attacks on the Syrian coasts made by the Byzantines from their naval base at Alexandria, now obtained permission from Caliph Usman (Rad.A) to do so. Thus he conquered Qabrus (Cyprus) in 28/649. Aided by naval expeditions from the ports of Syria and North Africa his army pushed forward the conquests in the Levant and Asia Minor and six years later it ran over along the Lycian coast to the vicinity of Constantinople. The land force under Mu’awiya’s direct command, however, could not push beyond Caesarea in Cappadocia.