Virtues of Mu‘awiyah bin Abi Sufyan
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In the name of Allah the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful.
السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته
May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon you (Oh Reader).
Many Sunni Muslims are unaware or misinformed about the status of Amirul Mumineen Mu‘awiyah (May Allah be pleased with him), much of this may be due to being affected by Shi‘a propaganda. So I have written this article in order to summarise and present some of the merits and virtues of this great companion of our beloved Prophet (May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).
His full name being, Mu‘awiyah bin Abi Sufyan ibn Harb ibn Umayyah ibn ‘Abd Shams ibn ‘Abd Manaf.
In short he (May Allah be pleased with him) was from the elite class of Companions, after the Caliphate of ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib and his son Al Hasan ibn ‘Ali (May Allah be pleased with them both) Allah (May He be highly exalted) honoured and chose Mu‘awiyah (May Allah be pleased with him) to become the leader of the Muslims and the inheritor of the Rashidun (May Allah be pleased with them all). He benefited the Ummah much during his reign, he waged many campaigns which expanded the reach of the Islamic empire upon the earth. Conquering lands in north Africa and even besieging the great city of Constantinople.
His Noble Family
Both his father Abi Sufyan ibn Harb and mother Hind bint ‘Utba (May Allah be pleased with them both) accepted Islam and became noble Companions of the Prophet (May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).
Ibn ‘Abbas (May Allah be pleased with him) reported that:
The Muslims neither looked to Abu Sufyan (May Allah be pleased with him) with respect nor did they sit in his company (when he first became Muslim). He (Abu Sufyan) said to Allah’s Apostle (May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him): “Make me the commander (of the Muslim army) so that I should fight against the disbelievers as I fought against the Muslims. (The Messenger of Allah) said: “Yes”.
Sahih Muslim 2501
Narrated ‘Aisha (May Allah be pleased with her):
Hind bint ‘Utba (May Allah be pleased with her) came and said, “O Allah’s Messenger! (Before I embraced Islam) there was no family on the surface of the earth I wished to see in disgrace more than I did your family, but today there is no family on the surface of the earth I wish to see honored more than I do yours.” The Prophet (May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “I thought the same, by Him in whose Hand my soul is!”
Sahih al-Bukhari 3825
His sister (May Allah be pleased with her) Ramla bint Abi Sufyan, also known as Umm Habiba, was the wife of the Messenger of Allah (May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and the Mother of the Believers.
Ibn Abbas (May Allah be pleased with him) reported:
(Abi Sufyan said to the Messenger of Allah): “I have with me the most beautiful and the best (of women) Umm Habiba, marry her”. Whereupon (the Messenger of Allah) said: “Yes”.
Sahih Muslim 2501
As we can see Allah (May He be highly exalted) has blessed and chosen Mu‘awiyah (May Allah be pleased with him) to not only be one of the greatest leaders of the Ummah but to also be from one of the noblest of families, for he was the son of two Companions of the Prophet (May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and he was the brother-in-law of the Prophet (May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).
Promised Paradise
Mu‘awiyah (May Allah be pleased with him) is from among those Companions who have been guaranteed paradise by the Prophet (May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) for their participation in the very first naval expedition of the Muslims.
Narrated Khalid bin Madan:
Um Haram (May Allah be pleased with her) informed us that she heard the Prophet (May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) saying, “Paradise is granted to the first batch of my followers who will undertake a naval expedition.”
Sahih al-Bukhari 2924
Narrated Anas bin Malik (May Allah be pleased with him):
“The first time the Muslims undertook a naval expedition (was) led by Mu‘awiyah (May Allah be pleased with him)”
Sahih al-Bukhari 2799
As we can see from these Hadith Mu‘awiyah (May Allah be pleased with him) was not only participating in the expedition, he was the leader of the campaign. So as Ahl al-Sunnah wa‘l-Jamaa‘ah we can be confident that Mu‘awiyah (May Allah be pleased with him) is guaranteed to enter through the gates of paradise.
The Du’a of the Prophet for Mu‘awiyah
The Messenger of Allah (May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) specifically made a du’a for Mu’awiyah (May Allah be pleased with him), that he would be guided by Allah (May He be highly exalted) and that he would guide others.
Narrated ‘Abdur-Rahman bin Abu ‘Umairah — and he was one of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah (May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him):
from the Prophet (May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), that he said to Mu’awiyah: “O Allah, make him guided, a guider and guide people through him.”
Jami` at-Tirmidhi Vol. 1, Book 46, Hadith 3842 (Sahih)
Narrated Abu Idris Al-Khawlani:
“When ‘Umar bin Al-Khattab removed ‘Umair bin Sa’d as governor of Hims, he appointed Mu’awiyah. The people said: ‘He has removed ‘Umair and appointed Mu’awiyah.’ So ‘Umair said: ‘Do not mentioned Mu’awiyah except with good, for indeed, I heard the Messenger of Allah (May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) saying: “O Allah guide (others) by him.”
Jami` at-Tirmidhi Vol. 1, Book 46, Hadith 3843 (Hassan)
Praised by other Companions
The other Companions such as ’Abdullah ibn ’Abbas (May Allah be pleased with him), who was the cousin of the Prophet (May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), recognised the status of Mu’awiyah (May Allah be pleased with him) and highly praised him.
Narrated Ibn Abi Mulaika:
Somebody said to Ibn ’Abbas, “Can you speak to the chief of the believers Mu’awiyah, as he does not pray except one rak’a as witr?” Ibn ’Abbas replied, “He is a Faqih (i.e. a learned man who can give religious verdicts) .”
Sahih al-Bukhari 3765
The Scribe of the Prophet
Mu‘awiyah (May Allah be pleased with him) used to be the personal scribe of the Messenger of Allah (May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and he used to write down the verses of the noble Qur’an.
Ibn ‘Abbas (May Allah be pleased with him) reported that:
(Abi Sufyan said to the Messenger of Allah): “Accept Mu’awiyah to serve as your scribe”. He (The Messenger of Allah) said: “Yes”.
Sahih Muslim 2501
Abu Jamrah told us, I heard ibn ’Abbas (May Allah be pleased with him) say:
(The Messenger of Allah told me): “Go and call Mu’awiyah for me” — as he was his scribe.
Musnad Imam Ahmad Hadith 2651 (Hassan)
The Barber of the Prophet
Mu‘awiyah (May Allah be pleased with him) used to cut the blessed hair of the Prophet (May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).
It was narrated that Mu‘awiyah (May Allah be pleased with him) said:
“I cut the hair of the Messenger of Allah (May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) at Al-Marwah with the edge of a Bedouin arrow”.
Sunan an-Nasa’i 2988 (Sahih)
The Seriousness of the status of a Companion
Oh Slave of Allah! Know that all of the noble Companions of the Prophet (May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) are righteous individuals who sacrificed their wealth and lives for our honour. They are the ones who preserved and transmitted our religion to us. It is absolutely forbidden to abuse, curse or hate any of the noble Companions.
Narrated Abu Sa`id:
The Prophet (ﷺ) said, “Do not abuse my companions for if any one of you spent gold equal to Uhud (in Allah’s Cause) it would not be equal to a Mud or even a half Mud spent by one of them.”
Sahih al-Bukhari 3673
Narrated Ibn ‘Abbas:
“The Prophet (ﷺ) said to me: ‘A man who believes in Allah and the Last Day does not hate the Ansar.”
Jami` at-Tirmidhi Vol. 1, Book 46, Hadith 3906 (Sahih)
How can you hate those whom transmitted your religion to you? Those whom Allah (May He be highly exalted) chose out of all of mankind to be the companions of the Prophet (May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him)? Those whom Allah (May He be highly exalted) has promised paradise and ordered you to follow? Rather, only someone who is from among the hypocrites is displeased with those whom Allah is pleased with.
وَالسَّابِقُونَ الْأَوَّلُونَ مِنَ الْمُهَاجِرِينَ وَالْأَنصَارِ وَالَّذِينَ اتَّبَعُوهُم بِإِحْسَانٍ رَّضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُمْ وَرَضُوا عَنْهُ وَأَعَدَّ لَهُمْ جَنَّاتٍ تَجْرِي تَحْتَهَا الْأَنْهَارُ خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا أَبَدًا ذَٰلِكَ الْفَوْزُ الْعَظِيمُ
And the first forerunners [in the faith] among the Muhajireen and the Ansar and those who followed them with good conduct — Allah is pleased with them and they are pleased with Him, and He has prepared for them gardens beneath which rivers flow, wherein they will abide forever. That is the great attainment.
Quran 9:100
May the curse of Allah (May He be highly exalted) and his Angels be upon the one who is displeased with Mu‘awiyah ibn Abi Sufyan (May Allah be pleased with him) or any of the noble Companions of the Messenger of Allah (May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him).
I hope that this article helped you learn more about who Mu‘awiyah (May Allah be pleased with him) was and the great status he has in Islam.
و صل اللهم على سيدنا و نبينا محمد
May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon our Master and Prophet Muhammad.
والسلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته
And may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon you (Oh Reader).