The Hashemite–Umayyad rivalry was a feud between the Banu Hashim clan and the Umayyad dynasty, both belonging to the Meccan Arab tribe of Quraysh, spanning the 7th and 8th centuries. The rivalry shaped several pivotal events in early Islamic history.
Origins
According to tradition, the Banu Umayya and Banu Hashim both descended from a common ancestor, Abd Manaf ibn Qusai, son of the progenitor of the Quraysh tribe, Qusai ibn Kilab, and they originally came from the city of Mecca in the Hijaz. The Hashemites took their name from Hashim ibn Abd Manaf, while the Umayyads descended from another son, Abd Shams ibn Abd Manaf, taking their name from his son, Umayya ibn Abd Shams.
Hashim ibn 'Abd Manaf (the paternal great-grandfather of the Islamic prophet Muhammad) and 'Abd Shams ibn Abd Manaf were conjoined twins - born with Hashim's leg attached to Abd Shams' head. It was said that they had struggled in the womb, each seeking to be firstborn. Their birth was remembered for Hashim being born with one of his toes pressed into the younger twin-brother, Abd Shams's, forehead. Legend says that their father, 'Abd Manaf ibn Qusai, separated his conjoined sons with a sword and that some priests believed that the blood that had flown between them signified wars between their progeny. The astrologers of Arabia opined that Abd Manaf had committed a grave error when he separated his sons by means of a sword; they did not regard his deed as a good omen.
Bani Umayyah became enemies of the Banu Hashim when Hashim banished his brother, 'Abd Shams ibn Abd Manaf, from Mecca. Abd Shams spent most of his exile in Syria, where he became prominent as a tradesman. During the late 6th century, the Hashemites were the custodians of Mecca's sacred precinct, the Kaaba, which housed the idols of 360 tribal deities and drew pilgrims from all over Arabia to the city's bustling seasonal markets. The caravans supplying these markets were operated by the Hashemites’ cousins, the Umayyads. The Umayyads occupied positions of authority in the Meccan city-state and staunchly guarded the tribal codes, hierarchies, and commercial practices that supported the city's mercantile economy, enriching and empowering their clan in the process.
When Muhammad, a minor Hashemite merchant, began publicly preaching Islam and decrying the inequity that underpinned the city's social structure in 613 CE, the Umayyads led other Meccan clans in opposition to Muhammad and his message. They reacted to his teachings by levying a crippling commercial and marital boycott on the Hashemite clan. As a result of this persecution, most of Mecca's Hashemites left their native city and resettled in the oasis city of Medina in 622 CE.
Armed conflicts during Muhammad's time
Medina lay 200 miles north of Mecca, on the caravan way to Syria. After Muhammad and his followers migrated to Medina, they frequently launched raids on passing Meccan caravans. When a caravan belonging to Abu Sufyan ibn Harb, the leader of the Banu Umayya, was attacked near Medina, the Quraysh decided to launch an assault on the Muslims.
The decisive battle, the first in the history of Islam, took place near the weils of Badr, outside Medina, on 13 March 624. In the pre-battle duels, three Hashimites from the Muslim side (Ali, Hamza and Ubaydah) engaged three Umayyads from the Meccan side (Walid, Utbah and Shayba). Ali killed Walid, and Hamza killed Utbah. Ubaydah was killed by Shaybah, but not before fatally wounding his opponent. Thus, with the three Meccan chiefs from the Banu Umayya being dead, the battle started with the Meccan side seemingly demoralized, and ended in a Muslim victory. From that day onwards, it is said that the rivalry between the two clans developed into a severe case of tribal animosity.
Muhammad had ordered that those Hashimites who were fighting in the side of the Meccans at Badr, including his uncle Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib were not to be killed. Reacting to this, Abu Hudhayfa ibn 'Utba, a Muslim belonging to Banu Umayya, and a son and brother respectively of the Meccan warriors killed in the duels, remarked: "Shall we kill our fathers, brothers and children, and leave al-Abbas? By Allah! If I meet him, I will kill him with the sword." Abbas was eventually captured, but released by Muhammad and allowed to return to Mecca. In contrast, the Umayyad elder Uqba ibn Abu Mu'ayt was executed on Muhammad's orders after being captured. This made the Banu Umayya even more bitter and hardened against Islam, and Abu Sufyan, the leader of the Banu Umayya (and of the entire Quraysh confederation after Abu Jahl's death) swore by pagan gods Al-Lat and Al-'Uzzá to get revenge on Muhammad and the Muslims.
The two sides met again next year in the Battle of Uhud. Led by Abu Sufyan, the Meccans managed to gain a victory, albeit a Pyrrhic one. When Hamza, Muhammad's uncle who had killed Utbah ibn Rabi'ah in Badr, was killed, Hind bint Utbah, the daughter of Utbah and wife of Abu Sufyan, is reported to have cut open the corpse of Hamza, taking out his liver which she then attempted to eat.Ibn Ishaq (1955) 380—388, cited in Peters (1994) p. 218 Abu Sufyan, after some brief verbal exchanges with Muhammad's companion, Umar (Umar ibn al-Khattab),Ibn Ishaq records this exchange as follows: decided to return to Mecca without pressing his advantage."Uhud", Encyclopedia of Islam OnlineWatt (1974) pp. 138—139
Two years later, Abu Sufyan led the Meccan forces on a third assault on Medina, driven back after the Muslims dug a trench around the city. After the subsequent Treaty of Hudaybiyyah was breached by the Quraysh, Muhammad led his army into Mecca. Most of the Umayyads, including Abu Sufyan and his sons Mu'awiya and Yazid converted to Islam. Others, like Hind bint Utbah and Abdallah ibn Sa'd became fugitives, but they also converted to Islam later. In his later years, Muhammad gave prominent roles to some late converts from the Banu Umayya, possibly as a way to keep them in check and prevent them from apostatizing.
After Muhammad
After the death of Muhammad, Abu Bakr was chosen as Caliph (successor to the prophet) and leader of the Muslims. He belonged to the Banu Taym, a clan of a somewhat lower status in the hierarchy of the Quraysh. Abu Sufyan, representing the Banu Umayya, and Muhammad's uncle Abbas, representing the Banu Hashim, are reported to have offered Ali military help in men and weapons in case he wanted to fight Abu Bakr, but Ali rebuked them.
When Abu Bakr's caliphate was secured, Abu Sufyan is believed to have approached him, asking him to appoint his sons to certain posts of prominence in return for Banu Umayya's compliance. Abu Bakr made Abu Sufyan's son Yazid commander of one of the armies that were to invade Syria. The second caliph, Umar, made an exception in his strict rule of appointing early Muslim converts to prominent posts, by appointing the late convert Yazid ibn Abi Sufyan - and later Yazid's brother Mu'awiya - to the post of Governor of Syria.
In the election that took place after Umar's death, the Meccan political elites overwhelmingly favored the Umayyad Uthman over the Hashimite Ali. This, according to Wilferd Madelung, was a result of the Meccan families' unwillingness to accept that the Hashemite family would hold both prophethood and caliphate. Historian Ibn Abi'l-Hadid recorded a conversation between the caliph Umar and Abdullah ibn Abbas, in which Umar said: "The Quraysh will never unanimously agree to Ali’s Caliphate, and if he is ever selected as Caliph, the Arabs will attack him from every direction."
The third caliph, Uthman, was from the Umayyad family. His policy is characterized as nepotist, giving his family members most of the positions of government and administration. This earned him the enmity of prominent non-Umayyad companions (such as Talhah, Zubayr ibn al-Awwam and Muhammad's widow Aisha), as well as the Arab tribes of Iraq and Egypt, who fell cheated by the caliph's insistence to give much of the war booty to his Umayyad kinsmen. From Egypt, a contingent of about 1,000 people were sent to Medina, with instructions to assassinate Uthman and overthrow the government. Similar contingents marched from Kufa and Basra to Medina. They sent their representatives to Medina to contact the leaders of public opinion. The representatives of the contingent from Egypt waited on Ali, and offered him the Caliphate in succession to Uthman, which Ali turned down. The representatives of the contingent from Kufa waited on Al-Zubayr, while the representatives of the contingent from Basra waited on Talhah, and offered them their allegiance as the next Caliph, which were both turned down. In proposing alternatives to Uthman as Caliph, the rebels neutralized the bulk of public opinion in Medina and Uthman's faction could no longer offer a united front. Uthman had the active support of the Umayyads, and a few other people in Medina.Muhammad and the Conquests of Islam, Francesco Gabrieli, London 1968 When Uthman was finally killed by the rebels in June 656, the people of Medina elected Ali as the Caliph.
First Fitna
Mu'awiya, the long-time governor of Syria and son of Abu Sufyan, refused to pledge allegiance to Ali, accusing him of having instigated the murder of Uthman. Mu'awiya let it be known that he considered the Banu Hashim collectively responsible for the blood of Uthman, thus reviving the old vendetta. Mu'awiya's cousin Al-Walid ibn Uqba addressed Ali with such words: "Surely your kinsmen, the 'Abd al-Muttalib, are the ones who killed 'Uthman in incontrovertible truth, out of wrongdoing and aggression, without a claim of blood revenge, and you are the most worthy of the people to be jumped upon, so jump." Marwan ibn al-Hakam accused Ali: "If you, 'AIT, have not struck the murdered man openly, you surely struck him in secret."If you, 'AIT, have not struck the murdered man openly, you surely struck him in secret.
Ali, in the meantime, had to face the rebellion of Aisha, Talha and Zubayr, who also accused him of killing Uthman. Not all Umayyads were prone to fight against Ali - some considered him a closer tribal relative than Talhah and Zubayr. Sa'id ibn al-'As, who had followed Talhah and Zubayr en route to Basra, declared that he would not strive to take the reign away from the Banu 'Abd Manaf (the common ancestral name of both the Hashemites and the Umayyads) and turned back.
After Ali defeated the opposition in the Battle of the Camel (December 656), he demanded from Mu'awiya to abdicate his post of governor of Syria. Mu'awiya refused, once again accusing Ali of being responsible for the murder of Uthman, and began raising an army. Ali also made preparations for battle, and the two armies met on July 657 in Siffin. Prior to the battle, Walid ibn Uqba again accused the Banu Hashim of bearing collective guilt for Uthman's murder:
Banu Hashim, return the arms of your sister's son, do not loot them, his loot is not licit. Banu Hashim, do not hasten to invite retaliation, the same to us are his murderers and his plunderer. Banu Hashim, how could there be negotiation between us when his sword is with 'All and his noble horses. They killed him in order to be in his place just as once Chosroes was betrayed by his Marzpans. I surely shall travel to you in a boundless host whose noise and turmoil will deafen the ear.
Historian Yaqubi wrote that Ali had 80,000 men, including 70 Companions who participated in the Battle of Badr, 70 Companions who took oath at Hudaibia, and 400 prominent Ansars and Muhajirun; while Muawiya had 120,000 Syrians.Yaqubi, vol 2, p. 188. Tarikh Al-Yaqubi (Tarikh Ibn Wadih).
William Muir wrote that,