Abū ʿUbayda ibn al-Jarrāḥ (, born ʿĀmir ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Jarrāḥ; 583–639 CE), was a Muslim commander and one of the Companions of the Prophet, noted for his piety, intelligence, bravery, and devotion to Muhammad. An early convert to Islam, he participated in all major military campaigns of Muhammad, including the Battle of Badr and the Battle of Uhud, and commanded a division during the Conquest of Mecca. Muhammad gave him the honorific al-Amīn ("the Trustworthy"), also rendered Amīn al-Ummah ("Trustee of the Community"), and is said to have promised him paradise.
His courage in the early battles and his leadership qualities made him a prominent figure among Muhammad's companions. He was later sent as a preacher to Najran to instruct newly converted tribes in Islam. During the Rashidun Caliphate, he played an instrumental role in the political transition and succession of Abu Bakr at the Saqifa assembly. Under Abu Bakr he served as a commander in Syria, and during the caliphate of Umar he became supreme commander of the Syrian army, succeeding Khalid ibn al-Walid as commander in chief.
Abū u Ubayda participated prominently in the Muslim conquest of Syria, conquering Damascus, Homs, Antioch, and Aleppo, and subsequently administering these territories successfully. Umar also designated him among the candidates for succession to the caliphate. He died in 639 (AH 18) during the Plague of Amwas, which claimed the lives of many Muslim warriors.
Early life and conversion Abu Ubayda belonged to the al-Harith ibn Fihr clan of the Quraysh tribe. He was born around 583. His full name was Amir ibn Abd Allah ibn al-Jarrah ibn Hilal ibn Uhayb ibn Dabba ibn al-Harith. The clan was settled in the lower quarter of Mecca, a town in the Hejaz (western Arabia) and home of the Quraysh. During the pre-Islamic period (pre-620s), the al-Harith ibn Fihr were allied to the Banu Abd Manaf (the ancestral clan of the Islamic prophet Muhammad) in the Mutayyabun faction, against the other Qurayshite clans headed by the Banu Abd al-Dar. Abu Ubayda's father Abd Allah was among the chiefs of the Quraysh in the Fijar War against the Hawazin nomads in the late 6th century. His mother was Umayma bint Ghanm, also belonging to the Quraysh.
Abu Ubayda was among the earliest converts to Islam, specifically recorded as the ninth person to accept the faith. According to traditional accounts, he embraced Islam alongside Uthman ibn Maz'un and Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf before Muhammad began preaching from the house of al-Arqam. Following the migration to Medina, he was established in a bond of brotherhood with Muhammad ibn Maslama.
Military career under Muhammad In 624, Abu Ubayda participated in the first major battle between the Muslims and the Quraysh of Mecca at the Battle of Badr, where he encountered his polytheist father, Abd Allah ibn al-Jarrah, who fought on the side of the Quraysh. According to historical commentators such as Sa'id ibn Abd al-Aziz, the verse , "You will not find any people who believe in Allah and the Last Day...", was revealed regarding Abu Ubayda after he killed his father in the engagement.
In 625, Abu Ubayda participated in the Battle of Uhud. During the engagement, when Khalid ibn al-Walid's cavalry attacked the Muslims from the rear and turned an initial advantage into chaos, the bulk of the Muslim soldiers were driven from the battlefield. Abu Ubayda was among those who remained steadfast, guarding Muhammad against the attacks of the Qurayshi forces. During the fighting, he lost his two front teeth while using his mouth to extract two iron links of Muhammad's helmet or armor that had pierced Muhammad's cheeks. Subsequently, Abu Ubayda participated alongside Muhammad in all major military campaigns, including the Battle of the Trench.
He led the Expedition of al-Khabt, a coastal reconnaissance operation directed toward the seashore. Later, during the Expedition of Expedition of Dhat al-Salasil in 630, Abu Ubayda served as the commander over the contingents of the Muhajirun and the Ansar. Following this, after a Christian delegation from Najran arrived and requested someone to guide them in religious and tribal affairs according to Islamic law, Muhammad appointed Abu Ubayda for the mission, describing him as a trustworthy man.
Role in the succession of Abu Bakr
When Muhammad died in 632, Abu Ubayda was in Mecca. The Muslim leaders were in disagreement over who would succeed him as leader of their nascent community. On the same day of the Islamic prophet's death, the Ansar convened in a controversial meeting that became known as the Saqifa. They chose one of their own as caliph. Their principal aim was to prevent a Meccan, especially the new converts among the Qurayshi aristocracy, from gaining power over them.
Opinions among the Muhajirun were split, with one side favouring a person closer to Muhammad in kinship, namely Ali, who they held was favoured by Muhammad to succeed him. The other faction of the Muhajirun mostly backed Abu Bakr due to his seniority, closeness to Muhammad, and the increasingly important role he had attained in the prophet's last years. The bulk of the Qurayshite new converts, with the prominent exception of Abu Sufyan, backed Abu Bakr.
The Islamic tradition generally portrays Abu Bakr, Umar and Abu Ubayda as operating in concert and decisively intervening against the Ansar at Saqifa. After a debate, the triumvirate obtained the allegiance of the Ansar to Abu Bakr despite their reservations. There are indications, according to the modern historian Elias Shoufani, that Umar initially favoured Abu Ubayda but that he lacked sufficient support against Abu Bakr, who he consequently supported against other potential candidates. A report in the history of al-Baladhuri holds that after Muhammad died, Umar told Abu Ubayda, "Stretch your hand and let us give you the bay'ah [oath of allegiance], for you are the custodian (Amīn) of this ummah (the Muslim community), as the prophet called you". Abu Ubayda is then said to have declined the approach in favour of Abu Bakr. Another report in the history of al-Tabari holds that Abu Bakr offered the caliphate to Umar or Abu Ubayda at the Saqifa, but both insisted on Abu Bakr's succession.
Commander in Syria
Deployment and appointment of Abu Ubayda to supreme command As the Ridda wars came to an end, Abu Bakr dispatched three or four armies at different intervals toward Byzantine Syria to conquer that region. Though there are several versions in the early Islamic tradition, including in the works of Ibn Hubaysh al-Asadi (), al-Mas'udi (d. 956), al-Azdi (d. 944), as well as the 10th-century-compiled Kitab al-Aghani, that place Abu Ubayda as one of these commanders, modern research, including by historians H. A. R. Gibb, C. H. Becker, Philip K. Hitti, Andreas Stratos, D. R. Hill and Khalil Athamina, date Abu Ubayda's dispatch to after Abu Bakr's death. In the comprehensive 9th-century history of the early Muslim conquests by al-Baladhuri, the latter states "there is no truth" to the claim that Abu Ubayda was sent by Abu Bakr. Rather, the caliph "intended to send Abu ʿUbayda at the head of one of the armies, but the latter asked the caliph to relieve him of this mission". Athamina assesses that "certain allusions" in the Islamic sources offer context to the notion that Abu Ubayda, despite his participation in several expeditions under Muhammad and his high-standing among the Muslims, did not have the desire nor the necessary military experience and merit to accept the post Abu Bakr offered him.
Modern research indicates that Abu Ubayda was dispatched to the Syrian front by Abu Bakr's successor, Umar, and early Muslim authors al-Baladhuri, al-Fasawi (d. 890) and Ibn Asakir (d. 1175) mention that it was in the capacity as commander of an army of reinforcements. His arrival most likely dated to around 636, shortly after the first Muslim capture of Damascus in late 635 or during the preparation for the subsequent Battle of the Yarmuk. At the time, supreme command of the Muslim armies in Syria was held by Khalid ibn al-Walid with Abu Ubayda playing a supportive role to Khalid. Umar may have sent Abu Ubayda to assume the supreme command. Several accounts in the Islamic tradition claim Abu Ubayda concealed the caliph's order from the rest of the army to avoid potentially insulting Khalid or provoking a mutiny while the Muslims were on the cusp of a major confrontation with the Byzantines. Athamina dismisses the reliability of these claims, considering them militarily illogical and meant to dramatise the change in command and emphasise Abu Ubayda's "moral superiority and unselfishness". Instead, Athamina maintains Abu Ubayda's appointment to the supreme command was made by Umar, who had kept in constant contact with Abu Ubayda through letters and emissaries, after the decisive Muslim victory at the Yarmuk.
Abu Ubayda may have been chosen to lead at that time, when the Byzantine defence of Syria had taken an enormous blow, as the circumstances called for an able administrator to take the helm from a military commander like Khalid. The Islamic tradition provides a host of moral and personal reasons why Khalid was demoted in favour of Abu Ubayda, but most modern historians view these as either partially valid or literary innovations. Athamina holds Abu Ubayda was likely installed because Khalid and his large force of tribesmen from Arabia and Iraq, along with their families, presented a threat to the old-established, formerly Byzantine-allied, and militarily experienced Arab tribes of Syria, whose defection was considered vital by Umar to form a network of defences against the Byzantines. This motivated him to demote Khalid and disband his army, the remnants of which were transferred to the Sasanian front in Iraq.
Ajnadayn and Damascus During 634, the Muslims heard that 90,000 strong Byzantine army had gathered at Ajnadayn about southwest of Jerusalem. All the divisions of the Muslim army, about 32,000 in number, joined Khalid at Ajnadayn on 24 July 634. Under the command of Khalid ibn al-Walid the Muslims defeated the Byzantine army there on 30 July 634 at the Battle of Ajnadayn. One week later, Khalid, along with Abu Ubayda, moved towards Damascus. On their way to Damascus, they defeated another Byzantine army at the Battle of Yaqusa in mid-August 634. Caloiis and Azrail, the governor of Damascus, led another army to stop Khalid's corps but they were also defeated in the Battle of Marj al-Saffar on 19 August 634.
The next day the Muslims reached Damascus and besieged the city. The siege continued for 30 days. After defeating the Byzantine reinforcements sent by Emperor Heraclius at the Battle of Sanita-al-Uqab, from Damascus, Khalid's forces attacked and entered the city. With Khalid's divisions investing the city from the northeast, Thomas, the purported son-in-law of the Emperor Heraclius, surrendered the city to Abu Ubayda, who was besieging the Bab al-Jabiya (Jabiya Gate), on 19 September 634.