ভূমিকা

Having received full knowledge of their evil traits through revelation, the Holy Prophet repeatedly cursed them,[^1] specifically Abu Sufyan Ibn Harb.[^2] Even Allah, referring to them metaphorically in the Qur’an cursed them when He said, “And the cursed tree in the Qur’an...” (c.

17:60) Both Sunni and Shi’a commentators agree that this “cursed tree” is none other than the Bani Umayyah.[^3] Generation after generation, they perpetuated their hatred towards the religion of Islam and their attempts to overcome it. Initially, in Mecca and Madinah, Abu Sufyan and his son Mu’awiyah severely tormented the Muslims.

The attacks by Abu Sufyan led the reputable Sunni historian, Ibn Abd al-Birr to declare that, “Abu Sufyan was a shelter for all the hypocrites who were against the Muslims after he embraced Islam and what is correct (to say) is that he did not embrace Islam, but rather he unwillingly surrendered to the Muslims.”[^4] His animosity prevailed some fourteen years after his “conversion” when he kicked the grave of the martyred uncle of the Prophet, Hamzah, and mocked him saying, “O Aba Imarah , the issue [Islamic leadership] which you fought against us with the sword is now in the hands of our children who are playing with it.”[^5] Mu’awiyah, on the other hand, took a less vocal stance during his caliphate and simply killed those prominent companions of the Prophet who disagreed with his totalitarian policies.

Among the souls whom he escorted out of the life of this world were the grandson of the Prophet, Imam Hasan, Hijr Ibn Uday, Malik al-Ashtar, Muhammad Ibn Abu Bakr, Ammar Ibn Yasir, Abd al-Rahman Ibn Abu Bakr, and Sa’d Ibn Abu al-Waqqas.[^6] Mu’awiyah continued his mayhem by killing many of the Ansar and memorizers of the Holy Qur’an.