Al-Hakam ibn Abi al-As

Template:Short description Al-Hakam ibn Abi al-As ibn Umayya (Template:Langx; died 655/56), was the father of the founder of the Marwanid line of the Umayyad dynasty, Marwan I (Template:Reign), and a paternal uncle of Caliph Uthman (Template:Reign). He was known as a staunch opponent of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and was consequently exiled when the latter captured their hometown of Mecca in 630. He was later pardoned by Uthman.

Family

Al-Hakam was the son of Abu al-As ibn Umayya of the Banu Abd Shams and Ruqayya bint al-Harith of the Banu Makhzum, both parents' clans belonging to the Quraysh tribe of Mecca.Template:Sfn His paternal grandfather was the progenitor of the Umayyad family.

Al-Hakam married Amina bint Alqama ibn Safwan al-Kinaniyya after she was divorced by his half-brother Affan ibn Abi al-As.Template:Sfn She gave birth to al-Hakam's son, Marwan, who became the Umayyad caliph in 684-685 and the progenitor of all successive Umayyad caliphs.Template:Sfn Al-Hakam fathered at least twenty, but probably over thirty children from four different wives and a number of slave women.Template:Sfn Besides Marwan, Amina bint Alqama was the mother of al-Hakam's eldest son, Uthman al-Azraq, and al-Harith, Abd al-Rahman, Salih and daughters Umm al-Banin and Zaynab. His second wife, Mulayka bint Awfa of the Banu Murra clan of the Ghatafan tribe, was the mother of his sons Yahya, Aban, Uthman al-Asghar, Habib, Amr and daughters Umm Yahya, Zaynab, Umm Shayba, Umm Uthman and Umm Salama.Template:Sfn His third wife, Umm al-Nu'man bint al-Harith ibn Abi Amr of the Banu Thaqif tribe, gave him sons Nu'man, Aws, Suhayl, and Amr, and daughters Umm Aban, Umama, Umm Amr and Umm al-Hakam. His Qurayshite wife, al-Ba'itha bint Hashim ibn Utba ibn Rabi'a of the Banu Abd Shams was the mother of his son Yusuf.Template:Sfn

Life

Al-Hakam was known to have staunchly opposed the Islamic prophet Muhammad and was thus exiled by the latter from Mecca to the nearby town of Taif.Template:Sfn According to the history of 9th-century historian al-Tabari, Muhammad later pardoned al-Hakam and he was allowed to return to his hometown.Template:Sfn However, in the history of 9th-century historian al-Yaqubi, al-Hakam was allowed to return to Mecca by his nephew, Caliph Uthman (Template:Reign), after his petitions to return were rejected by the previous two caliphs, Abu Bakr (Template:Reign) and Umar (Template:Reign).Template:Sfn Uthman showed special favor to his kinsmen and he symbolically honored al-Hakam, along with his Umayyad relatives Abu Sufyan and al-Walid ibn Uqba and Banu Hashim member al-Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib, by allowing them to sit on his throne in Medina.Template:Sfn Al-Hakam died in 655/56.Template:Sfn

Bibliography

• Template:The History of al-Tabari