Umayya ibn Abd Shams

Umayya ibn Abd-Shams (Arabic: أمية بن عبد شمس) is the progenitor of the line of the Umayyad caliphs. Anti-Umayyad polemic says that his name is derived from 'ama', a diminutive of the word for slave-girl,^[2] and instead of being the legitimate son of Abd Shams, Ibn al-Kalbi claims that he was adopted by him.^[3] However, Ibn al-Kalbi is acknowledged as an unreliable reporter.^[4]

The clan of Banu Umayya as well as the dynasty that ruled the Umayyad Caliphate are named after Umayya ibn Abd-Shams.

Umayya succeeded Abd-Shams as the qāʾid (wartime commander) of the Meccans. This position was likely an occasional political post whose holder oversaw the direction of Mecca's military affairs in times of war instead of an actual field command. This proved instructive as later Umayyads were known for possessing considerable political and military organizational skills.

After a rivalry with his cousin, Hashim ibn Abd-Manaf, Umayya ibn Abd-Shams ibn Abd-Manaf was banished by the Meccans to the Levant (Bilad al-Sham), where he and his progeny stayed, and he became a merchant. This later assisted his grand-son Mu'awiya ibn Abi-Sufyan ibn Harb ibn Umayya to establish the new caliphate whose capital was Damascus.^[5]

His children were:

• Abu al-'As
• Harb
• Al-'As
• Abu 'Amr
• Abu al-'Is
• Safiyya