ABSTRACT
Little is known about Mu'awiyah early life. He was born to Abi Sufyan, a prosperous trader and farmer of Medina and head of the Umayya, one of two clans in control of much of the trade that flowed across the Arabian peninsula. Sufyan had opposed the rise of Islamic power in Medina under the prophet Muhammad, but in 630 he converted, along with his family, to Islam. This conversion, along with the military exhaustion of the Byzantine and Persian Empires that claimed Arabia, enabled Muhammad to unite all Arabs under Islam. Mu'awiyah probably received schooling from tutors and certainly received practical training from his father's clan in commerce, agriculture, and the military arts. He briefly served as Muhammad's secretary between 630 and the prophet's death in 632.
