Al-Muhajir ibn Abi Umayya

Al-Muhajir's birth name was al-Walid until it was changed to al-Muhajir (the Emigrant) by Muhammad; the latter noted that one of the Pharaohs bore the name al-Walid and that the name was used so excessively by the Banu Makhzum clan of the Quraysh tribe to which al-Muhajir belonged that it practically became a deity of the clan.[1] Al-Muahjir's father was Abu Umayya Suhayl, a son of al-Mughira ibn Abd Allah, a prominent pre-Islamic leader of the Banu Makhzum in Mecca.[2] Abu Umayya was well known for his generosity to traveling companions on the road and was popularly known as Zad al-Rakb (Provider for the Passengers).[2] Al-Muhajir's mother was Atika bint Amir from the Firas clan of the Kinanah tribe, which was noted for its martial prowess.[3] Al-Muhajir's full sister was Umm Salama, one of the wives of Muhammad.[4] He was a paternal first cousin of Khalid ibn al-Walid.[5]

Muhammad appointed al-Muhajir as the tax collector over the Yemenite tribes of Kindah (specifically its Banu Mu'awiya branch) and Sadif.[5] He married Asma bint al-Nu'man ibn Abi al-Jawn, a Kindite noblewoman and former wife of Muhammad; she later married al-Muhajir's Makhzumite kinsman Ikrima ibn Abi Jahl.[6] In 631 Muhammad appointed al-Muhajir governor of Yemen's principal city Sana'a.[7][8] He did not take up the post, remaining in Medina until the accession of Caliph Abu Bakr in 632.[8] Abu Bakr dispatched him to reinforce the governor of Yemen Ziyad ibn Labid al-Ansari and suppress the rebellion of the Banu Mu'awiya clan of Kindah in Hadhramawt (south Arabian coastal region) during the Ridda wars.[9][10][11] The Kindah ultimately surrendered to al-Muhajir and Ikrima.[10]

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• Donner, Fred M. (1981). The Early Islamic Conquests. Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-05327-8.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
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• Kister, M. J. (1975). ""Call Yourselves by Graceful Names ...". Lectures in Memory of Professor Martin M. Plessner. Jerusalem: Institute of Asian and African Studies, The Hebrew University. pp. 3–25.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Landau-Tasseron, Ella, ed. (1998). The History of al-Ṭabarī, Volume XXXIX: Biographies of the Prophet's Companions and their Successors: al-Ṭabarī's Supplement to his History. SUNY Series in Near Eastern Studies. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press. ISBN 978-0-7914-2819-1.
• Lecker, M. (2004). "Al-Ridda". In Bearman, P. J.; Bianquis, Th.; Bosworth, C. E.; van Donzel, E. & Heinrichs, W. P. (eds.). The Encyclopaedia of Islam, New Edition, Volume XII: Supplement. Leiden: E. J. Brill. pp. 692–695. ISBN 978-90-04-13974-9.
• Lecker, Michael (November 1994). "Kinda on the Eve of Islam and during the "Ridda"". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. 4 (3): 333–356. doi:10.1017/S1356186300005964. JSTOR 25182938.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)