# Harb ibn Umayya

Ḥarb ibn Umayya ibn ʿAbd Shams (Arabic: حرب بن أمية بن عبد شمس) was the father of Abu Sufyan and Arwa and the son of Umayya ibn Abd Shams. Harb is credited in the Islamic tradition as the first among the Quraysh to write in Arabic and the first to stop consuming wine.

## War leader

Harb was one of the top leaders of the Quraysh of Mecca, belonging to one of its clans, the Banu Abd Shams. The Islamic tradition presents him as the successor of his companion, Abd al-Muttalib of the Banu Hashim, as the war leader of the Quraysh. He led the Abd Shams or the Quraysh in general during the Fijar War against the nomadic tribes of the Hawazin. After his death, war leadership returned to the Banu Hashim.
According to the editors of the Encyclopedia of Islam, stories of Harb's rivalry and contest of merits with Abd al-Muttalib are "no doubt a projection backwards of the later conflict between the houses of Umayya [branch of the Abd Shams] and Hashim" in the 7th–8th centuries. According to the historian Mahmood Ibrahim, the rivalry between Harb and Abd al-Muttalib stemmed from the increasing commercial power of the Banu Umayya at the expense of other Qurayshite clans, including the Banu Hashim.

## Family tree

| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Quraysh tribe | Quraysh tribe | Quraysh tribe | Quraysh tribe | Quraysh tribe | Quraysh tribe |
| | | | | | | Waqida bint Amr | Waqida bint Amr | Waqida bint Amr | Waqida bint Amr | Waqida bint Amr | Waqida bint Amr | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Abd Manaf ibn Qusai | Abd Manaf ibn Qusai | Abd Manaf ibn Qusai | Abd Manaf ibn Qusai | Abd Manaf ibn Qusai | Abd Manaf ibn Qusai | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Ātikah bint Murrah | Ātikah bint Murrah | Ātikah bint Murrah | Ātikah bint Murrah | Ātikah bint Murrah | Ātikah bint Murrah |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | Nawfal ibn Abd Manaf | Nawfal ibn Abd Manaf | Nawfal ibn Abd Manaf | Nawfal ibn Abd Manaf | Nawfal ibn Abd Manaf | Nawfal ibn Abd Manaf | | | ‘Abd Shams | ‘Abd Shams | ‘Abd Shams | ‘Abd Shams | ‘Abd Shams | ‘Abd Shams | | | Barra | Barra | Barra | Barra | Barra | Barra | | | Hala | Hala | Hala | Hala | Hala | Hala | | | Muṭṭalib ibn Abd Manaf | Muṭṭalib ibn Abd Manaf | Muṭṭalib ibn Abd Manaf | Muṭṭalib ibn Abd Manaf | Muṭṭalib ibn Abd Manaf | Muṭṭalib ibn Abd Manaf | | | Hashim | Hashim | Hashim | Hashim | Hashim | Hashim | | | Salma bint Amr | Salma bint Amr | Salma bint Amr | Salma bint Amr | Salma bint Amr | Salma bint Amr |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Umayya ibn Abd Shams | Umayya ibn Abd Shams | Umayya ibn Abd Shams | Umayya ibn Abd Shams | Umayya ibn Abd Shams | Umayya ibn Abd Shams | | | | | | | ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib | ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib | ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib | ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib | ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib | ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib |
| Harb | Harb | Harb | Harb | Harb | Harb | | | | | | | | | | | Abū al-ʿĀs | Abū al-ʿĀs | Abū al-ʿĀs | Abū al-ʿĀs | Abū al-ʿĀs | Abū al-ʿĀs | | | ʿĀminah | ʿĀminah | ʿĀminah | ʿĀminah | ʿĀminah | ʿĀminah | | | ʿAbdallāh | ʿAbdallāh | ʿAbdallāh | ʿAbdallāh | ʿAbdallāh | ʿAbdallāh | | | Hamza | Hamza | Hamza | Hamza | Hamza | Hamza | | | Abī Ṭālib | Abī Ṭālib | Abī Ṭālib | Abī Ṭālib | Abī Ṭālib | Abī Ṭālib | | | Az-Zubayr | Az-Zubayr | Az-Zubayr | Az-Zubayr | Az-Zubayr | Az-Zubayr | | | al-ʿAbbās | al-ʿAbbās | al-ʿAbbās | al-ʿAbbās | al-ʿAbbās | al-ʿAbbās | Abū Lahab | Abū Lahab | Abū Lahab | Abū Lahab | Abū Lahab | Abū Lahab |
| ʾAbī Sufyān ibn Harb | ʾAbī Sufyān ibn Harb | ʾAbī Sufyān ibn Harb | ʾAbī Sufyān ibn Harb | ʾAbī Sufyān ibn Harb | ʾAbī Sufyān ibn Harb | al-Ḥakam | al-Ḥakam | al-Ḥakam | al-Ḥakam | al-Ḥakam | al-Ḥakam | ʿUthmān | ʿUthmān | ʿUthmān | ʿUthmān | ʿUthmān | ʿUthmān | | | ʿAffān | ʿAffān | ʿAffān | ʿAffān | ʿAffān | ʿAffān | | | MUHAMMAD (Family tree) | MUHAMMAD (Family tree) | MUHAMMAD (Family tree) | MUHAMMAD (Family tree) | MUHAMMAD (Family tree) | MUHAMMAD (Family tree) | | | Khadija bint Khuwaylid | Khadija bint Khuwaylid | Khadija bint Khuwaylid | Khadija bint Khuwaylid | Khadija bint Khuwaylid | Khadija bint Khuwaylid | | | | | | | ʿAlī (Family tree) | ʿAlī (Family tree) | ʿAlī (Family tree) | ʿAlī (Family tree) | ʿAlī (Family tree) | ʿAlī (Family tree) | | | Khawlah bint Ja'far | Khawlah bint Ja'far | Khawlah bint Ja'far | Khawlah bint Ja'far | Khawlah bint Ja'far | Khawlah bint Ja'far | | | Ibn Abbas | Ibn Abbas | Ibn Abbas | Ibn Abbas | Ibn Abbas | Ibn Abbas |
| Muʿāwiyah I | Muʿāwiyah I | Muʿāwiyah I | Muʿāwiyah I | Muʿāwiyah I | Muʿāwiyah I | Marwān I | Marwān I | Marwān I | Marwān I | Marwān I | Marwān I | | | | | | | | | ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān | ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān | ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān | ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān | ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān | ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān | | | Ruqayya | Ruqayya | Ruqayya | Ruqayya | Ruqayya | Ruqayya | | | Fatimah | Fatimah | Fatimah | Fatimah | Fatimah | Fatimah | | | | | | | | | | | Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah | Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah | Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah | Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah | Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah | Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyyah | | | | | | | ʿAli ibn ʿAbdallāh | ʿAli ibn ʿAbdallāh | ʿAli ibn ʿAbdallāh | ʿAli ibn ʿAbdallāh | ʿAli ibn ʿAbdallāh | ʿAli ibn ʿAbdallāh | | |
| Sufyanids | Sufyanids | Sufyanids | Sufyanids | Sufyanids | Sufyanids | Marwanids | Marwanids | Marwanids | Marwanids | Marwanids | Marwanids | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | al-Ḥasan | al-Ḥasan | al-Ḥasan | al-Ḥasan | al-Ḥasan | al-Ḥasan | | | al-Ḥusayn (Family tree) | al-Ḥusayn (Family tree) | al-Ḥusayn (Family tree) | al-Ḥusayn (Family tree) | al-Ḥusayn (Family tree) | al-Ḥusayn (Family tree) | | | Abu Hasim (Imām of al-Mukhtār and Hashimiyya) | Abu Hasim (Imām of al-Mukhtār and Hashimiyya) | Abu Hasim (Imām of al-Mukhtār and Hashimiyya) | Abu Hasim (Imām of al-Mukhtār and Hashimiyya) | Abu Hasim (Imām of al-Mukhtār and Hashimiyya) | Abu Hasim (Imām of al-Mukhtār and Hashimiyya) | | | | | | | Muhammad "al-Imām" (Abbasids) | Muhammad "al-Imām" (Abbasids) | Muhammad "al-Imām" (Abbasids) | Muhammad "al-Imām" (Abbasids) | Muhammad "al-Imām" (Abbasids) | Muhammad "al-Imām" (Abbasids) |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Ibrāhim "al-Imām" | Ibrāhim "al-Imām" | Ibrāhim "al-Imām" | Ibrāhim "al-Imām" | Ibrāhim "al-Imām" | Ibrāhim "al-Imām" | | | al-Saffāḥ | al-Saffāḥ | al-Saffāḥ | al-Saffāḥ | al-Saffāḥ | al-Saffāḥ | al-Mansur | al-Mansur | al-Mansur | al-Mansur | al-Mansur | al-Mansur |