Yazid ibn Abi Sufyan

يزيد بن أبي سفيان

c. 639 CE · c. 18 AH

Commander of the army of Dimashq; when Abu Bakr resolved on the conquest of Syria after finishing the Ridda he deposed Khalid ibn Sa'id ibn al-As from his banner on Umar's counsel and gave it to Yazid, who marched with his brother Mu'awiya bearing it before him, taking the Tabuk road; per al-Waqidi Abu Bakr assigned him Dimashq of Syria's three districts, and per Abu Yakhnaf he told the commanders 'if you join in battle your commander is Abu Ubayda, otherwise Yazid'.

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The Conquest of Syria

In al-Baladhuri: when Abu Bakr finished with the apostates he dispatched the armies to Syria, binding three banners — for Khalid ibn Sa'id (whom he deposed), Shurahbil ibn Hasana and Amr ibn al-As — directing them and Yazid ibn Abi Sufyan by the Ayla and Tabuk roads until their number completed at twenty-four thousand; their first fighting came at Dathin and al-Araba, and al-Waqidi's account assigns Amr Filastin, Shurahbil al-Urdunn and Yazid Dimashq; Khalid ibn al-Walid then marched from Iraq reaching them in Rabi' al-Akhir year 13, and they made him commander in every battle; the great battle of Ajnadayn fell on Monday twelve nights remaining of Jumada I year 13, Busra fell by treaty, Shurahbil conquered al-Urdunn by force save Tabariyya, the battle of Fihl came five months into Umar's caliphate with Abu Ubayda ibn al-Jarrah commanding by Umar's investiture, the day of Marj al-Suffar at the new moon of al-Muharram year 14, and then the conquest of Damascus and Bayt al-Maqdis.

Yazid ibn Abi Sufyan

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The Conquest of Syria