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A Companion who was one of the Prophet's scribes of revelation and one of the four commanders sent to conquer Syria. His full name was Shurahbil ibn Hasana bint Muta' al-Kindi; his kunya is given as Abu Abd Allah, and he is also called Abu Abd al-Rahman and Abu Wa'ila.
He was born in Mecca in 573 or 574. He was of Kinda origin. His father Abd Allah, who lived in Mecca as a confederate of the Banu Zuhra, died when Shurahbil was very young, and so he was named after his mother Hasana. After his father's death he grew up in the household of Sufyan ibn Ma'mar al-Jumahi of Quraysh, who married his mother. He spent his youth in Mecca and was esteemed because he could read and write.
He became Muslim with his family at about the age of thirty-five. With the earliest believers he suffered persecution from the polytheists, and emigrated to Abyssinia with the second group. He came to Medina at the time of the Khaybar expedition in the year 7 (628) and settled among the Banu Zurayq, relatives of his stepfather. Thereafter he took part in many raids and campaigns; he served as a scribe of revelation for the Messenger of God and wrote the texts of various treaties. One of these was the text sent to the people of Ayla and their leader Yuhanna ibn Ru'ba, with whom a treaty on the jizya was made during the Tabuk expedition. Shortly before his death the Prophet sent him as envoy to Egypt; Shurahbil could return to Medina only after the Prophet's death.
His name came to be heard often under Abu Bakr. The caliph sent him at the head of a new unit to aid Ikrima ibn Abi Jahl, who had been dispatched against Musaylima the Liar in Yamama; but lacking sufficient forces he achieved no success. After Khalid ibn al-Walid had disposed of Musaylima, Shurahbil was the fourth commander, alongside Abu Ubayda ibn al-Jarrah, Yazid ibn Abi Sufyan and Amr ibn al-As, at the head of the armies sent to Syria. With the 3000 men under his command he reached Jordan by way of Tabuk; when reinforcements brought the number to 7500 he besieged Bosra with the other commanders, and the city was taken under the command of Khalid ibn al-Walid.
At the battle of Ajnadayn (13/634) Khalid ibn al-Walid placed him, together with Amr ibn al-As, in command of the right wing; he played an important part in the victory and pursued the Byzantine army that withdrew to Baysan. He also served as a commander at the battle of Fihl. At the siege of Damascus he held the Faradis Gate and entered the city with his troops through that gate at the conquest. He had a large share in the victory at Yarmuk (15/636), after which the commander-in-chief Abu Ubayda sent him to Jordan. He entered Jerusalem with Umar when the city was surrendered. In the Syria-Palestine region he took places such as Acre, Tyre and Tiberias.
He died in the year 18 (639) in the plague that broke out at Amwas. According to the source his grave is in Jordan, in the village of Wadi al-Yabis in the Northern Aghwar district, in a special compartment in the late-comers' portico of a mosque. Only one or two reports are transmitted from him; among his narrators are his two sons Rabi'a and Abd al-Rahman and Abu Abd Allah al-Ash'ari.
Differing Scholarly Views
The source article was written within the Sunni tradition of history and sira, on the basis of classical biographical sources such as Ibn Sa'd and Ibn Hajar. The sources diverge on the following points; the atlas takes no side.
His lineage and mother — Although he has been said to belong to the Banu Tamim, the source states that he was of Kinda origin. It is also stated that Hasana, after whom he is named, was not his own mother and had adopted him when he was small.
Being the first scribe of revelation — Relying on M. Mustafa al-A'zami, the source names him as the Prophet's first scribe of revelation, and records that he continued as a scribe of revelation after the Hijra as well.
The site of the grave — The source places the grave in the late-comers' portico of the mosque in the village of Wadi al-Yabis in Jordan. It states that the reports in some sources that he lived in Egypt after its conquest, and the reports that his grave is at Kilis, are not correct in the view of the article's author. Claims about other sites mentioned in the atlas's earlier text do not appear in this source; for the pin the atlas takes Wadi al-Yabis, which the source indicates, and does not record the other claims unless they are confirmed by a separate source.
Sources
- TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi (DİA) · vol. 39, p. 268, entry “Şurahbil b. Hasene”
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