Al-Muhajir ibn Abi Umayya


Al-Muhajir ibn Abi Umayya ibn al-Mughira ibn Abd Allah was a companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad from the Banu Makhzum clan and a Muslim commander active in Yemen during the Ridda wars.

Life

Al-Muhajir's birth name was al-Walid until it was changed to al-Muhajir by the Islamic prophet 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. 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. Abu Umayya was well known for his generosity to traveling companions on the road and was popularly known as Zad al-Rakb. Al-Muhajir's mother was Atika bint Amir from the Firas clan of the Kinanah tribe, which was noted for its martial prowess. Al-Muhajir's full sister was Umm Salama, one of the wives of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He was a paternal first cousin of Khalid ibn al-Walid.
Muhammad appointed al-Muhajir as the tax collector over the Yemenite tribes of Kindah and Sadif. 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. In 631 Muhammad appointed al-Muhajir governor of Yemen's principal city Sana'a. He did not take up the post, remaining in Medina until the accession of Caliph Abu Bakr in 632. 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 during the Ridda wars. The Kindah ultimately surrendered to al-Muhajir and Ikrima.