Harith ibn Abi Shamir

The traditional view of Harith states that he was the ruler of Syria from the Ghassanid dynasty of Arab Christians.Mubarakpuri, Saifur Rahman (2008). The Sealed Nectar: Biography of the Noble Prophet. Dar-us-Salam Publications. {{Isbn|978-9960899558|}} Harith was more than likely to have been a mere governor of Syria under the Byzantine Empire; the Byzantines may have given him a good amount of autonomy and independence in his rule as was the case with the other Ghassanid rulers who were allies of Byzantium.{{cite book |last=Bury |first=John |title=History of the Later Roman Empire from the Death of Theodosius I to the Death of Justinian, Part 2 |date=January 1958 |publisher=Courier Dover Publications |isbn=9780486203997 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JxWifqqPtUcC&pg=PP1}} Ibn Hazm states that Harith's grandmother was a woman named Dhat al-Qarta'in; whose full lineage is Mariya bint Arqam ibn Tha'laba ibn 'Amr ibn Jafnah; hence Harith has maternal descent from the first Ghassanid king, Jafnah ibn Amr.{{Cite book |last=Ibn Hazm |title=Jamharat Ansab al-Arab |publisher=Dar Al Kutub Al Ilmiyah |year=2018 |isbn=2745100432 |location=Beirut, Lebanon}}

Harith reportedly donated two swords as a peace offering to a temple of the Arabian goddess Manat which was venerated by the Khazraj tribe.{{Cite journal |last=N.A. Faris |date=1952 |title=The Book Of Idols: Being A Translation From The Arabic Of The Kitāb al-Asnām By Hishām Ibn Al-Kalbi |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G4HXAAAAMAAJ |journal=Princeton Oriental Studies |location=New Jersey |publisher=Princeton University Press |volume=14 |pages=23}} These swords were taken as war booty after the destruction of the temple during the Raid of Sa'd ibn Zaid al-Ashhali in 630 CE.{{Cite book |last=Ibn Sa'd |title=Kitab Tabaqat al-Kubra |publisher=Dar Sader |year=1998 |location=Beirut, Lebanon |trans-title=The Book of Major Classes}}

In the 7th century CE, the Islamic prophet Muhammad sent a letter inviting Harith to Islam, which read:{{Cite book |last=Ibn Sayyid al-Nas |title=Light Of The Eyes: An Abridgement of the Biography of the Trusted, the Trustworthy |publisher=Furthest Boundary Press |isbn=9780993525 |editor-last=Ibrahim Osi Efa}}

{{blockquote|Peace be upon him who follows true guidance and believes in it and regards it as true. I invite you to believe in One God with no associates, and your kingdom shall remain yours.}}

The letter was likely sent around 629, but after 628.{{cite journal |last = Donner |first = Fred M. |author-link = Fred M. Donner |title = Muḥammad's Political Consolidation in Arabia up to the Conquest of Mecca: A Reassessment |journal = The Muslim World |year = 1979 |volume = 69 |issue = 4 |pages = 229–247 |doi = 10.1111/j.1478-1913.1979.tb03388.x |jstor = }} One of the Sahaba, by the name of Shuja ibn Wahb, carried the letter to the court of Harith in Syria, where it was read out to him. Upon hearing the letter, Harith became infuriated and threatened to attack Medina.

Islamic narratives report that Harith had started to prepare to invade Medina, but a message reached him from the Byzantine emperor Heraclius which ordered him not to attack Muhammad.{{Cite web |title=ص11 - كتاب السيرة النبوية راغب السرجاني - موقف الحارث بن أبي شمر الغساني أمير دمشق من رسالة النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم له - المكتبة الشاملة |url=https://shamela.ws/book/37369/462 |access-date=2024-09-06 |website=shamela.ws}} Harith, obedient to the Byzantine overlords, abandoned all his plans to invade Medina. Other Islamic narratives also state that Harith's servant, Myra, converted to Islam after a conversation with Shuja ibn Wahb.

Harith ibn Abi Shamir may have been the Ghassanid phylarch Jabalah V ibn al-Harith, who reigned from 628–632 and was succeeded by Jabala ibn al-Ayham.{{cite encyclopedia |first=Greg |last=Fisher |title=Jafnids |encyclopedia=The Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2018 |volume=2: J–Z |page=804 |isbn=978-0-19-866277-8 |editor=Oliver Nicholson |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780198662778.001.0001/acref-9780198662778-e-2052}}{{Cite web |title=Royal Family Tree |url=https://www.royalghassan.org/family-tree.html |access-date=2024-08-24 |website=Sovereign Imperial & Royal House of Ghassan |language=en}} This identification is supported by the fact that the Tabaqat Ibn Sa'd states that Harith was succeeded by Jabala ibn al-Ayham upon his death.

A narration from Tabari identifies Harith as Al-Mundhir III ibn al-Harith.{{cite book |title=The History of al-Tabari Vol. 8: The Victory of Islam: Muhammad at Medina |date=15 June 2015 |translator-last1=Fishbein |translator-first1=Michael |publisher=SUNY Press |isbn=978-1-4384-0290-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4A-4ZC4l0dMC&pg=PA108 |page=108|language=en}} However, this is contradicted by two factors. Firstly, the letter was sent between 628–630 CE, but Al-Mundhir III was no longer in power by 581 CE, having been accused of treason and then subsequently held in Byzantine imprisonment.{{ODB|last=Shahîd|first=Irfan|authorlink=Irfan Shahid|title=Ghassānids}}

• {{cite book |last=Shahîd |first=Irfan |title=Byzantium and the Arabs in the Sixth Century |volume= 1 |location=Washington, DC |publisher=Dumbarton Oaks |year=1995 |isbn=978-0-88402-214-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BEvEV9OVzacC}} He would eventually be released in 602 CE, but there is no evidence of him returning to power afterwards.{{Cite book |last=Martindale |first=John Robert |title=The prosopography of the later Roman empire. Vol. 3 B: A. D. 527 - 641 / J. R. Martindale (Kâlâdji - Zudius) |last2=Jones |first2=Arnold H. M. |last3=Morris |first3=J. |date=2011 |publisher=Cambridge Univ. Press |isbn=978-0-521-20160-5 |edition=3. print |volume=3 |location=Cambridge}}

Some quotes have been attributed to him, for example;

• “The meeting of two swords nullifies a choice.”
• “The one deceived by the words of his rival is his own worst enemy.”
• “Opportunity is fleeting, slowly returning.”

These three quotes were attributed to him in the book, al-I'jaz wa al-I'jaz by the author Al-Tha'alibi.{{Cite book |last=Al-Tha'alibi |url=https://shamela.ws/book/23741 |title=al-I'jaz wa al-I'jaz |publisher=Maktaba Al Qur'an Al Karim Lil Tiba'a Wa Al Nashr |year=1999 |location=Cairo, Egypt}}

• Non-Muslim interactants with Muslims during Muhammad's era
• Muqawqis
• Ghassanid sacking of Khaybar

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Category:6th-century Arab people

Category:7th-century Arab people

Category:Syrian Christians

Category:Ghassanids

Category:Arab Christians

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