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serving from 661 until his death. He became caliph less than 30 years following the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad (his brother-in-law) and very shortly after the reign of the four "rightly guided" (Rashidun) caliphs. Mu'awiya was the first caliph whose name appeared on coins, inscriptions, or documents of the nascent Islamic empire. Mu'awiya and his father Abu Sufyan had opposed Muhammad, their distant Qurayshite kinsman, until Muhammad captured Mecca in 630, after which Mu'awiya became one of Muhammad's scribes. He was appointed by Caliph Abu Bakr (r. 632–634) the commander of the vanguard of his brother Yazid ibn Abi Sufyan's army during the conquest of Syria. He moved up the ranks until becoming governor of Syria during the reign of Caliph Uthman (r. 644–656). He allied with the province's powerful Banu Kalb tribe, developed the defenses of its coastal cities and directed the war efforts against the Byzantine Empire, including the first Muslim naval campaigns. After Uthman's assassination in 656, Mu'awiya took up the cause of avenging the caliph and opposed his successor, Ali. During the First Muslim Civil War, the two led their armies to a stalemate at the Battle of Siffin in 657, prompting an abortive series of arbitration talks to settle the war. Afterward, Mu'awiya gained recognition as caliph by his Syrian supporters and his ally Amr ibn al-As, who conquered Egypt from Ali's governor in 658. After the assassination of Ali in 661, Mu'awiya compelled Ali's son and successor Hasan to abdicate in Kufa and Mu'awiya's suzerainty was acknowledged throughout the Caliphate." - (en.wikipedia.org 11.08.2021)