Amr ibn Abi Sufyan

ʿAmr ibn Abī Sufyān ibn Ḥarb al-Umawī was a son of Abū Sufyān and thus a prominent member of the Qurayshī leadership family from Banū Umayyah. He fought at the Battle of Badr (2 AH) on the Qurayshī side and was captured by the Muslims.

When the time came to arrange ransom, Abū Sufyān, his own father, refused to pay, saying bitterly: "They killed Ḥanzalah and now they want my money too? Let ʿAmr stay." This left ʿAmr in captivity in Madinah.

Abū Sufyān then resorted to an act of open injustice: he kidnapped an elderly Anṣārī man named Saʿd ibn al-Nuʿmān, who had come to Makkah solely for ʿUmrah, and held him hostage inside the Ḥaram, demanding ʿAmr's release in exchange. The Prophet ﷺ, aware that Saʿd was an innocent civilian, pragmatically arranged the swap despite the extortion. ʿAmr was released and Saʿd returned safely to Madinah.