Maslama ibn Mukhallad

Maslama ibn Mukhallad ibn Samit al-Ansari (

Biography

He was born in 616 or 620, and participated in the

Maslama served loyally under Amr ibn al-As, who was governor of Egypt until his death in January 664, but remained on the sidelines under his three successors, Abd Allah ibn Amr al-As, Utba ibn Abi Sufyan and Uqba ibn Amir. Finally, in 667/8, Maslama himself petitioned Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan, now Caliph, and was appointed governor of Egypt. He held the post until 670 according to al-Tabari, though other sources report that he governed the country continuously until his death on 9 April 682. Little is known of is tenure, except that he was active in the wars against the Byzantine Empire, sending regular expeditions against them, and rebuilt the Amr ibn al-As Mosque in Fustat, to which he added minarets. Otherwise his period of office seems to have been one of domestic tranquility.^[1][3] Some sources claim that Maslama was also responsible for the Muslim campaigns in Ifriqiya and the Maghreb in general, although others insist that these areas did not come under his authority until ca. 675; at any rate, he replaced Uqba ibn Nafi, who had been in charge in Ifriqiya until then, with Abu al-Muhajir Dinar in 671 or in 675.^[1]

Maslama remained a firm adherent of the Umayyads to the last, and when Mu'awiya died in 680, he immediately recognized his son, Yazid I, as his successor; he reportedly threatened even Amr ibn al-As's son Abd Allah, another Companion and respected hadith scholar, with execution when he objected.^[3]

References

Sources

• ISBN 0-521-47137-0
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• ISBN 978-90-04-08112-3
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