Zuhayr ibn Qays
Zuhayr ibn Qays al-Balawi زهير بن قيس البلوي | |
|---|---|
| Governor of Ifriqiya | |
| In office 683–688 | |
| Monarchs | Mu'awiyah II Marwan I Abd al-Malik |
| Preceded by | Uqba ibn Nafi |
| Succeeded by | Hassan ibn al-Nu'man |
| Personal details | |
| Died | 688 |
| Religion | Muslim conquest of Egypt
Muslim conquest of the Maghreb
|
Zuhayr ibn Qays al-Balawī (
Egypt, Barqa (Cyrenaica) and Ifriqiya. When the latter province fell to a Byzantine–Berber alliance in 682, Zuhayr was given command of the army to restore Arab rule. During that campaign, he temporarily retook Kairouan, the Arabs' capital in Ifriqiya, and killed the Berber chief Kasila
, but was slain by Byzantine raiders on his way back to Barqa.
Life
Zuhayr belonged to the
sahabi (companion) of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, while al-Suyuti also places him with the second-generation of Muslims, known as the tabi'un.[1]
Military participation
According to Ibn Hajar, Zuhayr participated in the
Second Muslim Civil War. Zuhayr entered the service of the governor of Egypt, Ibn Jahdam, who was allied with the Umayyads' rival, the Mecca-based Caliph Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr. He fought alongside Ibn Jahdam during an assault against the Umayyad prince and general Abd al-Aziz ibn Marwan at Ayla on Syria's Red Sea
coast. The Umayyads ultimately seized Egypt and Abd al-Aziz became its governor, after which he and Zuhayr reconciled, though Abd al-Aziz remained wary of him.
Taking over the rule of Cyrenaica
He installed Zuhayr as deputy governor of Barqa with instructions to combat the resurgent Byzantines. Tensions developed between the governor and Zuhayr when the former disparaged him; Zuhayr responded that because of his role in the rescension of the
Qur'an, he ought to be treated honorably.[1] According to the historian Mohamed Talbi, Abd al-Aziz's brother, the Caliph Abd al-Malik, appointed Zuhayr to lead a campaign to defeat the Byzantine–Berber alliance and restore the Arab position in Ifriqiya.[3] To that end, Zuhayr recaptured Kairouan and drove the Berbers west to Mams, where he slew Kasila.[3]
The death
It is unclear when these events precisely occurred, but it was sometime prior to Zuhayr's death at the hands of Byzantine raiders in Barqa in 688.[3] In that incident, the historian Reif Georges Khoury writes that Zuhayr "died valiantly with 70 of his companions before the rest of the troops could come to his aid".[1]
References
Bibliography
- Khoury, R. G. (2002). "Zuhayr b. Kays". In ISBN 978-90-04-12756-2.
- McKenna, Amy, ed. (2011). The History of Northern Africa. Britannica Educational Publishing. ISBN 978-1-61530-397-7.
- Talbi, M. (1986). "Kusayla". In ISBN 978-90-04-07819-2.