Al-Hakam ibn Amr al-Ghifari () (d. 670/71), was a

companion Companion may refer to: Relationships Currently * Any of several interpersonal relationships such as friend or acquaintance * A domestic partner, akin to a spouse * Sober companion, an addiction treatment coach * Companion (caregiving), a caregive ...

of the

Islamic prophet Prophets in Islam () are individuals in Islam who are believed to spread God's message on Earth and serve as models of ideal human behaviour. Some prophets are categorized as messengers (; sing. , ), those who transmit divine revelation, mos ...

Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...

and the

Umayyad The Umayyad Caliphate or Umayyad Empire (, ; ) was the second caliphate established after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty. Uthman ibn Affan, the third of the Rashidun caliphs, was also a membe ...

governor of

Khurasan KhorasanDabeersiaghi, Commentary on Safarnâma-e Nâsir Khusraw, 6th Ed. Tehran, Zavvâr: 1375 (Solar Hijri Calendar) 235–236 (; , ) is a historical eastern region in the Iranian Plateau in West Asia, West and Central Asia that encompasses wes ...

and commander of Arab expeditions into

Transoxiana Transoxiana or Transoxania (, now called the Amu Darya) is the Latin name for the region and civilization located in lower Central Asia roughly corresponding to eastern Uzbekistan, western Tajikistan, parts of southern Kazakhstan, parts of Tu ...

(Central Asia) from 665 until his death in

Merv Merv (, ', ; ), also known as the Merve Oasis, was a major Iranian peoples, Iranian city in Central Asia, on the historical Silk Road, near today's Mary, Turkmenistan. Human settlements on the site of Merv existed from the 3rd millennium& ...

Life

Al-Hakam ibn Amr was a son of Amr ibn Mujaddah ibn Hidhyam ibn al-Harith ibn Nu'ayla of the

Banu Ghifar The Banu Ghifar () was an Arab tribe that belonged to the Banu Damra ibn Bakr, a branch of the large Kinana tribe in the Hejaz region of Arabia. They were sometimes derided as brigands and robbers by other Arabs in the region. The formerly-polythei ...

, a clan of the

Kinana Kinana () is an Arab tribe based around Mecca in the Tihama coastal area and the Hejaz mountains. The Quraysh of Mecca, the tribe of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, was an offshoot of the Kinana. A number of modern-day tribes throughout the Arab w ...

tribe. Al-Hakam was a

of the Islamic prophet

and one of his banner bearers in battle. He settled in

Basra Basra () is a port city in Iraq, southern Iraq. It is the capital of the eponymous Basra Governorate, as well as the List of largest cities of Iraq, third largest city in Iraq overall, behind Baghdad and Mosul. Located near the Iran–Iraq bor ...

, the Arab garrison town and springboard of the

Muslim conquest The Muslim conquests, Muslim invasions, Islamic conquests, including Arab conquests, Arab Islamic conquests, also Iranian Muslim conquests, Turkic Muslim conquests etc. *Early Muslim conquests **Ridda Wars **Muslim conquest of Persia ***Muslim conq ...

s of the

Sasanian Empire The Sasanian Empire (), officially Eranshahr ( , "Empire of the Iranian peoples, Iranians"), was an List of monarchs of Iran, Iranian empire that was founded and ruled by the House of Sasan from 224 to 651. Enduring for over four centuries, th ...

established in 636.p=895, note 1649 There was a sparse presence of Ghifar tribesmen in Basra. His brother Rafi was a transmitter of

hadith Hadith is the Arabic word for a 'report' or an 'account f an event and refers to the Islamic oral tradition of anecdotes containing the purported words, actions, and the silent approvals of the Islamic prophet Muhammad or his immediate circle ...

from Muhammad. According to

al-Tabari Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad ibn Jarīr ibn Yazīd al-Ṭabarī (; 839–923 CE / 224–310 AH), commonly known as al-Ṭabarī (), was a Sunni Muslim scholar, polymath, historian, exegete, jurist, and theologian from Amol, Tabaristan, present- ...

and

al-Baladhuri ʾAḥmad ibn Yaḥyā ibn Jābir al-Balādhurī () was a 9th-century West Asian historian. One of the eminent Middle Eastern historians of his age, he spent most of his life in Baghdad and enjoyed great influence at the court of the caliph al ...

, in 665

Ziyad ibn Abihi Abu al-Mughira Ziyad ibn Abihi (; ), also known as Ziyad ibn Abi Sufyan (), was an administrator and statesman of the successive Rashidun and Umayyad caliphates in the mid-7th century. He served as the governor of Basra in 665–670 and ultimat ...

, the practical viceroy of Iraq and the eastern

Umayyad Caliphate The Umayyad Caliphate or Umayyad Empire (, ; ) was the second caliphate established after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty. Uthman ibn Affan, the third of the Rashidun caliphs, was also a member o ...

, centralized the vast region of

(east of Iran and west of the

Oxus The Amu Darya ( ),() also shortened to Amu and historically known as the Oxus ( ), is a major river in Central Asia, which flows through Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Afghanistan. Rising in the Pamir Mountains, north of the Hindu Ku ...

) into a single provincial administration based in

under the governorship of al-Hakam. According to an anecdote cited by both historians, Ziyad had intended to appoint the veteran commander

al-Hakam ibn Abi al-As al-Thaqafi Al-Hakam or Al-Hakum may refer to: * Hakam, one of the names of God in Islam People *Al-Hakam I (died 822), Córdoban emir * Al-Hakam II (915–976), caliph of Córdoba * Sulayman ibn al-Hakam (died 1016), caliph of Córdoba * Al-Hakim bi-Amr Alla ...

to the post, but when his chamberlain mistakenly brought al-Hakam ibn Amr to his court he appointed him instead, remarking that al-Hakam was a companion of Muhammad and "an upright fellow" or "a man of nobility". Another traditional Muslim report holds that al-Hakam was appointed by Ziyad in 664. Al-Tabari notes that Ziyad also assigned six deputies under al-Hakam charged with the collection of the ''

kharaj Kharāj () is a type of individual Islamic tax on agricultural land and its produce, regardless of the religion of the owners, developed under Islamic law. With the first Muslim conquests in the 7th century, the ''kharaj'' initially was synonym ...

'' (land tax and/or possibly poll tax). Al-Hakam died and was buried in Merv. His appointed successor Anas ibn Abi Unas, who was promptly dismissed by Ziyad, led his funeral prayers. His grave was mentioned by the sources as late as the reign of the

Abbasid The Abbasid Caliphate or Abbasid Empire (; ) was the third caliphate to succeed the prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib (566–653 C ...

caliph

al-Ma'mun Abū al-ʿAbbās Abd Allāh ibn Hārūn al-Maʾmūn (; 14 September 786 – 9 August 833), better known by his regnal name al-Ma'mun (), was the seventh Abbasid caliph, who reigned from 813 until his death in 833. His leadership was marked by t ...

().

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hakam ibn Amr Ghifari 670 deaths Generals of the Umayyad Caliphate Companions of the Prophet Umayyad governors of Khurasan Kinana