Al-Ḥārith ibn al-Ḥakam ibn Abī al-ʿĀṣ ibn Umayya was a senior adviser and cousin of Caliph

Uthman Uthman ibn Affan (17 June 656) was the third caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate, ruling from 644 until his assassination in 656. Uthman, a second cousin, son-in-law, and notable companion of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad, played a major role ...

(). He played a role in the expedition against the Byzantines of North Africa in 647 and was later appointed supervisor of the market in the caliphal capital of

Medina Medina, officially al-Madinah al-Munawwarah (, ), also known as Taybah () and known in pre-Islamic times as Yathrib (), is the capital of Medina Province (Saudi Arabia), Medina Province in the Hejaz region of western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ...

. A number of his descendants were active as estate holders and governors under their paternal kinsmen, 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 ...

caliphs, particularly the Marwanid house of al-Harith's brother

Marwan I Marwan ibn al-Hakam ibn Abi al-As ibn Umayya (; 623 or 626April/May 685), commonly known as MarwanI, was the fourth Umayyad Caliphate, Umayyad caliph, ruling for less than a year in 684–685. He founded the Marwanid ruling house of the Umayyad ...

which ruled from 684 until 750.

Life

Al-Harith was a son of

al-Hakam ibn Abi al-As Al-Hakam ibn Abi al-As ibn Umayya (; died 655/56), was the father of the founder of the Marwanid line of the Umayyad dynasty, Marwan I (), and a paternal uncle of Caliph Uthman (). He was known as a staunch opponent of the Islamic prophet Muhamma ...

and brother to

, the future

caliph. He was a paternal first cousin of Caliph

(). Under Uthman, al-Harith and Marwan played influential roles as the caliph's top counsels. According to

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 647 (or 648 or 649) the caliph put al-Harith at the head of an army to reinforce his governor of Egypt, Abd Allah ibn Abi Sarh, who upon the reinforcements' arrival, assumed overall command and led the Muslim forces on campaign against the

Exarchate of Africa The Exarchate of Africa was a division of the Byzantine Empire around Carthage that encompassed its possessions on the Western Mediterranean. Ruled by an exarch (viceroy), it was established by the Emperor Maurice in 591 and survived until t ...

(

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

-controlled

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

). Uthman appointed al-Harith to supervise the market of

, then the capital of the

Caliphate A caliphate ( ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with Khalifa, the title of caliph (; , ), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of ...

. This caused consternation among the Ansar (natives of Medina) who considered it an encroachment of their control in their native city. Reports in the early Islamic tradition mentioned a particular incident that aroused Ansarite hostility, namely that al-Harith used his post to purchase goods and sell them in the market at considerable profit. Protests lodged to the caliph in response were dismissed and the Ansar became further angered when Uthman awarded al-Harith a gift of camels collected as '' sadaqa'' (alms tax). Uthman had previously angered members of the community, particularly

Abu Dharr al-Ghifari Abu Dharr Al-Ghifari Al-Kinani (, '), also spelled Abu Tharr or Abu Zar, born Jundab ibn Junādah (), was the fourth or fifth person converting to Islam, and a member of the Muhajirun. He belonged to the Banu Ghifar, the Kinanah tribe. His dat ...

, when he awarded al-Harith a huge sum of money from the tribute collected during the military campaigns in

Byzantine North Africa Byzantine rule in North Africa spanned around 175 years. It began in the years 533/534 with the reconquest of territory formerly belonging to the Western Roman Empire by the Byzantine Empire, Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire under Justinian I and ...

. He also gave al-Harith an estate at al-Manzur, in the vicinity of Medina.

Descendants

Al-Harith was married to A'isha, a daughter of Caliph Uthman. They had two sons, Uthman and Abu Bakr, the latter of whom married Ramla, a daughter of Marwan, who became caliph in 684, founding the Marwanid line of

caliphs which ruled until 750. Many descendants of al-Harith were favored under the Marwanids. A son of al-Harith, Abd al-Wahid, held an estate called Marj Abd al-Wahid after him in

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

, the metropolitan province of the Umayyad Caliphate. He invested in it, turning the meadow into pasture grounds for Muslim use for which he was praised in verse by the poet al-Qatami. Al-Harith's grandson, Sa'id ibn Abd al-Aziz, commonly and derogatorily known as Sa'id Khudhayna (''khudhayna'' was a term used by the Arabs to refer to the wives of Iranian nobles and essentially meant 'little princess') was the governor

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 ...

in 720 under his father-in-law

Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik (, in Greek sources , ''Masalmas''; – 24 December 738) was an Umayyad prince and one of the most prominent Arab generals of the early decades of the 8th century, leading several campaigns against the Byzantine Empire ...

, a grandson of Marwan I. Another of al-Harith's grandsons, Khalid ibn Abd al-Malik, served as the

governor of Medina In early Islamic history, the governor of Medina () was an official who administered the city of Medina and its surrounding territories. During the era of the Rashidun, Umayyad and early Abbasid caliphates, the governor was generally appointed b ...

for Caliph

Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan (; 6 February 743) was the tenth Umayyad caliph, ruling from 724 until his death in 743. Early life Hisham was born in Damascus, the administrative capital of the Umayyad Caliphate, in AH 72 (691–692 CE). Hi ...

, grandson of Marwan. Khalid's brother Isma'il was married to Hammada, a daughter of Hasan ibn Hasan, a grandson of Caliph

Ali Ali ibn Abi Talib (; ) was the fourth Rashidun caliph who ruled from until his assassination in 661, as well as the first Shia Imam. He was the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Born to Abu Talib ibn Abd al-Muttalib an ...

, and he had two sons with her.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Harith ibn Hakam 7th-century Arab people Banu Umayya People from the Rashidun Caliphate Arab people of the Arab–Byzantine wars Exarchate of Africa