Al-Hakam ibn Amr al-Ghifari

Al-Hakam ibn Amr al-Ghifari (Arabic: الحكم بن عمرو الغفاري‎) (d. 670/71) was a companion of Muhammad and the Umayyad governor of Khurasan and commander of Arab expeditions into Transoxiana (Central Asia) from 665 until his death in Merv.

Al-Hakam ibn Amr al-Ghifari
Governor of Khurasan
In office 665 – Unknown
Personal details
Relations	Rafi (brother)
Parents	Mujaddah ibn Hidhyam ibn al-Harith ibn Nu'ayla (father)

Life

Al-Hakam ibn Amr was a son of Mujaddah ibn Hidhyam ibn al-Harith ibn Nu'ayla of the Banu Ghifar, a clan of the Kinana tribe.[1][2] Al-Hakam was a companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and one of his banner bearers in battle.[3][4] He settled in Basra, the Arab garrison town and springboard of the Muslim conquests of the Sasanian Empire established in 636.[5][6] There was a sparse presence of Ghifar tribesmen in Basra.[7] His brother Rafi was a transmitter of hadith from Muhammad.[2]

According to al-Tabari and al-Baladhuri, in 665 Ziyad ibn Abihi, the practical viceroy of Iraq and the eastern Umayyad Caliphate, centralized the vast region of Khurasan (east of Iran and west of the Oxus) into a single provincial administration based in Merv under the governorship of al-Hakam.[8][1][9] According to an anecdote cited by both historians, Ziyad had intended to appoint the veteran commander al-Hakam ibn Abi al-As al-Thaqafi 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".[1][10] Another traditional Muslim report holds that al-Hakam was appointed by Ziyad in 664.[11] Al-Tabari notes that Ziyad also assigned six deputies under al-Hakam charged with the collection of the kharaj (land tax and/or possibly poll tax). [4][12]

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.[13] His grave was mentioned by the sources as late as the reign of the Abbasid caliph al-Ma'mun (r. 813–833).[5]

References

1. Morony 1987, p. 86.
2. Landau-Tasseron 1998, p. 122, note 560.
3. Rtveladze 2000, p. 12.
4. Hasan 1970, p. 166.
5. Lecker 2000, p. 47.
6. p=895, note 1649
7. Crone 1980, p. 227, note 234.
8. Gibb 1923, p. 16.
9. Murgotten 1924, p. 170.
10. Murgotten 1924, pp. 170–171.
11. Fariq 1966, p. 67.
12. Morony 1987, pp. 86–87.
13. Morony 1987, p. 163.

Bibliography

• Crone, Patricia (1980). Slaves on Horses: The Evolution of the Islamic Polity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-52940-9.
• Fariq, K. A. (1966). Ziyād b. Abīh. London: Asia Publishing House. OCLC 581630755.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Gibb, H. A. R. (1923). The Arab Conquests in Central Asia. London: The Royal Asiatic Society. OCLC 499987512.
• Hasan, S. A. (1970). "A Survey of the Expansion of Islam into Central Asia during the Umayyad Caliphate". Islamic Culture. 44 (1): 165–176.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Landau-Tasseron, Ella, ed. (1998). The History of al-Ṭabarī, Volume XXXIX: Biographies of the Prophet's Companions and their Successors: al-Ṭabarī's Supplement to his History. SUNY Series in Near Eastern Studies. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press. ISBN 978-0-7914-2819-1.
• Lecker, Michael (2000). "On the Burial of Martyrs in Islam". In Hiroyuki, Yanagihashi (ed.). The Concept of Territory in Islamic Law and Thought. London: Kegan Paul International. pp. 37–50. ISBN 0-7103-0725X.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Murgotten, Francis Clark (1924). The Origins of the Islamic State, Being a Translation from the Arabic, Accompanied with Annotations, Geographic and Historic Notes of the Kitâb Fitûh al-Buldân of al-Imâm Abu-l Abbâs Ahmad Ibn-Jâbir al-Balâdhuri, Part 2. New York and London: Columbia University & Longman, Green & Co.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Morony, Michael G., ed. (1987). The History of al-Ṭabarī, Volume XVIII: Between Civil Wars: The Caliphate of Muʿāwiyah, 661–680 A.D./A.H. 40–60. SUNY Series in Near Eastern Studies. Albany, New York: State University of New York Press. ISBN 978-0-87395-933-9.
• Rtveladze, Edward V. (2000). "Migration of Peoples in Central Asia". JCAS Symposium Series (9): 1–20.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)