Maslama ibn Mukhallad al-Ansari

Maslama ibn Mukhallad ibn al-Samit al-Ansari (616 or 620 – 9 April 682), to whom the tecnonymics Abu Ma'n or Sa'id or Umar are ascribed, was one of the Companions of the Prophet and active in Egypt in the decades after its conquest by the Muslims.

He was born in 616 or 620, and participated in the Muslim conquest of Egypt, remaining in the country after its conquest and until his death.^[1] He was an adherent of the third Caliph, Uthman ibn Affan, and refused to recognize the succession of Muhammad's son-in-law Ali after Uthman's murder.^[1] Consequently he was one of the leaders of the pro-Uthman party, under Mu'awiya ibn Hudayj, and participated in their revolt against governor Muhammad ibn Abi Hudhayfa in 657, until the governor of Syria, Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan, reimposed order.^[1][2] In 658, as the conflict between Ali and the Syria-based Umayyads under Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan became open, he opposed Ali's appointment of Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr as governor of Egypt, and it is probable that he participated in the Syrian invasion under Amr ibn al-As that led to Ibn Abi Bakr's defeat, capture and execution in the summer of that year.^[1][3]

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 two successors.^[1] 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 Mosque of Amr ibn al-As 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 Abdallah, another Companion and respected hadith scholar, with execution when he objected.^[3]

References

1. Encyclopedia of Islam, New Edition, p. 740
2. Kennedy (1998), p. 68
3. Kennedy (1998), p. 69

Sources

• Kennedy, Hugh (1998). "Egypt as a province in the Islamic caliphate, 641–868". In Petry, Carl F. Cambridge History of Egypt, Volume One: Islamic Egypt, 640–1517. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 62–85. ISBN 0-521-47137-0.
• "Maslama b. Mukhallad". The Encyclopedia of Islam, New Edition, Volume VI: Mahk–Mid. Leiden and New York: BRILL. 1991. p. 740. ISBN 90-04-08112-7.