Abd Allah b. 'Amir b. Kurayz
| An adversary of Imam 'Ali (a) | |
|---|---|
| Full Name | ʿAbd Allāh b. ʿAmir b. Kurayz |
| Lineage | Quraysh |
| Well-known Relatives | The cousin of 'Uthman b. 'Affan |
| Birth | 4/625-6 |
| Place of Birth | Mecca |
| Places of Residence | Arafat |
| Death | 59/678-9 |
| Notable roles | Governor of Basra • Commander of Mu'awiya's army |
| Activities | Participation in the Battle of Jamal and Siffin against Imam Ali (a) • Conquering areas of Iran |
ʿAbd Allāh b. ʿĀmir b. Kurayz (Arabic:عبدالله بن عامِر بن کُرَیز) (b. 4/625-6 - d. 59/678-9) was an adversary of Imam 'Ali (a) who fought against the Imam (a) in the Battle of Jamal under the leadership of Talha and Zubayr. He was in Mu'awiya’s army in the Battle of Siffin as well.
Ibn 'Amir was from the Quraysh tribe. He was the son of the maternal uncle of 'Uthman b. 'Affan, the third caliph. In 29/649, 'Uthman appointed him as the governor of Basra. Ibn 'Amir carried out civil measures in the city, and at the command of 'Uthman, he attacked Iran. Moreover, in the encounter between Imam al-Hasan (a) and Mu'awiya, he was a commander of Mu'awiya’s army. When he took over the caliphate, Mu'awiya reassigned him with the governance of Basra. 'Abd Allah died in 59/678 in Mecca and was buried in 'Arafat.
Lineage and Birth
'Abd Allah b. 'Amir b. Kurayz was from the Quraysh tribe. He was 'Uthman b. 'Affan’s cousin.[1] His mother was Dujaja bt. Asma' al-Salami, and his father was 'Amir, the son of the Prophet’s paternal aunt. 'Amir converted to Islam after the Conquest of Mecca.[2]
Ibn 'Amir was born in 4/625 in Mecca. When the Prophet (s) went to Mecca for 'Umrat al-Qada', he as a three year old boy was taken to the Prophet (s). The Prophet (s) wiped his hand on Ibn 'Amir’s lips[3] and then prayed for him: "Verily I hope that he is saturated."[4] Ibn al-Qutayba quoted the Prophet’s prayer as follows: "Verily I hope that he becomes pious."[5]
Ibn 'Amir had twelve sons and six daughters.[6] He had a son called 'Abd al-Rahman, hence his teknonym "Abu 'Abd al-Rahman."[7]
Governance of Basra
'Uthman b. 'Affan, the third caliph, removed Abu Musa al-Ash'ari from the governance of Basra in 29/649, and appointed 'Abd Allah b. 'Amir in his place when he was only twenty-five years old.[8] 'Uthman wrote to Abu Musa: "I did not remove you for your incompetence or treason. Indeed, I am aware of your superiority. However, I considered my kinship with 'Abd Allah b. 'Amir. I ordered him to pay you thirty thousand dirhams."[9]
Civil Constructions
'Abd Allah b. 'Amir purchased houses in an area of Basra, demolished them, and then built a bazaar in their place.[10] Moreover, he made a stream in eastern Basra in the name of his mother, Umm Abd Allah,[11] and two other streams called "Nahr al-Ablah" and "Nahr al-Asawira."[12] He was the first person who built a pond and pool in 'Arafat and made a stream from the spring there.[13]
Ibn 'Amir’s Conquests
When he took over the power, 'Abd Allah b. 'Amir continued the conquests that had begun since the second caliph. ʿUthman commissioned him to attack Iran.[14] When he was in power during the reign of 'Uthman and Mu'awiya, he conquered parts of Iran, some by war and some in peaceful ways,[15] including Shapur, Fasa, Darabgerd, Rafsanjan, and Estakhr in central parts of Iran, and Sijistan, Sistan, Zaranj, Neyshabur, Tus, Kabul, Herat, Merv, Balkh, Taleghan, Joveyn, Faryab, Tokharestan, and Sarakhs in eastern Iran.[16]
Presence in the Battle of Jamal
Early after his rule in 35/655, Imam ʿAli (a) removed Ibn ʿAmir from the governance of Basra and replaced him with 'Uthman b. Hanif.[17] Ibn 'Amir embezzled governmental money and went to Mecca. When Talha and Zubayr gathered in Mecca to plot an uprising against 'Ali (a), they decided to go to the Levant, but Ibn 'Amir changed their mind. He suggested that they go to Basra because there is a great wealth there.[18] Ibn 'Amir provided them with a large amount of money to prepare for the war.[19] He fought against Imam 'Ali (a) in the Battle of Jamal.[20] His son, 'Abd al-Rahman, was killed in the battle.[21] When the army of Jamal was defeated, and Talha and Zubayr were killed, Ibn 'Amir went to Damascus where he resided.[22]
Companionship with Mu'awiya
In the Battle of Siffin, Ibn 'Amir was part of Mu'awiya’s army,[23] although some people say that he had no role in the Battle of Siffin.[24] When Imam 'Ali (a) was martyred and people pledged their allegiance to Imam al-Hasan (a), Mu'awiya sent an army under the commandership of 'Abd Allah b. 'Amir to Madain to fight against Imam al-Hasan (a), but they finally reached to a treaty.[25]
When Mu'awiya became the caliph, he reassigned Ibn 'Amir at his own request to the governance of Basra for three years.[26] Moreover, he got his daughter Hind to marry Ibn 'Amir.[27] 'Abd Allah b. 'Amir died one year before Mu'awiya in 59/678 in Mecca and was buried in 'Arafat.[28] Before his death, he appointed 'Abd Allah b. Zubayr as the executor of his will.[29]
Notes
- ↑ Ibn Saʿd, al-Ṭabaqāt al-kubrā, vol. 5, p. 32; Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr, al-Istīʿāb, vol. 3, p. 932.
- ↑ Ibn Qutayba, al-Maʿārif, p. 320-321.
- ↑ Ibn Saʿd, al-Ṭabaqāt al-kubrā, vol. 5, p. 33.
- ↑ Balādhurī, Ansāb al-ashrāf, vol. 9, p. 356; Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr, al-Istīʿāb, vol. 3, p. 932.
- ↑ Ibn Qutayba, al-Maʿārif, p. 321.
- ↑ Ibn Saʿd, al-Ṭabaqāt al-kubrā, vol. 5, p. 32.
- ↑ Ibn Saʿd, al-Ṭabaqāt al-kubrā, vol. 5, p. 36; Balādhurī, Ansāb al-ashrāf, vol. 9, p. 358.
- ↑ Ṭabarī, Tārīkh al-umam wa l-mulūk, vol. 4, p. 264.
- ↑ Ibn Saʿd, al-Ṭabaqāt al-kubrā, vol. 5, p. 33.
- ↑ Ibn Qutayba, al-Maʿārif, p. 321.
- ↑ Ibn Qutayba, al-Maʿārif, p. 321.
- ↑ Balādhurī, Futūḥ al-buldān, p. 348-349.
- ↑ Ibn Saʿd, al-Ṭabaqāt al-kubrā, vol. 5, p. 35.
- ↑ Yaʿqūbī, Tārīkh al-Yaʿqūbī, vol. 2, p. 166.
- ↑ Ibn Saʿd, al-Ṭabaqāt al-kubrā, vol. 5, p. 34.
- ↑ Yaʿqūbī, Tārīkh al-Yaʿqūbī, vol. 2, p. 166-167; Ibn Saʿd, al-Ṭabaqāt al-kubrā, vol. 5, p. 34.
- ↑ Maqdisī, al-Bidaʾ wa tārīkh, vol. 5, p. 210.
- ↑ Thaqafī, al-Ghārāt, vol. 2, p. 646.
- ↑ Ṭabarī, Tārīkh al-umam wa l-mulūk, vol. 4, p. 452.
- ↑ Thaqafī, al-Ghārāt, vol. 2, p. 646.
- ↑ Ibn Saʿd, al-Ṭabaqāt al-kubrā, vol. 5, p. 36.
- ↑ Ṭabarī, Tārīkh al-umam wa l-mulūk, vol. 4, p. 536; Ibn ʿAsākir, Tārīkh madīnat Dimashq, vol. 29, p. 261.
- ↑ Minqarī, Waqʿat Ṣiffīn, p. 246, 417.
- ↑ Ibn Saʿd, al-Ṭabaqāt al-kubrā, vol. 5, p. 36.
- ↑ Dīnawarī, al-Akhbār al-ṭiwāl, p. 216.
- ↑ Ibn Saʿd, al-Ṭabaqāt al-kubrā, vol. 5, p. 36.
- ↑ Balādhurī, Ansāb al-ashrāf, vol. 9, p. 358.
- ↑ Ibn Qutayba, al-Maʿārif, p. 321.
- ↑ Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr, al-Istīʿāb, vol. 3, p. 932.
References
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- Balādhurī, Aḥmad b.Yaḥyā al-. Futūḥ al-buldān. Beirut: Dār wa Maktabat al-Hilāl, 1988.
- Dīnawarī, Aḥmad b. Dāwūd al-. al-Akhbār al-ṭiwāl. Edited by ʿAbd al-Munʿim ʿĀmir and Jamāl al-Dīn Shiyāl. Qom: Manshūrāt al-Sharīf al-Raḍī, 1368Sh.
- Ibn Saʿd, Muḥammad. Al-Ṭabaqāt al-kabīr. Edited by ʿAbd al-Qādir Aḥmad ʿAṭā. Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmīyya, 1410 AH.
- Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr, Yūsuf b. ʿAbd Allāh. Al-Istīʿāb fī maʿrifat al-aṣḥāb. Edited by ʿAlī Muḥammad al-Bajāwī. Beirut: Dār al-Jīl, 1412 AH.
- Ibn ʿAsākir, ʿAlī b. al-Ḥasan. Tārīkh madīnat Dimashq. Beirut: Dār al-Fikr, 1415 AH.
- Ibn Qutayba al-Dīnawarī, ʿAbd Allāh b. Muslim . Al-Maʿārif. Edited by Tharwat ʿAkkāsha. Cairo: al-Hayʾat al-Misrīyya al-ʿĀmma li l-Kitāb, 1992 CE.
- Maqdisī, Muṭahhar b. Ṭāhir al-. Al-Badʾ wa l-tārīkh. Port Said: Maktabat al-Thaqāfa al-Dīnīyya, n.d.
- Naṣr b. Muzāhim Minqarī. Waqʿat Ṣiffīn. Cairo: Al-Muʾassisa al-ʿArabīyya al-Ḥadītha, 1382 AH.
- Ṭabarī, Muḥammad b. Jarīr al-.Tārīkh al-umam wa l-mulūk. Edited by Muḥammad Abu l-faḍl Ibrāhīm. Second edition. Beirut: Dar al-Turāth, 1387 AH.
- Thaqafī al-Kūfī, Ibrāhim b. Muḥammad. Al-Ghārāt. Beirut: Anjuman-i Āthār-i Millī, 1353 SH.
- Yaʿqūbī, Aḥmad b. Abī Yaʿqūb al-. Tārīkh al-Yaʿqūbī. Beirut: Dār Ṣādir, n.p.