Al-Hakam ibn Amr al-Ghifari رضي الله عنه (Arabic: الحكم بن عمرو الغفاري) (d. 670/71), was a companion of the Islamic prophet 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 was a son of Amr ibn Mujaddah ibn Hidhyam ibn al-Harith ibn Nu'ayla of the Banu Ghifar, a clan of the Kinanah tribe. Al-Hakam was a companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and one of his banner bearers in battle. He settled in Basrah, the Arab garrison town and springboard of the Muslim conquests of the Sasanian Empire established in 636. There was a sparse presence of Ghifar tribesmen in Basra. His brother Rafi was a transmitter of hadith from Muhammad.
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. 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". Another traditional Muslim report holds that al-Hakam was appointed by Ziyad in 664.
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| Maqam of al-Hakam ibn Amr al-Ghafari in Merv. |
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| Maqam of al-Hakam ibn Amr al-Ghafari in Merv. |
He took science and jurisprudence directly from him, which reflected on his personality and became one of the personalities that had a place in the Umayyad era and became the governor of the province of Khorasan in the Islamic orient for five years and a military commander in the Islamic conquers, but in the end, however, he entered into an ordeal with the Umayyad governors in different views on governance and administration in the subjects of the parish there, which led him to leave the matters of government and retired from in his last days, and it was said to have been dismissed by the governor of Iraq Ziad ibn Abi, but He has called on his Lord to receive his spirit for being fear of falling into the spoiler of government, and this happened in the end he died in 50 AH and gave us a vivid example of asceticism in all worldly positions for the sake of Alla.
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 caliph al-Ma'mun (r. 813–833).
References:
- Fariq, K. A. (1966). Ziyād b. Abīh. London: Asia Publishing House. OCLC 581630755.
- 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.
- 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.
