Al-Walid ibn Rifa'ah al-Fahmi () (died June 735) was a governor of

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

for the

Umayyad Caliphate The Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 CE; , ; ar, ٱلْخِلَافَة ٱلْأُمَوِيَّة, al-Khilāfah al-ʾUmawīyah) was the second of the four major caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. The caliphate was ruled by th ...

from 727 to 735.

Career

A member of the Qaysite clan of the Banu Fahm, al-Walid initially appears as a chief of security ('' sahib al-shurtah'') for his brother Abd al-Malik ibn Rifa'ah al-Fahmi during the latter's governorship of Egypt from 715 to 717. In 727 Abd al-Malik was again appointed as governor but died a short time afterwards, upon which al-Walid succeeded him and was confirmed in his position by the caliph

Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik ( ar, هشام بن عبد الملك, Hishām ibn ʿAbd al-Malik; 691 – 6 February 743) was the tenth Umayyad caliph, ruling from 724 until his death in 743. Early life Hisham was born in Damascus, the administra ...

. During al-Walid's governorship, Egypt saw the first large-scale settlement of Qaysite Arabs in the province as part of a project overseen by the financial administrator Ubaydallah ibn al-Habhab and the central government. In this same period the government embarked on a province-wide census in order to improve the tax administration, with surveys lasting six months in Upper and three months in

Lower Egypt Lower Egypt ( ar, مصر السفلى '; ) is the northernmost region of Egypt, which consists of the fertile Nile Delta between Upper Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea, from El Aiyat, south of modern-day Cairo, and Dahshur. Historically, ...

and resulting in the imposition of taxes on all men residing in villages of more than 500 persons. A separate reform, the introduction of a new grain measure, was also ordered upon Egypt by the caliph, but local resistance to the proposal soon resulted in the abandonment of its implementation. In 735 al-Walid allowed the

Copts Copts ( cop, ⲛⲓⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ ; ar, الْقِبْط ) are a Christian ethnoreligious group indigenous to North Africa who have primarily inhabited the area of modern Egypt and Sudan since antiquity. Most ethnic Copts are C ...

to build (or re-build) the Church of Saint Menas in the Hamra; this decision was however extremely unpopular with the Muslim population and resulted in an unsuccessful attempt being made on his life. The would-be assassin was apprehended and executed, but his death in turn prompted a period of serious disturbances in Fustat and caused violent fighting to take place on Fustat Island. Al-Walid died in 735 of an illness, and was succeeded by Abd al-Rahman ibn Khalid al-Fahmi.; .

Notes

References

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Walid ibn Rif'ah al-Fahmi 735 deaths Year of birth unknown 8th-century Arab people 8th-century Umayyad governors of Egypt Azd