Abu Abd Allah al-Mughira ibn Shu'ba ibn Abi Amir ibn Mas'ud al-Thaqafi ( ar, المغيرة بن شعبة بن أبي عامر بن مسعود الثقفي, Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Mughīra ibn Shuʿba ibn Abī ʿĀmir ibn Masʿūd al-Thaqafī); –671), was a prominent
companion of Muhammad
The Companions of the Prophet ( ar, اَلصَّحَابَةُ; ''aṣ-ṣaḥāba'' meaning "the companions", from the verb meaning "accompany", "keep company with", "associate with") were the disciples and followers of Muhammad who saw or m ...
and was known as one of the four 'shrewds of the Arabs' (''duhat al-Arab''). He belonged to the tribe of
Thaqif
The Banu Thaqif ( ar, بنو ثقيف, Banū Thaqīf) is an Arab tribe which inhabited, and still inhabits, the city of Ta'if and its environs, in modern Saudi Arabia, and played a prominent role in early Islamic history.
During the pre-Islami ...
of
Ta'if
Taif ( ar, , translit=aṭ-Ṭāʾif, lit=The circulated or encircled, ) is a city and governorate in the Makkan Region of Saudi Arabia. Located at an elevation of in the slopes of the Hijaz Mountains, which themselves are part of the Sarat M ...
, who were part of the early Islamic elite. He served as governor of
Kufa
Kufa ( ar, الْكُوفَة ), also spelled Kufah, is a city in Iraq, about south of Baghdad, and northeast of Najaf. It is located on the banks of the Euphrates River. The estimated population in 2003 was 110,000. Currently, Kufa and Najaf ...
, one of the two principal
Arab garrisons and administrative centers of Iraq, under Caliph
Umar
ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb ( ar, عمر بن الخطاب, also spelled Omar, ) was the second Rashidun caliph, ruling from August 634 until his assassination in 644. He succeeded Abu Bakr () as the second caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate o ...
in 642–645. In his old age, al-Mughira was again made governor of Kufa, serving under the
Umayyad
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 the ...
caliph
Mu'awiya I
Mu'awiya I ( ar, معاوية بن أبي سفيان, Muʿāwiya ibn Abī Sufyān; –April 680) was the founder and first caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate, ruling from 661 until his death. He became caliph less than thirty years after the deat ...
from 661 until his death in 671. During his second governorship, he ruled with virtual independence from the caliph.
Life
Early life
Al-Mughira was the son of Shu'ba ibn Abi Amir and belonged to the Banu Mu'attib clan of the
Banu Thaqif
The Banu Thaqif ( ar, بنو ثقيف, Banū Thaqīf) is an Tribes of Arabia, Arab tribe which inhabited, and still inhabits, the city of Ta'if and its environs, in modern Saudi Arabia, and played a prominent role in early Islamic history.
Durin ...
tribe of
Ta'if
Taif ( ar, , translit=aṭ-Ṭāʾif, lit=The circulated or encircled, ) is a city and governorate in the Makkan Region of Saudi Arabia. Located at an elevation of in the slopes of the Hijaz Mountains, which themselves are part of the Sarat M ...
.
[Lammens 1993, p. 347.] His clan were the traditional protectors of the shrine of
al-Lat
Al-Lat ( ar, اللات, translit=Al-Lāt, ), also spelled Allat, Allatu and Alilat, is a pre-Islamic Arabian goddess worshipped under various associations throughout the entire Arabian Peninsula, including Mecca where she was worshipped alongs ...
, one of many
Arabian polytheistic deities worshiped in the
pre-Islamic period.
His uncle was
Urwah ibn Mas'ud
Urwa or Urwah or "Orwah" is a given name of Arabic origin meaning strong support. It may refer to:
People
* Urwa ibn al-Ward (555–607), pre-Islamic poet
* Urwah ibn Mas'ud, semi-legendary chieftain of Taif
* Urwah ibn Zubayr (died 713), tabi'i ...
, a companion of the
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
ic prophet
Muhammad
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...
.
Al-Mughira offered his services to the latter in
Medina
Medina,, ', "the radiant city"; or , ', (), "the city" officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (, , Turkish: Medine-i Münevvere) and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah (, ), is the Holiest sites in Islam, second-holiest city in Islam, ...
after being exiled from Ta'if for assaulting and robbing his associates in their sleep while they were travelling together.
Muhammad and the nascent Muslim community had taken refuge in Medina as a result of their exile from
Mecca
Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red ...
. Muhammad utilized al-Mughira to persuade the Thaqif to embrace Islam.
He participated in the Muslims' attempted pilgrimage to Mecca, which was halted by the
Quraysh
The Quraysh ( ar, قُرَيْشٌ) were a grouping of Arab clans that historically inhabited and controlled the city of Mecca and its Kaaba. The Islamic prophet Muhammad was born into the Hashim clan of the tribe. Despite this, many of the Qur ...
at
Hudaybiyya in April 628. Later, when Ta'if submitted to Muslim rule in 630, al-Mughira was tasked with overseeing the demolition of the al-Lat shrine.
Service under the Rashidun caliphs
Muhammad died in 632 and leadership of the emergent Muslim state passed to
Abu Bakr
Abu Bakr Abdallah ibn Uthman Abi Quhafa (; – 23 August 634) was the senior companion and was, through his daughter Aisha, a father-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, as well as the first caliph of Islam. He is known with the honor ...
(), who kept al-Mughira in some administrative capacity.
Most high-ranking government posts went to members of the Quraysh, the tribe to which Muhammad and Abu Bakr belonged.
At the
Battle of Yarmouk
The Battle of the Yarmuk (also spelled Yarmouk) was a major battle between the army of the Byzantine Empire and the Muslim forces of the Rashidun Caliphate. The battle consisted of a series of engagements that lasted for six days in August 636, ...
in August 636, al-Mughira lost sight in one of his eyes.
[Morony 1987, p. 96.] Caliph
Umar
ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb ( ar, عمر بن الخطاب, also spelled Omar, ) was the second Rashidun caliph, ruling from August 634 until his assassination in 644. He succeeded Abu Bakr () as the second caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate o ...
() appointed him governor of
Basra
Basra ( ar, ٱلْبَصْرَة, al-Baṣrah) is an Iraqi city located on the Shatt al-Arab. It had an estimated population of 1.4 million in 2018. Basra is also Iraq's main port, although it does not have deep water access, which is hand ...
,
a garrison town founded by the Arabs which was used as the springboard for the
Muslim conquest of Persia
The Muslim conquest of Persia, also known as the Arab conquest of Iran, was carried out by the Rashidun Caliphate from 633 to 654 AD and led to the fall of the Sasanian Empire as well as the eventual decline of the Zoroastrian religion.
Th ...
. In the Muslim traditional sources, al-Mughira is variously stated to have married and divorced 300, 700 and 1,000 women.
In 642, Umar appointed al-Mughira governor of
Kufa
Kufa ( ar, الْكُوفَة ), also spelled Kufah, is a city in Iraq, about south of Baghdad, and northeast of Najaf. It is located on the banks of the Euphrates River. The estimated population in 2003 was 110,000. Currently, Kufa and Najaf ...
, the other Arab garrison town of Iraq.
Two years later, a former slave of al-Mughira, known as
Abu Lu'lu'a
Abū Luʾluʾa Fīrūz ( ar, أبو لؤلؤة فيروز; from ), also known as Bābā Shujāʿ al-Dīn ( ar, بابا شجاع الدين, label=none), was a Sassanid Persian slave known for having assassinated Umar ibn al-Khattab (), the s ...
, assassinated Umar while the latter was praying in Medina.
Umar's successor, Caliph
Uthman
Uthman ibn Affan ( ar, عثمان بن عفان, ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān; – 17 June 656), also spelled by Colloquial Arabic, Turkish and Persian rendering Osman, was a second cousin, son-in-law and notable companion of the Islamic proph ...
(), kept al-Mughira as governor for another year until replacing him with
Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas
, image = File:Saad ibn Abi Waqqas Masjid an-Nabawi Calligraphy.png
, alt =
, caption = His name in Arabic calligraphy
, birth_date =
, death_date =
, birth_place = Mecca, Hejaz, Arabia
, death_place ...
. Al-Mughira retired from public life and returned to Ta'if upon the accession of Caliph
Ali
ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, عَلِيّ بْن أَبِي طَالِب; 600 – 661 CE) was the last of four Rightly Guided Caliphs to rule Islam (r. 656 – 661) immediately after the death of Muhammad, and he was the first Shia Imam. ...
() following Uthman's assassination in 656.
From his hometown, he observed the chaotic events of the
First Muslim Civil War
The First Fitna ( ar, فتنة مقتل عثمان, fitnat maqtal ʻUthmān, strife/sedition of the killing of Uthman) was the first civil war in the Islamic community. It led to the overthrow of the Rashidun Caliphate and the establishment of t ...
between the supporters of Ali, who made Kufa his capital, and the bulk of the Quraysh, who opposed Ali's caliphate.
When Ali and
Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan
Mu'awiya I ( ar, معاوية بن أبي سفيان, Muʿāwiya ibn Abī Sufyān; –April 680) was the founder and first caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate, ruling from 661 until his death. He became caliph less than thirty years after the deat ...
, the governor of
Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
who had taken up the cause of avenging the death of his
Umayyad
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 the ...
kinsman Uthman, decided to settle the
Battle of Siffin
The Battle of Siffin was fought in 657 CE (37 AH) between Ali ibn Abi Talib, the fourth of the Rashidun Caliphs and the first Shia Imam, and Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan, the rebellious governor of Syria. The battle is named after its location S ...
by arbitration in 657, al-Mughira, without invitation by either side, attended the talks at
Adhruh
Udhruh ( ar, اذرح; transliteration: ''Udhruḥ'', Ancient Greek ''Adrou'', Άδρου), also spelled Adhruh, is a town in southern Jordan, administratively part of the Ma'an Governorate. It is located east of Petra.MacDonald 2015, p. 59. It i ...
.
Umayyad governor of Kufa
During the chaos that ensued in the aftermath of Ali's assassination in 661, al-Mughira apparently forged a letter by Mu'awiya, who had since claimed the caliphate, giving al-Mughira responsibility of leading the annual
Hajj
The Hajj (; ar, حَجّ '; sometimes also spelled Hadj, Hadji or Haj in English) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for Muslims that must be carried ...
pilgrimage to the
Ka'aba
The Kaaba (, ), also spelled Ka'bah or Kabah, sometimes referred to as al-Kaʿbah al-Musharrafah ( ar, ٱلْكَعْبَة ٱلْمُشَرَّفَة, lit=Honored Ka'bah, links=no, translit=al-Kaʿbah al-Musharrafah), is a building at the c ...
in Mecca.
According to the orientalist
Henri Lammens
Henri Lammens (1 Jul 1862 – 23 Apr 1937) was a Belgian Orientalist historian and Jesuit, who wrote (in French) on the early history of Islam.
Education and career as a Jesuit
Born in Ghent, Belgium of Catholic Flemish stock, Henri Lammens joi ...
, al-Mughira's "shocking morals", lack of attachment to the
Alids
The Alids are those who claim descent from the '' rāshidūn'' caliph and Imam ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (656–661)—cousin, son-in-law, and companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad—through all his wives. The main branches are the (inclu ...
(kinsmen and partisans of Ali), non-involvement in the "jealousies of the Quraysh ''
ic', as well as the narrow-mindedness of the
Ansar" (another faction of the Muslim elite), and membership of the "intelligent and enterprising tribe of Thaqif ''
ic'", all gained the attention of Mu'awiya, who reappointed him governor of Kufa in 661.
Al-Mughira was known in the tradition as one of the principal "shrewds" of his era "who could get himself out of the most hopeless difficulty".
Indeed, he was able to maintain relatively cordial relations with the influential Alids of Kufa and utilized them to counter their enemies, the
Kharijites
The Kharijites (, singular ), also called al-Shurat (), were an Islamic sect which emerged during the First Fitna (656–661). The first Kharijites were supporters of Ali who rebelled against his acceptance of arbitration talks to settle the ...
.
The latter were composed of Ali's erstwhile supporters who defected from him as a result of the arbitration with Mu'awiya, assassinated him and continued to rebel against the authorities in Iraq. According to Lammens, "by setting them
lids and Kharijitesagainst one another he rendered harmless the most dangerous elements of disorder in his province".
Moreover, by "combination of mildness and astuteness, and by knowing when to shut his eyes, al-Mughira succeeded in avoiding desperate measures" against the politically turbulent factions of Iraq and was able to maintain his governorship.
Al-Baladhuri
ʾAḥmad ibn Yaḥyā ibn Jābir al-Balādhurī ( ar, أحمد بن يحيى بن جابر البلاذري) was a 9th-century Muslim historian. One of the eminent Middle Eastern historians of his age, he spent most of his life in Baghdad and ...
mentions in his
Genealogies of the Nobles
Genealogies of the Nobles ( ar, أنساب الأشراف; transliterated: Ansab al-Ashraf) is a book on the history and genealogy of Arabs, authored by Ahmad Ibn Yahya al-Baladhuri (d. 892 CE). The book includes stories about pre-Islamic Arabian k ...
(Arabic: أنساب الأشراف; Ansab al-Ashraf), that Mughira ibn Shu'ba used to say, "Allah, curse so-and-so (meaning '
Ali
ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib ( ar, عَلِيّ بْن أَبِي طَالِب; 600 – 661 CE) was the last of four Rightly Guided Caliphs to rule Islam (r. 656 – 661) immediately after the death of Muhammad, and he was the first Shia Imam. ...
) for he disobeyed what is in Your Book and abandoned the sunnah of Your Prophet, divided unity, shed blood and was slain as an oppressor." He is also said to have proposed to Mu'awiya to nominate his son
Yazid as his caliphal successor.
Death
Al-Mughira died of the plague sometime between 668 and 671 at the age of 70.
According to the historians
al-Waqidi
Abu `Abdullah Muhammad Ibn ‘Omar Ibn Waqid al-Aslami (Arabic ) (c. 130 – 207 AH; c. 747 – 823 AD) was a historian commonly referred to as al-Waqidi (Arabic: ). His surname is derived from his grandfather's name Waqid and thus he became fa ...
(d. 823) and
al-Mada'ini
Abū l-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAbdallāh ibn Abī Sayf al-Qurashī l-Madāʾinī () (752/3–843), better known by his ''nisba'' of al-Madāʾinī ("from al-Mada'in"), was a scholar of Iranian descent who wrote in Arabic and was active ...
(d. 843), al-Mughira died in August or September 670.
He was succeeded by
Ziyad ibn Abih
Abu al-Mughira Ziyad ibn Abihi ( ar, أبو المغيرة زياد بن أبيه, Abū al-Mughīra Ziyād ibn Abīhi; – 673), also known as Ziyad ibn Abi Sufyan ( ar, زياد بن أبي سفيان, Ziyād ibn Abī Sufyān), was an adminis ...
, whom he had groomed as his successor.
Upon becoming the governor of Iraq in 694,
al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf
Abu Muhammad al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf ibn al-Hakam ibn Abi Aqil al-Thaqafi ( ar, أبو محمد الحجاج بن يوسف بن الحكم بن أبي عقيل الثقفي, Abū Muḥammad al-Ḥajjāj ibn Yūsuf ibn al-Ḥakam ibn Abī ʿAqīl al-T ...
appointed al-Mughira's sons al-Mutarrif, Urwa and Hamza his deputy governors in
al-Mada'in
Al-Mada'in ( ar, المدائن, , ; ) was an ancient metropolis situated on the Tigris River in modern-day Iraq. It was located between the ancient royal centers of Ctesiphon and Seleucia, and was founded by the Sassanid Empire. The city's na ...
, Kufa and
Hamadhan
Hamadan () or Hamedan ( fa, همدان, ''Hamedān'') (Old Persian: Haŋgmetana, Ecbatana) is the capital city of Hamadan Province of Iran. At the 2019 census, its population was 783,300 in 230,775 families. The majority of people living in Ham ...
, respectively, on account of their shared Thaqafi descent.
[Rowson 1989, p. 128.]
References
Bibliography
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Mughira
Companions of the Prophet
600 births
701 deaths
Banu Thaqif
People from Taif
Rashidun governors of Kufa
Umayyad governors of Kufa
7th-century people from the Umayyad Caliphate
7th-century deaths from plague (disease)
Rashidun governors of Basra
Rashidun governors of Arminiya