Abd al-Rahman ibn Utba al-Fihri, also known as Ibn Jahdam, was the 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 rival caliph

Ibn al-Zubayr Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam ( ar, عبد الله ابن الزبير ابن العوام, ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Zubayr ibn al-ʿAwwām; May 624 CE – October/November 692), was the leader of a caliphate based in Mecca that rivaled the ...

in 684, during the

Second Fitna The Second Fitna was a period of general political and military disorder and civil war in the Islamic community during the early Umayyad Caliphate., meaning trial or temptation) occurs in the Qur'an in the sense of test of faith of the believer ...

. Egypt's

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 ...

proclaimed themselves for Ibn al-Zubayr when he proclaimed himself Caliph at

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 ...

, and Ibn al-Zubayr dispatched Abd al-Rahman ibn Utba al-Fihri to become the province's governor. Although the incumbent governor,

Sa'id ibn Yazid Sa'id ibn Yazid ibn Alqama al-Azdi ( ar, سعيد بن يزيد بن علقمة الأزدي) was the governor of Egypt for the Umayyad Caliphate in 682–684. An Arab from Palestine, Sa'id ibn Yazid was appointed by Caliph Yazid I to succeed M ...

, gave way, the resident Arab elites of the province barely tolerated his presence, and began contacts with 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

Marwan I Marwan ibn al-Hakam ibn Abi al-As ibn Umayya ( ar, links=no, مروان بن الحكم بن أبي العاص بن أمية, Marwān ibn al-Ḥakam ibn Abī al-ʿĀṣ ibn Umayya), commonly known as MarwanI (623 or 626April/May 685), was the fo ...

Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...

. These contacts encouraged Marwan to march against Egypt, where Abd al-Rahman vainly tried to muster a defence. Although he fortified the capital,

Fustat Fusṭāṭ ( ar, الفُسطاط ''al-Fusṭāṭ''), also Al-Fusṭāṭ and Fosṭāṭ, was the first capital of Egypt under Muslim rule, and the historical centre of modern Cairo. It was built adjacent to what is now known as Old Cairo by ...

, an army he sent to stop the Umayyad advance at Ayla melted away and his fleet was wrecked by storms. Marwan entered Egypt unopposed, and after a couple of days of clashes before Fustat, the city's nobles surrendered it to him. Abd al-Rahman was allowed to leave Egypt with his possessions.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Abd al-Rahman ibn Utba al-Fihri 7th-century Arabs 7th-century Umayyad governors of Egypt Quraysh