Ismail bin Abdallah bin Abi al-Muhajir
إسماعيل بن عبد الله بن أبي المهاجر
Governor of Ifriqiya
In office
718–720
MonarchUmar II
Preceded byMuhammad ibn Yazid
Succeeded byYazid ibn Abi Muslim
Personal details
Born683
Died754
Military service
AllegianceUmayyad Caliphate

Ismail bin Abdallah bin Abi al-Muhajir[1] (Arabic: إسماعيل بن عبد الله بن أبي المهاجر) was an Umayyad governor of Ifriqiya (North Africa) from 718 to 720.

Ismail bin Abdallah bin Abu al-Muhajir (or al-Muhajjar) was from a client tribe of the Quraysh.

In 718, Ismail bin Abdallah was appointed by Caliph Umar bin AbdulAziz or Umar II to replace his predecessor's appointee, the unpopular Muhammad bin Yazid. Ismail was one of the new crop of Umar II's competent governors, with instructions to improve the Kairouan administration and pursue the integration of non-Arab Muslims into the empire, rather than treat them as conquered peoples. As such, Ismail encouraged conversions among the Berbers of North Africa and curbed the abuses of the Arab military caste. Ismail adhered to Islamic law and eliminated extraordinary taxes and slave-tributes on Berber populations. He is credited for completing the conversion of the Berber population to Islam.[2]

In a curious note, Ismail bin Abdallah was the first and only Umayyad governor of Ifriqiya who was not given supervisory authority over Iberia (al-Andalus). In an unusual step, Caliph Umar II decided to appoint Al-Samh bin Malik al-Khawlani as the governor of al-Andalus directly, and made him directly answerable to Damascus, rather than going through Kairouan.

Ismail bin Abdallah's tenure was competent but short. He was relieved of his post in 720 by Umar II's successor, Caliph Yazid II and replaced by the dubious Yazid bin Abi Muslim as governor in Kairouan.

See also

References

  1. ↑ as reported in Ibn Khaldun, Histoire des Berbères et des dynasties musulmanes de l'Afrique, 1852 trans., Algiers, Vol. 1 p.356. Ibn Abd al-Hakam reports his name as Ismail ibn Ubayd Allah
  2. ↑ Ibn Khaldun, ibid.
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