Muhammad ibn al-Ash'ath al-Khuza'i


Muhammad ibn al-Ash'ath al-Khuza'i was an early Abbasid follower and later governor in Iran, Egypt and Ifriqiya for the Abbasid Caliphate.

Life

Muhammad was a deputy naqib during the Abbasid missionary phase in Khurasan and the Abbasid Revolution that followed. Upon the spread of the Revolution, Abu Muslim appointed Muhammad as governor of Tabasayn, Fars and Kerman. In 755 he participated in the suppression of the rebellion of Sunpadh at Rayy, and in the next year fought against another rebel, Jawhar ibn Marar, also at Rayy.
In 758/9, he was named governor of Egypt, a post he held until 760/1, and was then sent west against the Ibadites of Ifriqiya. According to the Mamluk historian Safadi, he was also governor of Damascus under al-Mansur. Muhammad died in 766, while on his way to take part in a summer raid against the Byzantine Empire.
His sons also had distinguished careers: Ja'far was sahib al-shurta for Harun al-Rashid and governor of Khurasan, while Nasr was governor of Palestine and of Sindh.