| Ibrahim ibn al-Ashtar إبراهيم بن الأشتر | |
| Birth Date: | 642 |
| Death Date: | October 691 |
| Birth Place: | Yemen, Arabia |
| Death Place: | Dayr al-Jathaliq |
| Allegiance: | Rashidun Caliphate (656–661) Al-Mukhtar al-Thaqafi (685–687) Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr (687–death) |
| Serviceyears: | 657-691 |
| Battles: |
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| Relations: | Malik al-Ashtar (father) Nu'man (son) Abd al-Rahman ibn Abd Allah al-Nakha'i (half-brother) |
| Laterwork: | Governor of Mosul (686–691) |
Ibrahim ibn Malik al-Ashtar ibn al-Harith al-Nakha'i (; died October 691), better known as Ibrahim ibn al-Ashtar (Arabic: إبراهيم بن الأشتر|Ibrāhīm ibn al-Ashtar) was an Arab commander who fought in the service of Caliph Ali (r. 656–661) and later served the pro-Alid leader al-Mukhtar al-Thaqafi. He led al-Mukhtar's forces to a decisive victory at the Battle of Khazir (686) against the Umayyads under Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad, who was personally slain by Ibn al-Ashtar.
Ibrahim was the son of Malik al-Ashtar ibn al-Harith, a commander in the Rashidun army and partisan of Caliph Ali .[1] The family belonged to the Banu Nakha', hence their epithet al-Nakha'i.[2] The Banu Nakha' was part of the larger tribe of Madh'hij.[2] Ibrahim had a brother from the same mother but different father named Abd al-Rahman ibn Abd Allah al-Nakha'i, who also was a warrior.[2] Like his father, Ibrahim is also reported to have fought alongside Ali against the Banu Umayya at the Battle of Siffin in 657.[1]
Ibn al-Ashtar's prominence rose after he entered the service of the pro-Alid and anti-Umayyad leader al-Mukhtar al-Thaqafi.[1] The latter took over Kufa in 685/86 and was soon after confronted by an invading Umayyad army from Syria under the command of Ubayd Allah ibn Ziyad. Al-Mukhtar charged Ibn al-Ashtar with command over his mostly Persian mawali troops from Kufa to prevent the Umayyad advance into Iraq.[1] Ibn al-Ashtar marched northward with his forces and fought the Umayyads at the Battle of Khazir east of Mosul.[1] He inflicted a disastrous defeat on the Umayyads, personally slaying Ubayd Allah, while other senior Umayyad commanders, such as Husayn ibn Numayr al-Sakuni, were also slain.[1] He had their heads sent to al-Mukhtar, who in turn sent them to the anti-Umayyad caliph of Medina and Iraq, Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr.[1]
By 687, al-Mukhtar had appointed Ibn al-Ashtar governor of Mosul, which came under al-Mukhtar's control following the Umayyad rout at Khazir.[1] That same year, al-Mukhtar and his retinue were besieged in Kufa by Ibn al-Zubayr's brother Mus'ab, and al-Mukhtar was killed in the ensuing clashes.[1] Afterward, Ibn al-Ashtar defected to the Zubayrids, despite the efforts of Umayyad caliph Abd al-Malik to woo him to the Umayyad side.[1] Ibn al-Ashtar was ultimately killed fighting alongside Mus'ab at the Battle of Maskin in October 691, during which the Umayyads defeated the Zubayrids and subsequently conquered Iraq.[1] After the battle's conclusion, Ibn al-Ashtar's body was confiscated and burned by the Umayyad forces.[1] His son Nu'man served as a commander of the Madh'hij and Banu Asad contingent of the Kufan troops of Yazid ibn al-Muhallab during the latter's rebellion against the Umayyads in 720.[3]
Ibn al-Ashtar is described as the "most talented commander Kufa produced during the Marwanid period" (684–750) by historian Hugh N. Kennedy.[4]