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

Muhammad ibn al-Ash'ath al-Khuza'i
محمد بن الاشعث الخزاعي
Term Start:750
Term End:755
Term Start2:759
Term End2:760
Office3:Governor of Ifriqiya and Maghrib
Term Start3:762
Term End3:765
Predecessor3:Abd al-Rahman ibn Rustem al-Farissi (Kharijite rebel), 760–62
Death Date:766
Children:Ja'far
Nasr
Parents:al-Ash'ath
Allegiance:Abbasid Caliphate
Serviceyears:750 – 765
Rank:Commander

Muhammad ibn al-Ash'ath al-Khuza'i was an early Abbasid follower and later became Abbasid 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 (although the two events may have been mixed up in the sources, so that Muhammad may in reality have been present only at one).

In 758/9, he was named governor of Egypt, a post he held until 760/1, and was then sent west to conquer Ifriqiya for the Abbasids from the Ibadites in 761. 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.

Sources

. Slaves on horses: the evolution of the Islamic polity . Patricia Crone . Cambridge and New York . Cambridge University Press . 1980 . 0-521-52940-9 .