Ismail ibn Abd Allah ibn Abi al-Muhajir

Governor of North Africa under the Umayyad Caliphate

Ismail bin Abdallah bin Abi al-Muhajir
إسماعيل بن عبد الله بن أبي المهاجر

Governor of Ifriqiya
In office
718–720
Monarch| Umar II
Preceded by| Muhammad ibn Yazid
Succeeded by| Yazid ibn Abi Muslim
Personal details
Born| 683
Died| 754
Military service
Allegiance| Umayyad 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.[citation needed]

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.[citation needed]

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.[citation needed]

## See also[edit]

* History of early Islamic Tunisia
* History of medieval Tunisia

## References[edit]

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.

Preceded by

Muhammad ibn Yazid

|  Governor of Ifriqiya
718-720  | Succeeded by

Yazid ibn Abi Muslim

|
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