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Abu-Musa Abd-Allah ibn Qays al-Ash'ari, better known as Abu Musa al-Ashari (Arabic: أبو موسى الأشعري‎) (d.ca. 662 or 672) was a companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and important figure in early Islamic history. He was at various times governor of Basra and Kufa and was involved in the early Muslim conquests of Persia. He was also an important participant in the troubles which occupied the caliphate of Ali ibn Abi Talib (d.661).

[edit] Life

Abu Musa came originally from Yemen, where his tribe, the Ashar, lived in the pre-Islamic period. He accepted Islam at Mecca prior to the hijra and returned to his native Yemen to propagate the faith. There was no news of him for more than a decade until following the conquest of Khaybar in 628 when he came to Muhammad in Medina with more than fifty converts from Yemen including his two brothers Abu Ruhm and Abu Burdah.

Following the conquest of Mecca in 629, Abu Musa was named among those sent by Muhammad on the expedition to Awtas.^[1] Two years later he was appointed as one of the governors over Yemen, where he remained until the caliphate of Abu Bakr, whom he joined in fighting the local leader of the ridda (lit. apostasy) movement.

[edit] After the Caliphate of Abu Bakr

The appointments of Abu Musa to the governates of Basra and Kufa were made during the caliphates of Umar and Uthman, but the exact dates and circumstances are not clear. However, during the period that he was governor of one or the other of the two Muslim garrison towns in Iraq, Abu Musa is frequently mentioned in connection with the early Muslim conquest of the Sasanian Empire. In the Battle of Tostar (642) he distinguished himself as a military commander. The Persian commander, Hormuzan, had withdrawn his forces to the fortified city of Tostar. The Caliph Umar did not underestimate the strength of the enemy and he mobilized a force to confront Hormuzan. Among the Muslim forces were dedicated veterans like Ammar ibn Yasir, Al-Baraa ibn Malik al-Ansari and his brother Anas, Majra'a al-Bakri and Salamah ibn Rajaa. Umar appointed Abu Musa as commander of the army. Tostar was impossible to take by storm and several unsuccessful attempts were made to breach the walls. Fortunately, a Persian defector opened the city's gates from within making way for Abu Musa's army.^[2]

[edit] Contributions to Islamic Learning

Despite Abu Musa’s reputation as a soldier and politician, he was also praised for his beautiful recitation of the Qur'an, and he is associated with one of the early versions (mashahef), which was superseded by Uthman's recension. Some of the variants of Abu Musa's version have been preserved.^[3] He was also a respected faqih and was regarded among the leading judges in early Muslim history. People used to say: "The judges in this ummah are four: Umar, Ali ibn Abi Talib, Abu Musa and Zayd ibn Thabit." Abu Musa is also credited with narrating numerous hadith, as well as being the ancestor of the founder of the Ash'ari theological school within Islam, Abu al-Hasan al-Ash'ari (d.935).

[edit] Notes

^ Waqedi, Mughazi, pp.915-16, London 1966
^ Tabari, Abu Jafar Muhammad ibn Jarir, I, p. 2601
^ A. Jeffery, Materials for the History of the Text of the Quran, Leiden, pp. 209-11, Leiden 1937

[edit] See also

Sahaba

[edit] External links

Sunni view

[0] Waqedi, Mughazi, pp.915-16, London 1966

[1] Tabari, Abu Jafar Muhammad ibn Jarir, I, p. 2601

[2] A. Jeffery, Materials for the History of the Text of the Quran, Leiden, pp. 209-11, Leiden 1937

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