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Al-Hakam ibn Amr al-Ghifari
Al-Hakam ibn Amr al-Ghifari
Governor of Khurasan
	In office; 665–Unknown
Personal details
Died	Merv (present-day Bayramaly, Turkmenistan)
Resting place	Merv
Relations	Rafi (brother)
Parent	Amr ibn Mujaddah (father)

Al-Hakam ibn Amr al-Ghifari (Arabic: الحكم بن عمرو الغفاري) (d. 670/71), was a companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and the Umayyad governor of Khurasan and commander of Arab expeditions into Transoxiana (Central Asia) from 665 until his death in Merv.

Life

Al-Hakam ibn Amr was a son of Amr ibn Mujaddah ibn Hidhyam ibn al-Harith ibn Nu'ayla of the Banu Ghifar, a clan of the Kinana tribe.^[1]^[2] Al-Hakam was a companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and one of his banner bearers in battle.^[3]^[4] He settled in Basra, the Arab garrison town and springboard of the Muslim conquests of the Sasanian Empire established in 636.^[5]^[6]^{[full citation needed]} There was a sparse presence of Ghifar tribesmen in Basra.^[7] His brother Rafi was a transmitter of hadith from Muhammad.^[2]

According to al-Tabari and al-Baladhuri, in 665 Ziyad ibn Abihi, the practical viceroy of Iraq and the eastern Umayyad Caliphate, centralized the vast region of Khurasan (east of Iran and west of the Oxus) into a single provincial administration based in Merv under the governorship of al-Hakam.^[8]^[1]^[9] According to an anecdote cited by both historians, Ziyad had intended to appoint the veteran commander al-Hakam ibn Abi al-As al-Thaqafi to the post, but when his chamberlain mistakenly brought al-Hakam ibn Amr to his court he appointed him instead, remarking that al-Hakam was a companion of Muhammad and "an upright fellow" or "a man of nobility".^[1]^[10] Another traditional Muslim report holds that al-Hakam was appointed by Ziyad in 664.^[11] Al-Tabari notes that Ziyad also assigned six deputies under al-Hakam charged with the collection of the kharaj (land tax and/or possibly poll tax). ^[4]^[12]

Al-Hakam died and was buried in Merv. His appointed successor Anas ibn Abi Unas, who was promptly dismissed by Ziyad, led his funeral prayers.^[13] His grave was mentioned by the sources as late as the reign of the Abbasid caliph al-Ma'mun (r. 813–833).^[5]