Musa bin Nusayr

Musa bin Nusayr (Arabic: موسى بن نصير‎ Mūsá bin Nuṣayr; 640–716) served as a governor and general under the Umayyad caliph Al-Walid I. He ruled over the Muslim provinces of North Africa (Ifriqiya), and directed the Islamic conquest of the Visigothic Kingdom in Hispania (Spain, Portugal, Andorra and part of France).

Background

Various suggestions have been made as to his ancestry. Some say his father belonged to the Lakhmid clan of seminomads who lived east of the Euphrates and were allies of the Sassanians, while others claim he belonged to the Banu Bakr confederation. The most detailed account is that of at-Tabari who stated that Musa's father was taken captive after the fall of the Syrian city of Ayn al-Tamr (633). According to this account, he was a Christian, possibly Persian, who was one of a number being held hostage there. However, al-Baladhuri, relating the same events, states he was an Arab of the Balī tribe, from Jabal al-Jalīl in Syria.

As a slave, Musa's father entered the service of Abd al-Aziz ibn Marwan (governor of Egypt and son of the caliph Marwan I) who gave him his freedom. He returned to Syria where Musa was born at a place called Kafarmara or Kafarmathra. The date of his birth has been given as 640.