The Biography of Uthman Ibn Affan R Dhun Noorayn

408 'U- Ibn 'Affh 4 Dhun-Noorayn
"bd-All2h ibn ~ a" ibn Abiq-Sarh
When mentioning the name of 'Abd-All81 ibn Abi'l-Sarh and
'Uthdn's appointing him as governor of Egypt, the historians
usually say: 'Uthmsn appointed as governor of Egypt 'Abd-All&
ibn Abi'l-Sarh, his brother through breastfeeding.['] What is
meant by the phrase "his brother through breastfeeding" is an
implicit accusation on the part of some historians that 'Uthmsn
appointed him as governor of Egypt because of this bond of
brotherhood. But what this historian said is not correct. In order to
refute these people and their implicit criticism against the caliph
'Uthmh ibn 'Affsn &, we will discuss the conduct of this knight
of the tribe of Banu 'Aamir ibn ,'Abd-All& ibn Sa'd. He
had a great deal of experience and was very familiar with Egypt
and the surrounding countries because he had taken part in the
conquest of those regions with the army of 'Am, and because he
had been appointed governor of some of those provinces at the
time of 'Umar, when he was governor of Upper ~gy~t.[~] He was
also its governor at the beginning of 'UthmSn's caliphate. This
qualified him to become the governor of all of Egypt, as he was
the best of the candidates for that post after 'Am ibn al-'Aas, due
to his experience. It seems that 'Abd-Allsh ibn Sa'd was able to
control the kharij of Egypt until it became greater than the !&art]
that had been collected at the time of 'Am ibn al-'Aas. The reason
for that may be that 'Abd-Allsh ibn Sa'd followed a different
strategy of expenditure than 'Amr, so the kharij money that was
available in Egypt increased.14'
During his governorship, 'Abd-Allsh ibn Sa'd engaged in
jihad in a number of places and achieved conquests that were of
great importance. Among his campaigns was his campaign of
conquest in North Africa in 27 AH, during which he killed its king
['I al-Ktmil by Ibn al-Atheer, 3/88
[21 Fasl al-Khitibji Mawiq$'al-Ashfib, p. 77
[31 Tdqeeq Mawqiqifal-SahLibah fi'l-Fitnah, p. 418
'41 al-Wiliyah hla al-Buldtn, 1/180