Uqba ibn Nafi

ʿ Uqba ibn Nafi ʿ (* 622, † 683 ), عقبة بن نافع بن عبد القيس القرشي االفهري / ʿ Uqba b. Nafi ʿ b. ʿ Abd al - Qays al - Fihri was Qurašī al - Arab governor of Ifriqiya ( 662-674 and 681-683 ). He is the founder of the city Qairawan.

ʿ Uqba ibn Nafi ʿ came from the clan of the Umayyads and was a nephew of ʿ Amr ibn al - ʿ as, the conqueror of Egypt. First ʿ Uqba was commander of the troops in Tripoli to protect the western border of Egypt. But He soon first forays into the Byzantine provinces of Ifriqiya.

From 662-674 the first governor of Ifriqiya, he began with the submission of the Maghreb. After a victory over the Byzantine Empire at Carthage and the area of ​​present-day central Tunisia, he founded 670 there is a camp to secure the conquests. From this camp later Kairouan developed as an important cultural and economic center in North Africa. The camp was created in the interior of Ifriqiya in order to protect it from attacks by the Byzantine fleet, which continues dominated the Mediterranean. In Kairouan ʿ Uqba ibn Nafi ʿ founded 672 the first simple mosque in Ifriqiya, which rose later become one of the most important religious centers of Islam in North Africa. The main mosque of Kairouan still bears his name: Jami ʿ ʿ Uqba Sīdī.

After a replacement by Abu Muhajir Dinar ( 674-681 ) was appointed governor of Ifriqiya ( 681-683 ) ʿ Uqba ibn Nafi ʿ Caliph Yazid I. from again. He came forward with his army through the Maghreb to the Atlantic. Because of the uncertain replenishment and the uprisings of the Berber tribes but he had to withdraw again. South of Biskra, at Tahuda the Arab army was defeated by 683 the Berbers under Kusaila ibn Lemzem, where ʿ Uqba coincided with a large part of his army. After this defeat, conquered the Berber quite Ifriqiya and the Muslims had to retreat into Cyrenaica.