Al-Hakam ibn Amr al-Ghifari

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Al-Hakam ibn Amr al-Ghifari (died 670/671) was a companion of the Prophet Muhammad and the Umayyad governor of Khurasan. He led Arab expeditions into Transoxiana (Central Asia) from 665 until his death in Merv, in what is now Turkmenistan, where he is buried. He came from the Banu Ghifar clan of the Kinana tribe and settled in Basra, the Arab frontier city that helped launch Muslim expansion. His brother Rafi transmitted hadith from Muhammad.

In 665, Ziyad ibn Abihi, the governor in charge of Iraq and the eastern Umayyad territory, reorganized Khurasan into a single province based in Merv and appointed al-Hakam as its governor, with six deputies to collect the kharaj (land tax). Some sources say he was appointed in 664. Al-Hakam died in Merv, and his funeral prayers were led by Anas ibn Abi Unas, who was briefly named his successor before Ziyad dismissed him. His burial site was noted long after, including during the Abbasid caliph al-Ma’mun’s reign.