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((Short description|Arab ruler of Ifriqiya (North Africa) from 745 to 755))
((About|the governor of Ifriqiya|the governor of al-Andalus, his grandson|Abd al-Rahman ibn Habib al-Siqlabi))
((More citations needed|date=February 2007))
'''ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Ḥabīb al-Fihrī''' (((Lang-ar|عبد الرحمن بن حبيب الفهري))) (died 755) was an [[Arab]] noble of the [[al-Fihri|Fihrid]] family, and ruler of [[Ifriqiya]] (North Africa) from 745 through 755 AD.

==Background==
Abd al-Rahman ibn Habib was a great-grandson of [[Uqba ibn Nafi|Oqba ibn Nafi al-Fihri]] (Muslim Arab [[Umayyad conquest of North Africa|conqueror of North Africa]]). His family, the [[al-Fihri]]s, were among the leading Arab families of the [[Maghreb]].

In 740, Ibn Habib joined his father [[Habib ibn Abi Obeida]] in an Arab expedition across the water to [[Sicily]] in what was possibly the first attempt at a full-scale invasion of the island (rather than a mere raid).  They had a successful landing and laid a brief siege to [[Syracuse, Sicily|Syracuse]], securing its submission and agreement to pay tribute.  But the break-out of the [[Berber Revolt|Great Berber Revolt]] in the [[Maghreb]] forced the al-Fihris to cease their invasion of Sicily and ship their army quickly back to North Africa to help quell the uprising.  The Arabs were defeated by the Berbers at the [[Battle of Bagdoura]] (near the [[Sebou River|Sebou]]) in 741.  His father was killed in the field of battle, while Abd al-Rahman ibn Habib narrowly escaped and fled across the straits to Spain with the remnant of the Arab army.

While in Spain, Ibn Habib involved himself in the conflicts which immediately erupted between the commanders of the defeated army (the Syrian regiments or ((transliteration|ar|junds)))), and the resident governor, [[Abd al-Malik ibn Qatan al-Fihri]]. When the Syrian commander [[Balj ibn Bishr al-Qushayri]] tortured and executed the elderly Ibn Qatan, a [[Fihrid]] relative, Abd al-Rahman ibn Habib openly broke with the Syrians and joined the Andalusian (''baladi'') party.  Ibn Habib participated in the Battle of Aqua Portora in August 740 and it was claimed by at least one chronicler (Ibn al-Khatam) that he sought out and fatally wounded Balj in the heat of battle (although the chronicler may have confused Ibn Habib with another Abd al-Rahman, Ibn al-Qama al-Lakhmi, the governor of Narbonne and commander of the Andalusians).
  
In the aftermath, Abd al-Rahman ibn Habib tried to put himself forward as a candidate to replace the governor, but gave up on these ambitions with the arrival of [[Abu l-Hattar al Husam ibn Darar al-Kalbi|Abu al-Khattar ibn Dirar al-Kalbi]] as Andalusian governor in 743, who then set about pacifying the situation.

Soon after, Ibn Habib left Spain and returned to [[Ifriqiya]] (although, apparently, he may have left his son, [[Yusuf ibn 'Abd al-Rahman al-Fihri|Yusuf]], behind).  Ibn Habib may have served briefly under the [[Kairouan]] governor, [[Handhala ibn Safwan al-Kalbi]], in a variety of military capacities, including command of the [[Tunis]] garrison.

==Tunisian Coup==
In late 744, in the turmoil following the death of the [[Umayyad Caliphate|Umayyad]] caliph, [[Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik|Hisham]], Abd al-Rahman ibn Habib assembled a small force in [[Tunis]] and declared himself emir of [[Ifriqiya]].  Although urged to quash the usurper, the Ifriqiyan governor [[Handhala ibn Safwan al-Kalbi]] decided it was best to avoid bloodshed and consented to return to Damascus in February 745, rather than put up a fight.((Citation needed|date=March 2016))

Nonetheless, on departure, Handhala ibn Safwan laid a curse on the usurper: "Oh God, do not permit Abd al-Rahman ibn Habib to enjoy his usurped authority! Let his partisans derive no profit from this attempt, may they shed each other's blood!  Send against them, O Lord, the most evil of all the men You have created!" <ref>En-Nuweiri, as quoted in "De la Province d'Afrique et du Maghrib, traduite de l'arabe d'En-Noweiri par M. le baron MacGuckin de Slane", 1841, ''Journal Asiatique'', p.451-52</ref>  Handhala extended the curse to [[Ifriqiya]] itself, the land and its ungrateful people, invoking upon them famine, pestilence and war.  As it turned out, save from some brief seasonal interruptions, Ifriqiya was indeed gripped by pestilence for the next seven years.((Citation needed|date=March 2016))

==Ruler in Ifriqiya==
Abd al-Rahman ibn Habib had come to power essentially as the figurehead of the local Arab high military caste, a group much despised and feared by the common population.  Their appetites and aspirations had long been kept in check by the Umayyad governors.  But with the connection with Damascus now cut, the high nobles fully expected to be allowed free rein by 'their' emir.  But they were soon to be disappointed. Ibn Habib wanted a country to govern, and was not prepared to see it fragmented and handed over to the anarchic ways of a feudal nobility.  Ibn Habib consequently faced the prospect of revolts whatever he did - should the nobles be let loose, the people would revolt; hold the reins tight, the nobles would turn against him.  To assert himself Ibn Habib consequently turned to his greatest asset - his family, the [[Fihrid]]s.((Citation needed|date=March 2016))

No sooner had Ibn Habib installed himself in [[Kairouan]], then revolts by Arabs and Berbers, began erupting all over the country.  [[Tunis]] was raised to revolt by Orwa ibn ez-Zobeir es-Sadefi, [[Tabinas]] by Ibn Attaf el-Azdi, [[Béja]] was taken by the [[Sanhaja]] Berber rebel Thabit al-Sanhaji, and many more.  Ibn Habib patiently and ruthlessly crushed the revolts one by one.((Citation needed|date=March 2016))

The most serious threat came from [[Tripolitana]], then governed by Ibn Habib's brother [[Ilyas ibn Habib al-Fihri]].  In 747, Ilyas tried to crack down on the fledgling [[Ibadi]]tes, a puritanical [[Kharijite]] sect, that was growing strong in the cities of [[Djerba]] and [[Tripoli, Libya|Tripoli]] and among the Berbers in the surrounding districts.  The Ibadites, inspired by the success of their brethren in [[Hadramut]] and [[Oman]], revolted under the leadership of their imam al-Harith, and seized control of much of Tripolitana (between [[Gabès]] and [[Sirte]]).  But in 752, Ibn Habib dispatched an Ifriqiyan army and reconquered Tripolitana from the Ibadites, driving their remnants south into the [[Nafusa Mountains|Jebel Nafusa]].((Citation needed|date=March 2016))

In Spain, Handhala's deputy [[Abu l-Hattar al Husam ibn Darar al-Kalbi|Abu al-Khattar ibn Dirar al-Kalbi]] had been toppled in 745 and civil war broke out anew between the Syrian ((transliteration|ar|junds)) and the Andalusian Arabs.  Ibn Habib intervened, dispatching an Ifriqiyan force to help restore order. In 747, Ibn Habib's kinsman (by patronymic record, his son), [[Yusuf ibn 'Abd al-Rahman al-Fihri]], was put forward as a compromise candidate and installed as governor of [[al-Andalus]].((Citation needed|date=March 2016))

But the western Maghreb - Morocco and eastern Algeria - remained out of his reach. Since the [[Berber Revolt]] of 740, the region had descended into tribal anarchy.  It was fragmented and ruled autonomously by Berber tribes.  The Masmuda Berber tribes established an independent state in 744, the [[Berghwata]] confederation, with their own 'prophet' and [[syncretist]] beliefs.  Ibn Habib's attempts to reimpose his rule there failed.((Citation needed|date=March 2016))

In 752, perhaps feeling confident in the possession of his lands for the first time, Ibn Habib transported an Ifriqiyan army to [[Sicily]], perhaps hoping to resume the invasion [[Habib ibn Abi Obeida al-Fihri|his father]] had interrupted back in 740.  But finding the defences too strong, the expedition limited itself to raiding the coasts and returned to North Africa.((Citation needed|date=March 2016))

==Relations with the Caliphs==
Ibn Habib also tried to repair his relations with [[Damascus]]. After repeated entreaties, he finally managed to secure confirmation in his post from the Umayyad Caliph [[Marwan II]].  Marwan II did not really have any options, for at that time, his resources were engaged in fending off the [[Abbasid Revolution]].((Citation needed|date=March 2016))

Egypt fell to the Abbasids in the middle of 750 and the last Umayyad caliph [[Marwan II]] was caught and killed. Hoping the chaos in the east would allow him to carve out an independent state for himself, Ifriqiyan governor Ibn Habib at first sought an understanding with the Abbasids but was soon disappointed by Abbasid demands for submission. Ibn Habib then decided to revolt against the Abbasids and dropped the name of the Abbasid caliph from the Friday prayers, publicly burnt the official robes of state dispatched by the Abbasids and invited the fleeing members of the Umayyad clan to take refuge in his dominions.  Among his guests was the Umayyad prince, [[Abd ar-Rahman I|Abd al-Rahman ibn Mu’awiya ibn Hisham]], a grandson of Caliph [[Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik|Hisham]].  Two other notables, sons of the  caliph [[Al-Walid II|Walid II]], were appointed to high posts, one of them made ''[[qadi]]'' of [[Kairouan]].  His own brother, Ilyas ibn Habib, married into the Umayyad family.((Citation needed|date=March 2016))

But not long after their arrival, Ibn Habib changed his mind, probably fearing the prominent Umayyad exiles might serve as a focal point for discontented Arab nobles and challenge his own usurped power.  Ibn Habib expressed sufficient hostility to prompt the fugitive Umayyad prince to flee into the hinterlands of [[Kabylie]] and hide among the [[Nafza]] Berbers (his mother's family).  In 755, Abd al-Rahman left his African hideout and crossed the straits to Spain and went on to depose [[Yusuf ibn 'Abd al-Rahman al-Fihri|Yusuf al-Fihri]] and found the [[Caliphate of Córdoba|Umayyad emirate of Córdoba]] in 756.

In 755, Ibn Habib discovered what he thought was a plot engineered by the Umayyad ''[[qadi]]'', and ordered the arrest and execution of the plotters.  But he didn't count on the revenge of his sister-in-law, the Umayyad wife of his brother Ilyas.  Later that year, urged on by his wife, [[Ilyas ibn Habib al-Fihri|Ilyas]] assassinated his brother Abd al-Rahman ibn Habib in his personal quarters, plunging a dagger into his back while he played with his children.<ref>Ibn Khaldun (1852:368); Mercier (1888:p.240)</ref>

[[Ilyas ibn Habib al-Fihri|Ilyas ibn Habib]] proceeded to assume power for himself, but was himself deposed and killed by the end of the year by Abd al-Rahman's son, [[Habib ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Fihri]].((Citation needed|date=March 2016))

In 757, the [[Warfajuma]] [[Berbers]] and their [[Sufri]]te allies swept up from southern Tunisia and captured [[Kairouan]], killing Habib and putting an end to the [[al-Fihri|Fihrid]] dynasty.  In the meantime, the  [[Ibadi]]tes that Ibn Habib had driven out of Tripoli came back.  Rallied by their [[imam]] [[Abu al-Khattab al-Ma'afiri]] in Jebel Nefusa, the [[Ibadi]]tes recaptured [[Tripoli, Libya|Tripoli]] and went on to take [[Kairouan]] from the [[Berbers]] in 758, establishing a [[Kharijite]] [[imamate]] over [[Ifriqiya]].((Citation needed|date=March 2016))

((s-start))
((succession box|
 before=[[Handhala ibn Safwan al-Kalbi]]|
 title=[[Ifriqiya|Governor of Ifriqiya]] |
 years=745&ndash;755|
 after=[[Ilyas ibn Habib al-Fihri]]
))
((s-end))

==References==
((reflist))

==Sources==
*[[Ibn Khaldun]], ''Histoire des Berbères et des dynasties musulmanes de l'Afrique'', 1852 transl. Algiers.
*[[Charles-André Julien|Julien, Charles-André]], ''Histoire de l'Afrique du Nord, des origines à 1830'', édition originale 1931, réédition Payot, Paris, 1961
*[[Hugh N. Kennedy|Kennedy, Hugh]] ''Muslim Spain and Portugal: A Political History of al-Andalus'', New York and London: [[Longman]], 1996.
* Mercier, E. (1888) ''Histoire de l'Afrqiue septentrionale, V. 1'', Paris: Leroux.  Repr. Elibron Classics, 2005.

[[Category:8th-century Arab people]]
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]
[[Category:755 deaths]]
[[Category:Umayyad governors of Ifriqiya]]
[[Category:Fihrids]]

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