Muhammad ibn Abi Hudhayfa

Muhammad ibn Abi Hudhayfa (Arabic: محمد بن أبي حذيفة, romanized: Muḥammad ibn ʾAbī Ḥudhayfa) was a Qurayshi dissident and later governor of Egypt during the First Fitna. Raised in the household of the caliph Uthman ibn Affan after his father’s death, he later became a prominent opponent of Uthman’s administration in Egypt. Following the accession of Ali ibn Abi Talib, Ibn Abi Hudhayfa was recognized as governor before being replaced and subsequently killed during the Umayyad invasions of Egypt (657–658).

Muhammad ibn Abi Hudhayfa was born in Abyssinia during the lifetime of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He was the son of Abu Hudhayfa ibn Utba, an early companion of Muhammad, and Sahla bint Suhail. After his father and adopted brother Salim Mawla Abi Hudhayfa were killed at the Battle of al-Yamama, Muhammad was taken into the household of Uthman ibn Affan, who raised him as a foster son.^[1]

By the mid-7th century, Egypt experienced growing tensions between the provincial administration and segments of the local garrison population. These tensions formed part of wider disputes within the caliphate during the later years of Uthman’s reign.

In 656, when Ibn Sa‘d departed Egypt to attend a consultation of governors in Medina, Muhammad ibn Abi Hudhayfa revolted against his authority. He expelled the governor from Fustat and took control of the city with the support of elements of the Egyptian garrison.^[2]

The circumstances of Muhammad ibn Abi Hudhayfa’s death are reported differently in the early sources. He died in 657 during the conflicts surrounding control of Egypt.^[3]