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Munzir ibn Sawa (Arabic: ٱلْمُنْذِر ٱبْن سَاوَىٰ, romanized: al-Munzir-bn-Sāwá) was the governor of the Persian Sasanian Empire of historical Bahrain, the eastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula opposite of Tihamah.
Munzir was a prominent Arab chief and Tabi'un in the 7th century who hailed from the Banu Tamim tribe. His genealogical full name is Munzir bin Sawî bin al-Akhnas bin Bayān bin Amr bin Abdullah bin Zaid bin Abdullah bin Darim bin Malik bin Hanzalah bin Malik bin Zaid bin Manat Al-Tamimi.[1] He was the Persian governor of lands which included modern Bahrain, Eastern part of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, South Iraq, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, and Oman during the age of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.
Before Islam, the inhabitants of the eastern part of the Arabian Peninsula worshipped gods including Awal. Nestorian Christianity was also practiced in the region. Muhammad sent his first envoy Al-Ala'a Al-Hadrami to Munzir ibn Sawa Al-Tamimi, the ruler of Bahrain, which in those days, extended the coast from Basrah in Iraq to the south of Qatar, including al-Hasa, Kuwait, Bahrain, the UAE & Oman, in the year 628, inviting him to Islam. Munzir, announced his conversion to Islam and all the Arab inhabitants of historical Bahrain became Muslim, heralding the beginning of the Islamic era in Bahrain. Consequently, Al-Ala'a Al-Hadrami was appointed by Muhammad as his representative in Bahrain to collect the Zakah (religious tax).
- ^ (1) ابن الأثير: أسد الغابة 1/1050 Ibn al-Atheer: Asad al Ghåbah 1/1050