Iyad ibn Ghanm

Iyad ibn Ghanm ibn Zuhayr al-Fihri (Arabic: عياض بن غنم بن زهير الفهري, romanized: ʿIyāḍ ibn Ghanm ibn Zuhayr al-Fihrī; died 641) was an Arab commander who played a leading role in the Muslim conquests of al-Jazira (Upper Mesopotamia) and northern Syria. He was among the handful of Qurayshi tribesmen to embrace Islam before the mass conversion of the tribe in 630, and was a companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. In 634, under Caliph Abu Bakr, he governed the north Arabian oasis town of Dumat al-Jandal. Later, in 637, he became governor of al-Jazira (Upper Mesopotamia), but was dismissed by Caliph Umar (r. 634–644) for alleged improprieties. Afterward, he became a close military aide of his cousin and nephew, Abu Ubayda ibn al-Jarrah, under whose direction Iyad conquered much of Byzantine-held northern Syria, including Aleppo, Manbij and Cyrrhus.

When Abu Ubayda died in 639, Iyad succeeded him as governor of Hims, Qinnasrin and al-Jazira. In the latter territory, he launched a campaign to assert Muslim rule, first capturing Raqqa after conquering the countryside. This was followed by the conquests of Edessa, Harran and Samosata under similar circumstances. With the exception of heavy fighting at Ras al-Ayn and Dara, Iyad received the surrenders of a string of other Mesopotamian towns with relatively little blood spilled. Overall, Iyad's conquest of Upper Mesopotamia left much of the captured towns intact and their inhabitants unharmed to maintain their tax payments to the nascent caliphate. According to historian Leif Inge Ree Petersen, Iyad "has received little attention" but was "clearly of great ability".