Zuhayr ibn Qays

Zuhayr ibn Qays al-Balawi
زهير بن قيس البلوي
Governor of Ifriqiya
In office
683–688
MonarchsMu'awiyah II
Marwan I
Abd al-Malik
Preceded byUqba ibn Nafi
Succeeded byHassan ibn al-Nu'man
Personal details
Died688
ReligionIslam
Burial placeAs-Sahabah Mosque, Derna, Libya
Military service
AllegianceRashidun Caliphate
Umayyad Caliphate
Battles/warsMuslim conquest of Egypt
Muslim conquest of the Maghreb

Zuhayr ibn Qays al-Balawī (Arabic: زهير بن قيس البلوي) (died 688) was a companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and an Arab commander who fought in the service of the Rashidun, Umayyad and Zubayrid caliphs. He played a key role in the early Muslim conquests of Egypt, Barqa (Cyrenaica) and Ifriqiya. When the latter province fell to a ByzantineBerber alliance in 682, Zuhayr was given command of the army to restore Arab rule. During that campaign, he temporarily retook Kairouan, the Arabs' capital in Ifriqiya, and killed the Berber chief Kasila, but was slain by Byzantine raiders on his way back to Barqa.